Their old class AB integrated amps seem reliable, may be the newer class D amps will be too but only time will tell. AV receivers and processors have many things that can go wrong, that's why for those products I would stick to the big producers like D+M, Yamaha, Pioneer, and even Sony.
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NAD T778 Audio/Video Receiver (AVR) Review
- Thread starter amirm
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Their old class AB integrated amps seem reliable, may be the newer class D amps will be too but only time will tell. AV receivers and processors have many things that can go wrong, that's why for those products I would stick to the big producers like D+M, Yamaha, Pioneer, and even Sony.
Vasr
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Longer-term reliability and bug-free operation to start with are two different things.
Where the Japanese brands have an edge is in getting the different connectivity operations right unlike NADs and other boutique manufacturers trying to build processors. The latter land up with far too many firmware glitches. These are not things that go wrong/fail after a while.
Above has nothing to do with longer-term reliability and the Japanese brands don't really have any particular recognized advantage in that regard. On the contrary, their tendency to run hot especially with lower speaker loads, etc., is likely to make their long term reliability suspect (as in any device that runs hot). I would expect the Class D amps running cooler would actually have an advantage over the Class AB based amps.
I noticed on the NAD website the damping factor spec for the T778 is ">300." That is a relatively high number for an AVR, although not many AVRs give a damping spec (would like to know what the Denon x8500h damping factor is.) Does damping factor show up directly or indirectly in ASR's measurements or is not an item that can be reliably measured?
It’s related to output impedance: the lower it is, the higher the damping factor. It mainly effects the effect of the speaker impedance on the frequency response. The lower the output impedance the better the amp can control the stuff behind it. I think ASR tests with purely resistive loads, and therefore will not really show the effect. For headphone amps output impedance is measured, for power amps not for some reason.
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This german installer has stopped selling NAD T778 because of ongoing dirac problems (sound on certain channels is not being corrected) and bad support from lenbrook.
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What is the “MA-01”?
Hi Amir, thanks for the review. Also thanks to whichever kind member sent it in
If you still have the T778, would you mind testing for an issue which is plaguing NAD receiver owners? As known in the NAD receiver threads over on AVS, this is known as the "Rhye distortion" issue. The same problem has been documented on the T778, T777, and T758. Additionally I personally have experienced this same issue on both an Arcam AVR550 and a Denon X3600 in addition to my T778.
In short, when the T778 is being fed a stereo PCM stream and the high pass crossover is engaged (i.e front speakers set to "small"), it results in severe digital clipping when playing signals close to -0 dBFS. The song commonly used to test for this is"Feel your weight" (album version) by Rhye. At 2:50, there is extremely bad crackling, but the issue goes away when either the front speakers are set to "large", or if the same content is played through a multichannel stream. This is independent of sample rate. There are obviously differences in the signal processing pathway depending on whether the content is recognised as stereo or multichannel. With stereo streams, activation of the high pass crossover seems to push the signal hard into clipping territory.
If you'd like to hear what this sounds like to the end user, here are a couple of recordings of my speakers I took a while ago:
Soundcloud Link
On the version without distortion, this is being played via a Windows PC via HDMI with output set to 7.1. The version with distortion is playing the same content but with output set to stereo.
Would you be able to run a few quick tests with the signal generator output set to two channel so that the receiver recognises the incoming signal as 2.0 PCM, and with the speakers set to "small"?
This issue also affects NAD C658 when you enable subwoofer output... The higher you set the crossover, the harder the clipping... NAD has no timeline for fixing this. It is still affecting the T778, and most likely will not be fixed ever... I'm done with NAD! I'll sell my C658 and find another solution...
See this thread also:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...me-female-vocal-distortion.22151/#post-737364
BlairTronica
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Recently bought a NAD T778 from Crutchfield. So far, it’s a keeper. Sound is clean and powerful. It has re-energized my home-audio-visual experience & passion. Haven’t tapped into Dirac yet. Tuned it manually for now. I have an eight year old Marantz SR 5007 as well, but it’s currently being repaired at an authorised facility. Thinking to sell it or just hold onto it as a back up.
tusing
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Wow, surprised this doesn't have more visibility. This YouTuber also says they heard no difference with Dirac on the T778 for stereo playback, though they phrase it euphemistically like YouTubers tend to. Why are so many Dirac AVRs buggy messes?
He also claimed that it didn't matter what speakers you used, "as the NAD sound is just present." This was right after claiming a "brand" sound.
I would not take anything this guy says seriously.
