Review and Measurements of NAD C 320BEE PWR Amplifier

[Yersinia Bestmate]

When it comes to used amps, I think those that are around 20-25 years old, that come from recognized good manufacturers, are some of the best bang for the buck amps you can buy. I can't generalize all makes and models into that fold but for example NAD and Yamaha should be counted there.

You can probably count 20-25 years as vintage, but it is possible to get hold of such an old medium powered amplifier for very little money AND if they have not been used much, the electronics have not worn out that much. That may be the case. I've seen so many ads that look more or less the same, something like this:
Since we now use SONOS (insert any wireless solution), we/I no longer need X. It hasn't been used in the last few years/decade...has been in a closet for the last...
Fully functional X for sale, bought a few decades ago but has barely been used after purchase of home theater...SONOS...wireless or...and so on.

Another reason for the low second-hand price is that 20-25 years may be seen as vintage BUT for the vintage lovers it is the 1970s that apply (maybe a bit into the 1980s). Check out the 1970s Sansui for example. It can be ridiculously high prices.
What speaks for these 1970s models is the appearance. If you are willing to pay for an interior detail, I understand that, but the performance? Here's what Restorer-John said about that:

#15 in the thread:
View attachment 383763

The mystery of "poorly calibrated" amplifiers

I owned quite some amps througout the decades. A few years ago I bought a Pioneer SA5300 for a good price. The lightest and a really good looking amp in its series. I couldn't resist as it felt like a save from the junkyard. After a total cleanup, paintjob, revision and adding a fresh pair of...

audiosciencereview.com

Anyway. Medium powered amplifiers that are around 20-25 years old from NAD and Yamaha win nowadays, in my eyes, no beauty contests, but they have good performance. So if you can live with the looks and physical size (compared to small modern class D amps) it's a good buy. In addition, these 20-25 year old amplifiers are not load dependent like many small class D amplifiers are. I think that in itself should really be weighed as a positive factor in their favor.

Two examples:
Receiver NAD C720BEE.Big for relatively few watts and ugly, but if you can live with that, it's definitely good. Receiver NAD C720BEE same amplifier section as NAD C 320BEE):
View attachment 383764
Yamaha AX-396 is perhaps not the amp to compete in a beauty contest either, but check out the performance:
View attachment 383765

Review and Measurements of vintage Yamaha AX-396 integrated amplifier

Review and Measurements of vintage Yamaha AX-396 integrated amplifier This review shows measurements of Yamaha AX-396 integrated amplifier, ser. no. Y399871TV, made in Malaysia. I bought this amplifier in the year 2002 and have been using it shortly. Then it was sleeping in my stock and 5...

audiosciencereview.com

Funny that you mentioned C 720BEE - I happen to have one. Basically it is C 320BEE with a reciever attched. It has the same preamp modules and the same power amp section aswell. And yeah, it is also a lot uglier. But it has a sub-out.

I'm at the moment using it as a preamp in my other set with MPA-S250NC to drive a pair of Elac FS207A floorstanders and a BK Electronics XLS200 Mk2 powered subwoofer. Makes a nice combo, even though I'm in the process of looking for a proper preamp to replace C 720BEE. Upcoming Audiophonics AP310-Preamp looks interesting.

 

[Mosfet27]

The owner told me there is a switch in the back that enables "soft clipping." This is what it does:
View attachment 31510

Performance was identical at lower power levels so I zoomed into upper range. As seen, it does exactly what is advertised: it allows a much more gentle distortion rise instead of a sudden hockey stick. You pay for that in the form of higher distortion though before you reach the limit.

I would like to see Meridian 557 tested in here

 

[DanielT]

I would like to see Meridian 557 tested in here

Welcome to ASR. Here you can submit your proposal:

What electronic audio products you want tested most

I like to get a gauge of what categories of products I should be testing more (electronics only). So please vote. As usual, I won't necessarily listen to you all. :D But like to have the data anyway. If you are a visitor and not a member, this is your opportunity to join and have your voice...

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Amir tests what is sent to him, as long as it is not a question of extremely heavy and large speakers.

 

[617]

Welcome to ASR. Here you can submit your proposal:

What electronic audio products you want tested most

I like to get a gauge of what categories of products I should be testing more (electronics only). So please vote. As usual, I won't necessarily listen to you all. :D But like to have the data anyway. If you are a visitor and not a member, this is your opportunity to join and have your voice...

audiosciencereview.com

Amir tests what is sent to him, as long as it is not a question of extremely heavy and large speakers.

What's the biggest he's done? 8361 were pretty beefy.

 

[DanielT]

What's the biggest he's done? 8361 were pretty beefy.

Aha, well I was thinking more extreme. Large horn systems, or something weighing: 681kg / 1200 lbs (system weight):

Infinity Reference Standard IRS / V

IRS

Infinity Reference Standard IRS / V is too extreme as an example, but in any case somewhere there is a limit to what Amir can and wants to do.

 

[617]

Aha, well I was thinking more extreme. Large horn systems, or something weighing: 681kg / 1200 lbs (system weight):

Infinity Reference Standard IRS / V
View attachment 395076

IRS

Infinity Reference Standard IRS / V is too extreme as an example, but in any case somewhere there is a limit to what Amir can and wants to do.

