NAD C325BEE Integrated Amplifier
The NAD C325BEE carries on the tradition of NAD amps of the
last 30 or so years: it’s a no-frills but very capable reproducer of music. Its
immediate predecessor, the C320BEE, was the GoodSound! Product of the Year for
2005, and the C325BEE appears to be another winning product.
Description
The "BEE" suffix acknowledges Bjørn Erik
Edvardsen, the C325’s designer and NAD’s director of advanced development. The
C325BEE ($399 USD) combines Edvardsen’s innovations of great dynamic headroom, high
peak-current capability, and Soft Clipping with two of more recent vintage. First is the
PowerDrive technology, which NAD says "adjusts the power supply parameters of the
amplifier to best cope with the actual musical signal and specific speaker loading
characteristics." Second, the BEE Clamp prevents "thermal runaway" and
helps the C325BEE instantly recover from current overload. That’s a good thing --
thermal runaway can destroy an amp’s output stage in the blink of an eye.
Visually, the C325BEE is a near clone of most recent NAD
gear, bearing a great resemblance to the C320BEE. It measures 17" wide by 4"
high and 11.5" deep, and is available in NAD’s traditional Titanium (gray)
finish or in Graphite (black). Some people find NAD components a bit sedate, but I find
them refreshing. Their forms follow their functions -- there’s no glitz, no
unnecessary flash.
Four large knobs control Volume, Balance, Treble, and Bass.
There’s also a pushbutton to bypass the tone controls. The five line inputs and two
tape in/out connections (only Tape 1 has a monitor function) are controlled by a row of
interlocking, light-touch pushbuttons across the center of the front panel. Much to my
disappointment, there is no phono stage. However, one input, designated Disc/MP, can be
connected to NAD’s PP-2 phono stage via a jack on the rear panel, or to an iPod or
other mobile player via a 1/8" stereo minijack on the front. There’s also a
1/4" headphone jack under the Power/Standby button; plugging in a set of phones mutes
the speaker outputs.
The C325BEE comes with a full-system remote control that
can operate any NAD tuner and/or CD player. There is also pre-out/amp-in link to allow
insertion of a graphic equalizer or to feed the preamp’s signal to an outboard power
amp.
Like the C320BEE, the C325BEE is rated at 50Wpc at 0.02%
THD, but its dynamic outputs are rated well above that level: 110Wpc at 8 ohms or 160W at
4 ohms. As usual with NAD equipment, the circuit-board layout is excellent and the overall
build quality is very fine, especially for $399.
Setup
Along with the C325BEE, NAD supplied its two logical source
counterparts, the C525BEE CD player and C425 tuner (reviews in the works for both). I also
used the C325BEE with my Sony CDP-X303ES CD player. The speakers were from NAD stablemate
PSB (both are divisions of the Lenbrook Group): a pair of Alpha A/Vs I’ve had for
about ten years, mounted on 24" PSB stands, and a newer PSB 5i subwoofer, all
connected with 14-gauge zip cord. I’m not a huge believer in fancy interconnects, but
I did use some that were heavier than those supplied with the NAD gear.
Sound
Immediately on setup, the NAD gear sounded smoother than
the Onkyo mini-system that normally drives my PSB speakers. With the Onkyo, there’s
always an edge to highs that makes for an aggressive sound. That never happened when the
PSBs were driven by the NADs. The sound remained sweet no matter the volume level -- and I
played it very loudly in a fairly large room (22’ x 13’ x 8.5’).
That’s not to say that the NAD sounded dull. Perish
the thought! With highly percussive music -- the bass lines in Fourplay’s "Bali
Run," from Fourplay [CD, Warner Bros. 26656-2] or Paul Simon’s "You
Can Call Me Al," from Graceland [CD, Warner Bros. R2 78904], for instance, or
the snap of the snare roll in the opening of Steve Winwood’s Roll With It [CD,
Virgin V2 90946] -- there was a real sense of the energy being expended. British audio
writers often talk of rhythm and slam; if I understand the terms correctly,
the C325BEE has both in spades.
Any fears that 50Wpc might not be enough power were
dispelled near the finale of Bach’s "Little" Fugue in G Minor, transcribed
for orchestra by Leopold Stokowski and performed by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops
on The Fantastic Stokowski [CD, Telarc CD-80338]. At that point the orchestra is
full on, led by a terrific bass-drum stroke. There was no sense of strain at all. Overall,
it was a fantastic performance.