So, I own T778 for about 6 months now, comming from Marantz SR7500 and even before that from an Onkyo receiver (i cant remember the model, I think it was 595). My experience with NAD T778 so far. Hmmm. If NAD wanted to make audiophile receiver, they failed totally. The fen noise is so loud, you hear it clearly in the sections of a movie, where they speak, the same also in the music, where there are quieter passages or if you listen music quietly. It is so disturbing, that I simply can not listen to it!!! Once I was napping in the living room while listening to quiet music, and the fen woke me up!
Regarding the audio quality, if you disregard the fan noise, I think that my more than 14 years old Marants beats it like crazy. I also have a feeling, that Marant is stronger and more stabile, although if you compare NAD and Marantz specifications, you wouldnt come to this conclusion. On the same speakers, the NAD simply just starts clipping at the sound leveles, where Marantz had full authority.
There is no dedicated APP (there is a bluesound app, but in it you can not set up the receiver).
What was for me the biggest atraction, was the display, but it is also a huge disapointment. First, it is showing the digital VU meters, that were for me the main atraction, only in the bluos mode, and second, it is in a not interesting grey colour. Otherwise, the screen is so big, that it could show houndreds of information, but it just doesnt. Anyways. There are many other things that I hate about this receiver, but just dont feel like writing them.
To finish. When I think about it, considering the audio quality, power of the receiver etc., and if I compare it to other receivers, I can not think that it is worth more than 1000 €. I thought I would get used to it, but am pretty much dissapotinted every time I use it. Unfortunatelly, this was a very expensive but negative experience. Stay with your Denons, Marantzs and Onkyos!
Regarding the audio quality, if you disregard the fan noise, I think that my more than 14 years old Marants beats it like crazy. I also have a feeling, that Marant is stronger and more stabile, although if you compare NAD and Marantz specifications, you wouldnt come to this conclusion. On the same speakers, the NAD simply just starts clipping at the sound leveles, where Marantz had full authority.
There is no dedicated APP (there is a bluesound app, but in it you can not set up the receiver).
What was for me the biggest atraction, was the display, but it is also a huge disapointment. First, it is showing the digital VU meters, that were for me the main atraction, only in the bluos mode, and second, it is in a not interesting grey colour. Otherwise, the screen is so big, that it could show houndreds of information, but it just doesnt. Anyways. There are many other things that I hate about this receiver, but just dont feel like writing them.
To finish. When I think about it, considering the audio quality, power of the receiver etc., and if I compare it to other receivers, I can not think that it is worth more than 1000 €. I thought I would get used to it, but am pretty much dissapotinted every time I use it. Unfortunatelly, this was a very expensive but negative experience. Stay with your Denons, Marantzs and Onkyos!
Is it possible that your T778 has an issue? I cannot imagine NAD producing something where the fan is so loud and problematic, although I guess anything is possible. Is the fan supposed to run regularly by design, or is it supposed to be active when there is a need for cooling? In either case I agree with you that you should not hear it unless perhaps you are close to the unit itself and certainly not overtop of the signal you are listening to.
Does the unit have adequate ventilation around it? I'm sorry that you are having these issues. That would be very disappointing for sure.
Does the unit have adequate ventilation around it? I'm sorry that you are having these issues. That would be very disappointing for sure.
I dont know. The fan starts working immediatelly as I turn on the receiver. I dont understandt why is it so either, it makes no sense. The receiver is positioned on the cabinet, with nothing on top of the receiver or on the sides, it has plenty of ventilation. Maybe I should make an inquiry with NAD, if this is normal?! Othervise I can hear the fan noise from the couch, cca 3,5m distance from the receiver. This is especially problematic, when listening to audiophile music, because there (expecting the best from the sound as possible) you have often this quiet passages, or instrument solos, for instance drum solos, where in these quiet passages the fan is basically destroying the whole experience. I have to say, that Im very very frustrated because of this. Especially considering the huge investment in this maschine... Very concerning are also the distortions, that appear pretty soon, when you start to 'rev' the receiver, I would simply expect more power comming out of it... (Im comparing this with my 14 years of Marantz ownership...)
In Amirs review he has this exact problem after a firmware update. He unplugged the unit and plugged it back in and the problem went away. Have you tried updating the firmware, restarting the unit. Then unplug it and let it sit for a minute then plug it back in?
Check this out. I just turned it on and made a photo for you to see the speed of the fan. This photo was made immediatelly after i turned the unit on.
But thanks for the advice. I will do as you suggest. Update restart and unplug. Fingers crossed.
And here are the current amps temperatures. Dont tell me they are overheating?!But thanks for the advice. I will do as you suggest. Update restart and unplug. Fingers crossed.
I made a short video (with my iphone - unfortunatelly i dont have better equipment) - unfortunatelly can not upload it for you to hear the fan.
