NAD T778 Audio/Video Receiver (AVR) Review

[Racheski]

No HDMI 2.1 support. BT requires plugging in a USB adapter. Makes no sense for $3k.

 

[cistercian]

The price outstrips the performance here.

 

[doctorjuggles]

I was interested in this because of the Roon status, but that’s not an encouraging set of figures for the price

 

[Dj7675]

No HDMI 2.1 support. BT requires plugging in a USB adapter. Makes no sense for $3k.

I hadn’t realized it wasn’t HDMI 2.1. I just assumed It was. Thanks for pointing that out. The T758 V3 had a bazaar USB adapter that was required as well. I remember when I had it and was setting it up... what the heck is this kludge to get this to work...

 

[Dmitri]

I haven’t considered NAD as a reasonable option for years. My first separates were the 1020 pre and 2150 amp which I dearly loved. Since they’ve been building AVR’s, their equipment has been quirky and unreliable...and except maybe for the master series, pretty damned ugly as well. The T778 is one of the nicest looking AVR’s out there, but it’s underperformance, especially given its $3000 asking price, is inexcusable, and Amir’s experience with the T778 only reinforces the continuing concerns over NAD’s reliability. I really want this company to turn around and get it together, but they just can’t seem to make that happen. Very disappointing.

 

[Dj7675]

I haven’t considered NAD as a reasonable option for years. My first separates were the 1020 pre and 2150 amp which I dearly loved. Since they’ve been building AVR’s, their equipment has been quirky and unreliable...and except maybe for the master series, pretty damned ugly as well. The T778 is one of the nicest looking AVR’s out there, but it’s underperformance, especially given its $3000 asking price, is inexcusable, and Amir’s experience with the T778 only reinforces the continuing concerns over NAD’s reliability. I really want this company to turn around and get it together, but they just can’t seem to make that happen. Very disappointing.

For the most part I agree. However, outstanding units like the M27/M22 and the M10 both give a reason for some hope. This is much better than there T758 but still not good, in particular at $3k

 

[starfly]

I haven’t considered NAD as a reasonable option for years. My first separates were the 1020 pre and 2150 amp which I dearly loved. Since they’ve been building AVR’s, their equipment has been quirky and unreliable...and except maybe for the master series, pretty damned ugly as well. The T778 is one of the nicest looking AVR’s out there, but it’s underperformance, especially given its $3000 asking price, is inexcusable, and Amir’s experience with the T778 only reinforces the continuing concerns over NAD’s reliability. I really want this company to turn around and get it together, but they just can’t seem to make that happen. Very disappointing.

That's what happens when companies coast along on their brand name alone. Look at Arcam, same deal. It's a shame.

If we take the comparison with cars, same deal with Honda. They still have the reputation of making reliable cars, but when you look at the statistics, they're not nearly as reliable as they once were, now being surpassed by their competitors (e.g. Hyundai/Kia).

 

[milosz]

Poor NAD. They struggle. And $3k is a lot for something with some fairly glaring flaws.

For $3k in 2020 you OUGHT to get HDMI 2.1- it's not excusable for NAD to fail to offer HDMI 2.1

And problems with the lack of debounce on the remote would make this thing hard to live with, unless you were using someone else's remote. (I like my Logitech Harmony!)

But most of the audio / digital shortcomings of this unit would not be noticeable for almost all surround video playback. Multichannel music might not fare so well, but most surround disc / stream / cable / off-air / satellite video content is not the kind of thing where users will notice "only" 18 bits of transparency or ~80 dB SINAD. One has to be realistic. In that respect - aside from the lack of HDMI 2.1 and the bouncy buttons on the remote - this AVR is "good enough" for it's intended purpose among it's intended customers.

GOOD enough but NOT cheap enough.

 

[restorer-john]

Testing for frequency dependency, we don't see much except for 20 kHz where it oddly performed better:

With such a massive roll-off in the frequency response, the harmonics simply aren't there to contribute...

 

[Timbo2]

As of me writing this it has a Three Star overall review on Crutchfield which shows how there are lies, damned lies and statistics.

It has 4 Five Star reviews and 4 One Star reviews. So people either love it or hated it. Mind you low sample size and new product.

 

[EchoChamber]

Disappointing results for a brand that has traditionally been regarded as an “audiophile” affordable option. 3K for such a low SINAD... :-(

 

[Xyrium]

Companies with attention to detail that got into the AVR business (e.g., Cambridge Audio) soon found out that the AVR business was messy and they could not maintain the standards they had set for themselves at low margins and discontinued those products than market sub-par equipment. NAD decided to put the Dirac/Hypex lipstick on and rely on brand marketing to push out sub-par stuff.

I think it is time to acknowledge contemporary Denon has surpassed NAD in quality and performance/value while NAD gets more and more into the "lifestyle" product business where engineering isn't the sole criterion.

I'm not sure Denon was ever behind NAD in quality, but I agree.

