NAD M33 Streaming Amplifier Review

[Kal Rubinson]

They said the "amplifiers" are by built by NAD. They didn't say the modules, but why would it matter then if they are the same? "Manufacturing" is a vague term...

Actually, what they said was that "the Purifi amplifiers" are built by NAD but, I agree, that is probably not explicit enough (at least, around here).

 

[watchnerd]

I would send in my NAD PP2, but seems like that would be a waste of time since it is out of production. I bet the phono stage is as good as the Rega Amir just reviewed.

I'm more curious if the built-in M33 phono stage + ADC is better than an outboard Puffin using digital out to connect to the M33.

 

[The Jniac]

My local dealer is saying the M33 is actually selling out and back-ordered.

What?? How?!

Well, perhaps I am grossly underestimating the value people with the kind of disposable income to buy something like this place on having an all-in-one device. Looking at the review again, its performance is good, and probably good enough that for most people it would be audibly transparent. Perhaps to these sorts of people, having a single device that does everything well, if not brilliantly, with a decent WAF is enough to justify the price tag.

 

[watchnerd]

What?? How?!

Well, perhaps I am grossly underestimating the value people with the kind of disposable income to buy something like this place on having an all-in-one device. Looking at the review again, its performance is good, and probably good enough that for most people it would be audibly transparent. Perhaps to these sorts of people, having a single device that does everything well, if not brilliantly, with a decent WAF is enough to justify the price tag.

Audio Advisor is also reporting it as not in stock, back ordered.

Demand seems to be high and/or production inventory is low.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Well, perhaps I am grossly underestimating the value people with the kind of disposable income to buy something like this place on having an all-in-one device. Looking at the review again, its performance is good, and probably good enough that for most people it would be audibly transparent. Perhaps to these sorts of people, having a single device that does everything well, if not brilliantly, with a decent WAF is enough to justify the price tag.

I am not surprised. ASR is a niche and not representative of the wider audio market.

 

[ENG]

Here in Denmark you can get the NAD M33 next year. And Peter Lyngdorf has owned NAD.

 

[Vasr]

NAD Intros C 298 Power Amplifier With Purifi Eigentakt Amplification

Too many engineers and not enough marketeers on this board! The goal of a marketing brochure is not to convey data and facts but a message. It is loosely tied to facts and should never be parsed literally.

That product page linked above is a very good example of marketeering. And a fine example of how to position a product. Especially an amp which is a commoditized product. The messaging is this:

NAD has moved away from the old fashioned and very power-hungry linear power supplies and Class AB output stages that waste nearly half of the energy consumed, producing heat rather than sound. Instead, the company has developed even better performing circuits based on switch mode power supplies and Class D output stages.

NAD is differentiating this from traditional amps (including their own earlier ones) as more efficient, green, etc. Feature-wise, this is no different from a Parasound, for example.

In addition, they are also aware that there will be other manufacturers coming to market in the future with Purifi modules and they need to differentiate from them. Otherwise, they will not have the pricing power. It is like Nvidia-based video graphics card manufacturers differentiating between each other. This is the main problem in going to this type of integration with out-sourced modules.

For the latter, they cannot afford to be seen as slapping on a third party module that anyone can do as well even if it is literally true. So:

1. Use Purifi technology rather than module as much as possible. It is as generic as saying we use solar technology (rather than saying we use solar panels made by Acme inc).
2. Use statements that imply more than what it may be while plausibly justifiable i.e., your engineering having adopted it and made it better

The Eigentakt modules are manufactured by NAD under license from Purifi, allowing NAD to optimise these specifically in combination with the custom designed power supply and input stages of the C 298.

A bit of dissembling but with plausible deniability. Careful to use Purifi amplifier technology and Eigentakt modules, in this brochure. Better than using "Purifi amplifier modules" which might be used by others that aren't as market savvy.

The "input stages" could mean anything from input connectors to the input buffer. Their own input buffers can be stretched to be part of the "Eigentakt module". It doesn't say it optimizes the amp module itself but gives that impression.