IRS V is a bit extreme but there are a lot of 4-6 foot speakers out there which id like to see. JBL Everest and so on.

 

[niemiaszek]

I've stumbled upon this post about my "inherited" NAD AMP and have a question as a newbie. I've seen Toppping E30 II lite DAC and L30 II headphone amp reviews. I need a DAC to connect new TV to it (TV doesn't have analog outs) so I can drive my B&W DM601s and I happen to have PC next to it, so I could connect both via DAC skipping NAD pre-amp - that I got figured out from this thread. What makes me wonder is if using L30 II headphone amp would be beneficial over using NADs headphone AMP? I'm currently driving AKG k702 and I plan to buy Arya Stealth soon. Am I bottleneck however without separate headphone amp?

Sorry for such a newbie question, but I don't see or don't understand yet how given measurements could affect headphone performance.

 

[DanielT]

I've stumbled upon this post about my "inherited" NAD AMP and have a question as a newbie. I've seen Toppping E30 II lite DAC and L30 II headphone amp reviews. I need a DAC to connect new TV to it (TV doesn't have analog outs) so I can drive my B&W DM601s and I happen to have PC next to it, so I could connect both via DAC skipping NAD pre-amp - that I got figured out from this thread. What makes me wonder is if using L30 II headphone amp would be beneficial over using NADs headphone AMP? I'm currently driving AKG k702 and I plan to buy Arya Stealth soon. Am I bottleneck however without separate headphone amp?

Sorry for such a newbie question, but I don't see or don't understand yet how given measurements could affect headphone performance.

Hello and welcome to ASR.

Maybe this thread answers your question:?

Why a Headphone Amplifier ?

Why do people buy a Headphone Amplifier when they can just plug their headphones into the AVR or DAC ?

audiosciencereview.com

 

[niemiaszek]

Hello and welcome to ASR.

Maybe this thread answers your question:?

Why a Headphone Amplifier ?

Why do people buy a Headphone Amplifier when they can just plug their headphones into the AVR or DAC ?

audiosciencereview.com

Hello, thank you!

It indeed does! Seems like NAD should work fine.

Also I found one person in this thread that compared L30 with c326bee, getting more warmth and depth with NAD.I guess with the L30 II price I can have such comparison myself.

Never heard D class amp, nor had a chance to look for these "impedance issues", which I think are unlikely with mentioned headphones. Will be interesting to check out anyway.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Hello, thank you!

It indeed does! Seems like NAD should work fine.

Also I found one person in this thread that compared L30 with c326bee, getting more warmth and depth with NAD.I guess with the L30 II price I can have such comparison myself.

Never heard D class amp, nor had a chance to look for these "impedance issues", which I think are unlikely with mentioned headphones. Will be interesting to check out anyway.

Personally I'd use a dedicated hp amp for listening with phones.

Get splitters to route the signal from the dac to the power amp input on the Nad and to the L30 at the same time, put the E30 in preamp mode and use ite to control the volume when listening via speakers and set it to max when listening to phones via L30 and control the volume of the phones with L30's vol control.

Just need to remember to lower the volume again when switching between phones and speakers.

 

[niemiaszek]

Personally I'd use a dedicated hp amp for listening with phones.

Get splitters to route the signal from the dac to the power amp input on the Nad and to the L30 at the same time, put the E30 in preamp mode and use ite to control the volume when listening via speakers and set it to max when listening to phones via L30 and control the volume of the phones with L30's vol control.

Just need to remember to lower the volume again when switching between phones and speakers.

Thank you for your recommendation.

Sorry for making this off-topic, but I'm wondering about the dual volume control approach. You recommend controlling speakers volume via DAC simply because NADs volume control doesn't work when used as power amp? That is not based on some other passive/active/digital/analog distortions stuff? E30 has this "pure DAC" mode, which I understand to act similar to setting max volume in preamp mode (plus bypassing some modules for DSD that I don't understand yet), so maybe I will try toggling it for headphone usage and switching to preamp for speakers, hopefully remembering the volume setting.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Thank you for your recommendation.

Sorry for making this off-topic, but I'm wondering about the dual volume control approach. You recommend controlling speakers volume via DAC simply because NADs volume control doesn't work when used as power amp? That is not based on some other passive/active/digital/analog distortions stuff? E30 has this "pure DAC" mode, which I understand to act similar to setting max volume in preamp mode (plus bypassing some modules for DSD that I don't understand yet), so maybe I will try toggling it for headphone usage and switching to preamp for speakers, hopefully remembering the volume setting.

Yes, I'd bypass the Nad's preamp because of the preamp section of Nad c320bee is the weakest link in the signal chain. The power amp section is quite good in fact, it has been measured here by Amirm (post no. #32.)

I used to own one and had it working as a power amp with Topping E30II in preamp mode. Also, the channel balance was better at low volumes with E30II.

You can of course toggle between the preamp and the dac-only modes if that's easier for you. Just need to remember to check which one is selected before inputting signal to the system.

I used these kind of splitters to divide the signal from E30II to the Nad and to a subwoofer amp.