NAD C390DD Direct Digital DAC/Amplifier

[rollo]

  But can it peel a potato ?? Shoot man it does seem like the Swiss Army knife in Audio.
   The NAD house sound has always been a pleasant one to my ears. It was always a matter of omission than inferior sonics. The extremes of the touted gear won out overall however never disappointed.  Handed down our NAD intergrated to our Son. Using with Advent speakers. Sounds just fine.
   NOW this is innovation. Good post Chris. Only $2600 available at Crutchfield.  Arions $6000, PDX $4400, NAD $2600. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Now is it love at first sight, will the love continue ? time will tell.


charles

[bhobba]

NOW this is innovation. Good post Chris. Only $2600 available at Crutchfield.  Arions $6000, PDX $4400, NAD $2600. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Now is it love at first sight, will the love continue ? time will tell.

Well put.

A couple of points though.  I will be very surprised if it bests the PDX into the Arion - VERY surprised - but you never know.  This will be one of the first things I check out when my Arion finally arrives.  I am also getting my PDX tricked out with Bybees.  I got some Bybees fitted to my Canberra friends PDX on the output and it made a quite noticeable difference.  I am now getting mine fitted not only on the output but on the PS and battery power into the USB.

To get the type of up there performance that impressed the bejesus out of me you need the Off-Ramp which costs $2K.  The Audiophellio 2 worked well from reports - but not as good as the Off-Ramp.

Thsanks
Bill

[bhobba]

A fellow member of our forum here in Aus, Rob, popped on over today and bought a very interesting goodie - a Bybee modified Spectron.

First we listened to my latest toy the NAD C390DD via my Off-Ramp and Rob was gobsmaked how good it was for its pittance and equally astounded the difference the Off-Ramp made - the difference not subtle - not subtle at all.  Anyway we switched over to using the Spectron fed by the pre outs of the NAD. At first I thought good - but was it better than the NAD - a little different - clean, clear, and very precise. Anyway I need not have worried - further listening showed it was better - its cleanliness and purity grows on you and you find yourself relaxing into it. Also after a while you realize the NAD had the slightest trace of digital glare the Spectron removes. We popped the Playback Designs on and - well for our taste it had a far too relaxed and laid back sound.  Next was the PDX and it was really sweet - very very enjoyable to listen to. We sat there listening to various tracks and we both agreed this was the best sound of the day. This was better than Mac 501's - I suspect I know why I think the NAD and now the Spectron was better - the 501's have a bit of a tubey midrange (it has valve output transformers) and both the NAD and Spectron just give you what's there - warts and all which when fed with DAC's like this sounds a bit less artificial for want of a better word - anyway I liked it better.

Interestingly my new digital amps - the Arion 500's - have arrived - they are monoblocks and customs here in Aus stopped one (the other arrived fine) so it it needs to be investigated how to get it released. That will be sorted out I am sure and evidently the person that got them in for me is under strict instuctions not to let anyone hear them until they have at least 300 hours on them. Anyway once it is all sorted out there will be an amp shootout and Rob has agreed to bring his Spectron along to it. It will be between the NAD, Spectron, Arion and Mac 501's. Watch out for it.

Thanks
Bill

[richidoo]

That's exciting. Have fun Bill

[bhobba]

That's exciting. Have fun Bill

Always - always.

My new ML2's are nearing completion and I haven't forgotten the promise to get them out for you guys to hear.  Haven't said anything because its taken so long to eventuate and don't want to get anyone's hopes up it will be soon.  But hopefully not long now - more information when it actually happens.

Thanks
Bill

[rollo]

 Bill those Arions will take some hours to sound their best. The Cardas output cap changes several times and will settle somewhere between 400 to 500 hours.
     My personal Arions have replaced the Cyber 211 in my system. I never thought a class "D" hybrid could do that. freaked me out actually. I'm a tubey kind of guy. Still shaking my head. Hopefully you will have a similar experience.


charles
   

[bhobba]

Still waiting for it to clear customs here in Aus - hopefully soon now.

It will be on continuous burn in for at least 300 hours before any kind of serious listening is done.

The guy doing the burn in for me had a peek inside and noticed the Cardas - he wants to eventually replace it with Duelund VSF Copper - but that's for a while down the track.

Looking at a shootout with the NAD, Spectron, Mac's, and the NCore - should be really interesting.

Heard the ML2 References for the first time - as you would say - my my - dynamics like a thunderclap that makes any material sound loud even if it isnt and midrange to die for.

Thanks
Bill 

[hogg]

The NAC C390DD received an excellent review from Robert Harley in the current issue of "The Absolute Sound".  It's his go-to integrated at the moment.

                                                  Jim

[bhobba]

Yea - someone pointed that out and because of that I got the issue.  Very interesting read.  If anyone wants a copy drop me a line and I will email it.

Just an update - we redid the comparison with the PDX and MAC's.  Sorry - even with the Off-Ramp it was better - so much for judging things from memory.  Still excellent value for money though and an up there sound.

Thanks
Bill