This does not mean they did not manufacture the amp modules themselves but it does not necessarily imply they did either even if to tech-nerds here looking at the "green PCB" that it seems like an untruth. Their market segment is not people looking at PCB board colors inside.

 

[Vasr]

Audio Advisor is also reporting it as not in stock, back ordered.

Demand seems to be high and/or production inventory is low.

That is the impression NAD would like you to have even if there is a back-order of one. That people make the above leap may be precisely the point.

It could simply be artificially or logistically supply-constrained regardless of demand. Using a "difficult to get" model to promote buyer interest and avoiding discounting is a very common marketing strategy. Remember how gmail generated interest when it was introduced? By invitation/referral only.

Remember how Nvidia created a buzz for unavailability of 30-series cards - that they are flying off the shelves?

 

[watchnerd]

I am not surprised. ASR is a niche and not representative of the wider audio market.

I'm surprised people are surprised.

If / when they get Roon working, I will trade in my Devialet Expert for an M33 so I can finally have DRC for all my sources, be they analog or digital, in one box.

 

[watchnerd]

That is the impression NAD would like you to have even if there is a back-order of one. That people make the above leap may be precisely the point.

It could simply be artificially or logistically supply-constrained regardless of demand. Using a "difficult to get" model to promote buyer interest and avoiding discounting is a very common marketing strategy. Remember how gmail generated interest when it was introduced? By invitation/referral only.

Remember how Nvidia created a buzz for unavailability of 30-series cards - that they are flying off the shelves?

NAD might have the desire to create premium demand perception through scarcity, but Audio Advisor doesn't have an incentive for that.

Dealers just want to get paid on inventory that moves quickly.

 

[Vasr]

NAD might have the desire to create premium demand perception through scarcity, but Audio Advisor doesn't have an incentive for that.

Dealers just want to get paid on inventory that moves quickly.

Sigh. Didn't say AA was doing this. They cannot do this on their own unless all dealers voluntarily went along with this. But they would benefit from saying back-ordered even if it is just one.

NAD controls the inventory to the dealers. From AA's perspective taking back-orders at full price without any inventory tied up is a great thing. The additional orders perception of scarcity may create is icing on the cake. That there would be no discounted deals elsewhere would benefit list-price sellers like AA. It is win-win for both dealers and NAD.

 

[watchnerd]

Sigh. Didn't say AA was doing this. They cannot do this on their own unless all dealers voluntarily went along with this. But they would benefit from saying back-ordered even if it is just one.

NAD controls the inventory to the dealers. From AA's perspective taking back-orders at full price without any inventory tied up is a great thing. The additional orders perception of scarcity may create is icing on the cake. There would be no discounted deals elsewhere would benefit list-price sellers like AA. It is win-win for both dealers and NAD.

Sure, we can't tell cause and effect from where we sit.

But the reality is that both my local dealer and online dealers seem to be saying the same thing -- it's back ordered from their POV.

For 3-4 weeks after release, my local dealer didn't even have a demo unit in the store.

 

[Vasr]

Sure, we can't tell cause and effect from where we sit.

But the reality is that both my local dealer and online dealers seem to be saying the same thing -- it's back ordered from their POV.

For 3-4 weeks after release, my local dealer didn't even have a demo unit in the store.

Yes, it could be literally true if NAD sent any of them no units so far (or just one) and they have one order outstanding. That even people on this forum would necessarily equate it to "high demand" is the point. The possibility that it would push some otherwise fence-sitters into placing an order is the goal. These things can be done even before a manufacturer is ready to ship in any volume to generate pre-orders.

One would think that after decades of car-dealership tactics, people would be more cynical.

 

[watchnerd]

Yes, it could be literally true if NAD sent any of them no units so far (or just one) and they have one order outstanding. That even people on this forum would necessarily equate it to "high demand" is the point. The possibility that it would push some otherwise fence-sitters into placing an order is the goal. These things can be done even before a manufacturer is ready to ship in any volume to generate pre-orders.

One would think that after decades of car-dealership tactics, people would be more cynical.