I’ve always believed that two of the best tests of a
sound system are the female voice and the acoustic piano. In auditioning the C325BEE with
the C525BEE CD player, I listened to a lot of Annie Ross, Rosemary Clooney, and Alison
Krauss. A longtime favorite is Ross’s original version of "Twisted," from
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross’s The Hottest New Group in Jazz [CD,
Columbia/Legacy C2K 64933]. In that recording, Ross was, shall we say, intimate with the
microphone -- if she’d been any closer, she’d have swallowed it -- so there are
a lot of plosives that momentarily overload the mike just slightly. All that came through
the NADs far better than when I played the same recording via the Onkyo mini-system, and
yielded much clearer sound. Rosemary Clooney recorded Brazil [Concord Jazz
CCD-4884-2] in 2000, fairly late in her career; her voice was huskier than in earlier
years and her range had begun to falter. I’m convinced that, to hit the low opening
note of the title song, she moved her chin up so that her mouth wasn’t aimed right at
the mike -- if you listen carefully, you can hear a very slight remoteness. On the second,
higher note, she returns to her normal position, and her voice is fuller. That came
through well over the NAD -- nearly as well as I remember it sounding with my reference
system (Sony CD player, Linn Majik amp, and NEAR 50 me-II speakers; currently on the
sidelines, awaiting completion of my new listening room). Alison Krauss’s voice is so
ethereal, especially on the title track of Now that I’ve Found You [CD,
Rounder CD325], that you need a system that can handle delicacy. Again, no problem: with
either my Sony or the NAD CD player, the C325BEE integrated gave a magnificent
performance.
For piano, I relied on a local release, 82hundred Brill
[CD, Strugglebaby SBD-2302], which brings together five excellent Cincinnati jazz pianists
on a single instrument: a Bösendorfer conservatory grand that resides at 8200 Brill Road,
in Cincinnati’s exclusive Indian Hill section. Its owner bought it for himself as a
50th birthday present, but decided to have some pros come in, along with some guests --
and oh, by the way, he’d have the proceedings recorded and released (when one lives
in Indian Hill, one often can afford to do such things). This is piano music at its best:
great players, great instrument, excellent acoustics, terrific miking, and a good
selection of tunes. My fave is Leroy Anderson’s "Belle of the Ball,"
performed by Frank Vincent with Michael Sharfe on bass. A gently swinging waltz,
"Belle" offers Vincent the chance to exercise his fingers as he goes from quiet
hush to full force. The recording is good enough that it sounds fine on nearly any system,
but on this one it was a real treat.
Another favorite is guitarist and song stylist John
Pizzarelli, whom I’ve heard in person in fairly intimate surroundings. A standout on
his Bossa Nova album [CD, Telarc CD-83591] is his performance of "Love
Dance." It begins with Pizzarelli’s voice, his nylon-string guitar, and a shaker
to keep rhythm, later joined by a string quartet softly countering the melody. This is
another intimate recording, and Pizzarelli is no Sinatra, but his voice transcends mere
vocal quality, and his guitar playing is out of this world. Through the Onkyo system --
which retailed for about $600, including a pair of small Polk speakers -- some of the
intimacy seems masked, though I’m not quite sure why. But with the C325BEE and
C525BEE it was just clean, clear, and, again, sweet. As Pizzarelli scatted with both voice
and guitar on the next tune, "So Danço Samba," Ray Kennedy’s piano was
nicely rhythmic and placed louder than the guitar for most of the track. Yet the
soundstaging remained great, with Pizzarelli’s voice and guitar centered and
Kennedy’s piano a bit up and to the right. Very nice.
Speaking of Sinatra, I’ve always thought that one of
his finest, most feeling performances is "One for My Baby (And One More for the
Road)." I’ve heard that Sinatra recorded the song shortly after the end of his
short-lived and tempestuous marriage to Ava Gardner. There’s no doubt that Sinatra
called up the emotions of a deep hurt when he sang the song -- there’s a palpable
sense of resignation in his performance that doesn’t come through some sound systems.
It certainly came through the NAD C325BEE.
There were minute, nearly imperceptible differences between
the sounds the C325BEE produced from the Sony CDP-X303ES and NAD’s own C525BEE. The
NAD player had a livelier presentation of material, while the Sony player sounded a bit
silkier. Overall, I preferred the sound of the NAD mates.
But no matter what kind of material I threw at the C325BEE,
it handled it with aplomb. From Bach to ZZ Top, from Count Basie to Alison Krauss --
everything sounded great.
Conclusion
I’ve always very much enjoyed the NAD equipment
I’ve auditioned. They’ve always struck me as emphasizing the right aspects of
hi-fi: they sound good, they operate well, thought has been put into things that are often
overlooked (for instance, how much boost/cut and at what turnover points do the bass and
treble offer?), and they have enough inputs and outputs, but nothing frivolous. And NAD
does all of this at prices that are little less than astounding, given the overall quality
of workmanship and musical performance.
I found the NAD C325BEE a no-frills but very capable
reproducer of music. If you’re not into glitz or hype or having the biggest, baddest
stereo around, but instead are into the music, I heartily recommend that you check
out the C325BEE and its stablemates. It could be a great investment in satisfying sound.
...Thom Moon
Price of equipment reviewed
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