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Contemporary. Refined. Proven.
The C325BEE is a time proven design tracing its lineage back some 30-years to the highly acclaimed 3020 that in part poured the foundation the NAD name was built on. Today, our design philosophy remains refined, but unchanged. And the proof of our dedication is perhaps never clearer than through the performance of our integrated amplifiers.
THE PEDIGREE OF PERFORMANCE
The C325BEE is the latest in a long and distinguished lineage of amplifiers from NAD. This pedigree assures you of an amplifier that is technically outstanding and yet affordably priced.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
The C325BEE traces it’s lineage all the way back to the NAD 3020 which was introduced some 30 years ago. The 3020 was a revelation at the time, setting a technical standard that astonishingly few amps, regardless of price, could even match, much less better.
Like all great inventions, the premise of the 3020 seems obvious in retrospect. Make an amplifier that is optimised for musical signals (not just laboratory test tones) and able to cope with the complex requirements of real loudspeakers (not just laboratory loading resistors). This led to NAD’s redefinition of how an amplifier should be designed and exactly how much it needed to cost to exceed the expectations of music lovers. Terms like “Dynamic Headroom” and “Peak Current Capability” that have attained a permanent place in the audiophile lexicon were coined to describe these incredible NAD amplifiers.
THE SOUND OF MAGIC
What is the “magic” that makes one amplifier sound so much better than another? It all comes down to the experience of the design team and designing the amplifier for its intended use; no more, no less. An amplifier with Dynamic Headroom sounds “open”, “effortless” and “smooth”. The machine magically disappears and the music emerges recreating the atmosphere of the original musical performance. An amplifier with high Peak Current Capability has the “rhythmic punch” that gets your toe tapping and your heart pounding. It recreates the soul of the music. If an amplifier cannot produce enough current to cope with a real loudspeaker the sound becomes “thin” and “flat” lacking the third dimension of live music.
THE SCIENCE OF MAGIC
NAD has developed several patented amplifier innovations under the direction of Bjorn Erik Edvardsen (aka BEE).
• PowerDrive technology adds huge reserves of Dynamic Headroom without adding cost by ingeniously matching the amplifier to the speaker load. This is fully automatic in operation and adjusts the power supply parameters of the amplifier to best cope with the actual musical signal and specific speaker loading characteristics.
• Soft Clipping eliminates the harsh sound that occurs when an amplifier is overdriven. This feature also protects sensitive loudspeaker tweeters that can be easily damaged by the high frequency distortion caused by clipping (clipping describes the distorted shape of a musical sine wave when an amplifier is driven beyond its power rating).
• BEE Clamp is a new answer to an old problem endemic to all transistor amplifier designs. When the output transistors produce heat faster than it can be dissipated, the amplifier becomes momentarily unstable. This happens when the music has rich high frequency content and the speaker has low or difficult impedance. The BEE Clamp employs sophisticated real time monitoring of the output transistors’ load and drive and “clamps” the base drive to prevent saturation when necessary, thus improving amplifier stability and waveform fidelity. The C325BEE can instantly recover from overload, reducing both the amount and the duration of distortion, regardless of load impedance.NAD has a deeper understanding of the nature of musical sounds and has devised innovative circuits that overcome the limitations of semiconductors, capacitors, and the other electronic components that make up an amplifier. This innovation has resulted in a product that truly excels in the reproduction of music.
HOW WE MADE THE BEST BETTER
The C320BEE and its predecessors has been the benchmark for budget amplifiers for 30 years now, having won every award in the Hi-Fi industry several times over. Making the C325BEE better than the C320BEE was a tall order! By “trickling down” several innovations from NAD’s new state-of-the-art Masters Series products has resulted in the C325BEE having even less distortion, less noise, and a more detailed rendition of the musical recording.
• New DC Servo eliminates sound colouring capacitors in the signal path. This improves musical detail and eliminates harmful loudspeaker ‘offset’.
• Patented distortion canceling circuit uses both feedback and feed forward to reduce distortion and improve amplifier stability.
• Highly optimised circuit layout further lowers internal impedance, improves grounding, and eliminates subtle magnetic distortions. Lower noise and distortion, and improved channel separation are a direct result of this optimisation.
• Surface mount (SMD) technology shortens signal paths and lowers distortion in NAD's proprietary Class A gain modules.
• BEE Clamp improves HF stability when driving difficult speakers.
• Volume Control has minimum volume cancellation circuit to increase attenuation by 10dB.
• Tone controls are hand trimmed for perfect response characteristics.
• A new idling current circuit is more accurate with less unit-to-unit variation.
• More rigid chassis has improved mechanical integrity.
• MP Input for easy connection of iPod™, MP3 and other Media Players employing 3.5mm headphone sockets.
VALUE, REDEFINED
NAD has yet further improved the class leading amplifier using new technology developed for its range topping Masters Series components. The C325BEE is the new benchmark against which all other affordable amplifiers will be compared. As with the previous iterations of this classic NAD amplifier, you will have to spend several times the C325BEE’s asking price before you can even approach the technical precision and musical involvement offered by this unassuming looking little amplifier. All this sophistication and refinement is available now in the NAD C325BEE; the new value leader in affordable Hi-Fi!
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Power Amp
Continuous average power output into 8ohms: 50W (17dBW)
Rated distortion (THD 20Hz-20kHz) : 0.02%
Clipping power (max cont. power/channel) : 68W (18dBW)
IHF dynamic headroom at 8ohms: +3.4dB
IHF dynamic power:
• 8 ohms 110W (20.41dBW)
• 4 ohms 160W (22.04dBW)
• 2 ohms 210W (23.2dBW)
Damping factor: >160
Frequency response:
• 20Hz-20kHz ±0.2dB
• 3Hz/70kHz ±0.1dB
Input impedance R and C: 20k ohm / 470pF
Input sensitivity (for rated output into 8 ohms) : 730mV
Voltage gain: 29dB
Signal to noise ratio, A-weighted:
• ref. 1W >-100dB
• ref. rated power >-117dB
Physical Specification
Dimensions (W×H×D) : 435 x 100 x 290mm
Net Weight: 8.0kg
Shipping Weight: 9.0kg
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