I don't know how well those tactics work in this segment.

This isn't a mass consumer product with fashion appeal like an iPhone or a car.

I can't take my NAD M33 to the club and impress someone sitting at the bar, like I can with my new phone or ride.

My local dealer didn't use any high pressure tactics -- it was basically, "we don't have any in stock, we don't get any until X, you can pre-order if you want, or just wait."

I did not end up placing an order once I learned Roon wasn't working right.

 

[amirm]

1)
Have incorrect measurement data been used in the NAD M33 Streaming Amplifier Review?:

That's just an oversight on my part to update the label for the graph. The measurement is correct and is for M33.

 

[Vasr]

I don't know how well those tactics work in this segment.

It works best for high-margin, high-ticket items that typically have relatively small amount of sales. And for a limited time as part of launch buzz. If NAD cannot create enough of a buzz to create a continuing order flow, dealer interest would sag and the product would have very poor returns.

Dealers who don't work with direct-from-manufacturer orders don't like units clogging up their storage space and if not working on consignment have their cash flow tied up for high-ticket items that don't sell weekly if not daily.

Lifestyle products like this are eye-candy as part of home decor and part of bragging rights (though in the pandemic era impressing visitors is much less of a need). But people who do buy high-ticket items do like to have things that are not considered as mass-market that everyone is likely to have.

The key problem for any marketeer is how to tip the large number of people that could buy one sitting on the fence rather than pull the trigger. Most of them never buy. Anything that nudges them into an impulsive purchase is a good thing. Many ways to do this. Nothing pushes them better than some form of FOMO.

 

[amirm]

2)
I think the pictures in the NAD M33 Streaming Amplifier Review belong to the UUT!? You should still mention the expansion stage (MDC modules inserted, e.g. HDMI and/or the upcoming DSD/USB respectively none of them), the firmware version and the serial number of the UUT in the review. The first two points in particular can influence the measurement results.

I like to keep my reviews very brief and to the point. If you want that kind of detail, please seek out other reviews. I did upgrade the firmware and it made no difference as it should not. The amplification doesn't have firmware. And while ADC/DAC could be impacted, they were not.

I could not test HDMI since it only works as ARC and I am not setup to feed it audio that way. I did try though but did not work (my issue, not the device).

 

[amirm]

I miss the information in the review of the NAD M33 sample rate setting of the ADC used during the analog measurements!?
48kHz is the default value. You can set up to 192kHz!

I used the default which was already transparent to the rest of the unit. What else did you want to get out of higher sample rates?

 

[boXem]

It works best for high-margin, high-ticket items that typically have relatively small amount of sales. And for a limited time as part of launch buzz. If NAD cannot create enough of a buzz to create a continuing order flow, dealer interest would sag and the product would have very poor returns.

Dealers who don't work with direct-from-manufacturer orders don't like units clogging up their storage space and if not working on consignment have their cash flow tied up for high-ticket items that don't sell weekly if not daily.

Lifestyle products like this are eye-candy as part of home decor and part of bragging rights (though in the pandemic era impressing visitors is much less of a need). But people who do buy high-ticket items do like to have things that are not considered as mass-market that everyone is likely to have.

The key problem for any marketeer is how to tip the large number of people that could buy one sitting on the fence rather than pull the trigger. Most of them never buy. Anything that nudges them into an impulsive purchase is a good thing. Many ways to do this. Nothing pushes them better than some form of FOMO.

Or they are not ready to produce their own modules and stopped buying the Purifi ones at a premium.
BTW, I find interesting that none of you smart asses did understand the true meaning of "optimise". Not only ASR misses marketeers, it also misses bean counters who perfectly understand "optimization".
Yes, I know I'm just an engineer, doubled by a techno nerd .

 

[amirm]

I am not surprised. ASR is a niche and not representative of the wider audio market.

NAD M33 is also a niche product and its buyer's don't represent the wider audio market. The number of consumers who spent thousands of dollars on an audio product and know what buzzwords like Purifi mean is very small and likely more a reader of our site than random audiophiles.