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Help with NAD C320BEE brightness. Break-in???

I'm the new proud owner of a NAD C 320BEE integrated amplifier. I’ve been playing it for about 2 weeks now and feel that is a tad too cool & bright sounding – bass & mids are very nice! While I’m not a person that like the lushness of certain tubs amps, I feel this amp need a touch of warmth and smoothness in the high frequency range. I’m wondering if the amp need more break in time?? Or should I run Tara Labs I.C.’s instead of the AMP/PREAMP jumpers. I was considering trying “The Missing Link” jumpers or Reference Gen 2’s ($100.00) interconnects. Thanks in advance.
pinestate
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,758 posts
 
In all honesty, replacing the jumpers with $100 interconnects on a $400 integrated amp, just doesn't sound right. I have been using the NAD C 320BEE for just about a year and have never found the sound "bright" sounding, not even out of the box. The NAD required some breaking in, but not an excessive amount (a week at most). Good quality interconnects and cables will help smooth out the sound. For example, with the NAD, I have had success with Signal Cable (Analog One Interconnects and Speaker Cables) and Better Cables (Silver Serpent) products ... and mixed results with Radio Shack Gold Series interconnects and mega speaker cables. My question would be what is your associated equipment ... as the NAD could be uncovering the brightness potential of another component. Regards, Rich
mtbrider
150 posts
 
The "Missing Link" is an inexpensive/effective step to take.
pinestate OP
20 posts
 
Thanks for the responses so far. I guess it could be my cd player. It's an older Adcom GFA 600 or something like that. It got good reviews about 8 years ago and still works good. I'll admit it! I had to sell my Krell KSA 50s amp last month to fund a new house I'm finishing up.
I was looking for something inexpensive to replace it with and get similar sound. The Krell KSA 50s was sweet and warm. I'm pretty close to the KSA 50s sound, but am missing the warmth in the music. I'm looking for a tweak to get me closer. I do realize I can’t replace a $1300. amp with a $400. integrated and get the same sound, the C 320BEE is not to bad!
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,758 posts
 
When I compare my NAD C 320BEE integrated to my Musical Fidelity A3 integrated (or my retired Adcom GTP500 II/GFA 545 preamp/amp combination), the NAD is slightly below the others in terms of smoothness and warmth ... but the NAD is still fine sounding. I found that upgrading the interconnects and speaker cables helped make the NAD sound more revealing and smoother. Still, the NAD only required modest costing cables and interconnects. I never thought about changing the jumpers and would just doubt that you would have the results that you are looking for (but, if you have good interconnects around ... give it a shot). Your Adcom is probably fine ... I am using a Pioneer PD65, which seems to mate well. If I remember your set-up correctly, you are using bookshelf SNELL speakers and are bi-wiring them, as well. Try the speakers without the bi-wiring (but inter-connect the like speaker leads with speaker cable as opposed to the supplied jumpers). Regards, Rich
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