I've been lusting after the Denon PMA-1600NE, if only it had sub outs with HP and LP filters............

 

[TweekinTubez]

Does anyone know which of this amp’s measurements are audibly different from the AVRs ranked ahead of it on this site? Before Covid I never paid attention to the measurements. I’d love for someone to tell me what I’m supposed to be listening for.

My interest in this site really got piqued once all the Denon AVRs started testing ahead of all the prestigious HiFi brands.

Denon is a brand that is carried at literally every big box store and every mid range dealer. That means almost anyone in the US with an interest in audio can demo a Denon amp at practically anytime. Yet literally *NEVER* in my 15 years as an audiophile have I ever heard that Denon is the brand to beat.

In fact, outside this site I haven’t heard it either.

Fast forward to today and my AVR is being reviewed. Here is an amp I’ve had a hell of a fun time listening to MQA Tidal files through the streamer while letting the digital VU meter bounce around. I haven’t heard anything in my listening that leads me to believe this is a sub par amp. My friends who are audiophiles and definitely the type to shit talk mercilessly have never mentioned the amp sounds bad.

I have this amp hooked up to current gen B&W 804’s in 2 channel stereo with Dirac turned on. My setup is in the basement of my townhouse. The clipping indicator has never come on even with the volume at 0DBs during the entirety of Daft Punk’s Discovery. At 0DBs the entire record can be heard from my basement to the end of my block in absolute crystal clarity. The police have been called multiple times this summer.

I’ve owned Denon AVRs, they can’t drive my speakers like this amp. So. What am I missing that the measurements are picking up?

Having said all that, I bought this AVR for two reasons, 1. Dirac
2. A E S T H E T I C S
At the end of the day having an amp that looks like it cost $3k is more important to me than a Denon that looks like it cost $700. ‍‍

 

[EchoChamber]

Does anyone know which of this amp’s measurements are audibly different from the AVRs ranked ahead of it on this site? Before Covid I never paid attention to the measurements. I’d love for someone to tell me what I’m supposed to be listening for.

Like you, COVID made me a little nerdier regarding audio now that I’m 100% working from home. I went from mostly Schiit gear to Topping, newer Schiit gear and now I have the Octo Dac8 and 2 pairs of a Genelec monitors on order. I’m also using REW and compensating for some room frequency boosts with the Roon EQ.

So, subjectively, what happened when I started paying more attention to measurements and started changing my system accordingly? I now have a main system and a desk system that are much more transparent than before. I hear more detail overall and suffer from much less listening fatigue. I also listen to music at lower volumes since I can perceive details much better than before. On my speaker system soundstage grew about 20% in width height and depth. And the top end is much better defined. Things got better by a good margin and I might even have saved some money in the process (before I decided to order a pair of Genelec 8351B...).

 

[restorer-john]

The analog frequency response is absolutely dreadful as Amir commented. Personally, I would call it faulty and send it back- it can't even do 20-20Khz flat like amplifiers have done for decades. It would be close to the worst FR measured on ASR.

It is also considerably worse than the specified response (-0.8dB at20KHz) (preamp section +/-0.3dB).

The low end response is also poor.

@amirm what level do you run the FR sweep? 4.47V (5W@4R)? Or at 1W@8R?

 

[amirm]

With such a massive roll-off in the frequency response, the harmonics simply aren't there to contribute...

Ah, good catch. Forgot that this test was using analog input. So the reality is worse than it looks.

 

[amirm]

@amirm what level do you run the FR sweep? 4.47V (5W@4R)?

Yes, all frequency sweeps are done at the same level that gets us 5 watt output.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Man, what has happened to NAD?

Four years ago when I needed a home theater receiver to replace an Integra I was not happy with and was ready to drop $2000-$3000, I had narrowed my decision down (based on two fantastic deals) to an open box Sony str-za5000es and an open box and discontinued NAD T-787 with a few MDC cards to bring it up to par with the T-777v3, albeit at a lower price. I am glad I picked the Sony. I am a long time NAD owner, having owned a 512 CD player in the 1990’s, a Viso Five DVD receiver, and an L73 DVD receiver. All had served me well, with excellent sound quality although some operational quirks.

 

[xykreinov]

I think we can just permanently write off NAD as a brand worth considering for AVRs, unless you absolutely need Dirac. For the performance, these things are extremely overpriced.

Better to just get a Denon or Yamaha. I currently own a Yamaha, but my next one will likely be a Denon.

Even if you absolutely need Dirac, there are a plethora of cheap devices which will do Dirac (MiniDSP comes to mind) that are independent of an AVR, yet can be used with one.

 

[Tks]

No HDMI 2.1 support. BT requires plugging in a USB adapter. Makes no sense for $3k.

HDMI 2.1 is going to be interesting. Especially considering HDMI 2.1 sources are hitting the market within Q3 and Q4 of this year. While displays are already out and ready.