any thoughts on the NAD C390DD?

[georgescookie]

Hi guys, im eyeing up the NAD C390dd following a price drop, has anyone had any experience with it, any opinions perhaps? I'm feeling my current Marantz setup is lacking, particularly in the midrange, and treble can be a bit a splashy at times. I wonder if my Focal Aria 906s would like the NAD more ...thanks...

 

[tino]

A couple of the WHF forum members own or have owned a 390 so can give their opinion on sound quality. I noticed the similar price drop the other day (cheapest I saw was £999 new). I think the HDMI, analogue, and BlueOS modules are useful additions to the basic amp.

 

[georgescookie]

Hi Tino, thanks for replyting. Yeah thats the price thats caught my attention, it does look interesting with those interchangeable modules but ive noticed on sevenoaks website it states you cant use both the BlueOS and analogue modules at the same time, which is disapponting if true:

http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/p-12210-nad-dd-bluos.aspx

Hopefully some of these kind forum members can post thier thoughts on the unit *angel*

 

[JamesMellor]

Hi George ,

You gotta love this site , I wrote you a reply and its gone , so I'll try again , keeping it a bit shorter this time <S>

I've had mine for nearly two years and the best way to describe it is effortless , natural and enyjoyable soundstage and imaging is excellent from singer songer writers to sloppy rock n rollers it never falls apart , detail in spades , total control over my 4 ohm Dalis .

But , it's a digital amp if you add the analogue module , at 300 quid, it's also an A to D card , wilro15 , from my faulty memory, said it wasn't "dirty enough" with his TT. You can plug a mac/pc in the back and it will play itunes files , a windows formatted HDD with flac files can also plug in the back and be controlled by the R/C , it wont play ACC from the HDD.

I think you really need to home demo one because you will have to use a digital out from your CDP will will in effect be replacing both your CDP and AMP in one go

James

 

[georgescookie]

Hi there James,

Thanks for your reply...and for rewriting it again! The site does seem slow and buggy but I guess its worth the pain for the amount of useful info you can get *pleasantry*.

The NAD C390DD does sound to be a great amp as per your description but demo'ing it will be difficult as there is no Sevenoaks local to me, what speakers are you using them with?

I searched wilro15 on the forums and came across his posts about the unit and to my disappiontment, he confirmed you are unable to install the blueos & anolgue cards at the same time *unknw* Plus I see he is now using an Abrahamsen so I assume he got bored of the NAD *boredom*

Using my turntable & the blueOS would have been perfection, I could have got rid of the CD player all together and just used the NAD. Might have to look at other options but thanks for your post James *smile*

 

[SteveR750]

I bought one of the first ones, largely on the basis of Andrew Everard's review. I'm afraid I didn't like it much, bearing in mind I'd paid something around £2k for it, and it wasn't an upgrade from the Kandy K2 at the time. It wasn't the most exciting amp I'd heard, so I returned it within the 14 day period for a refund.

 

[georgescookie]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the feedback, and for making me feel better as I ended up ordering a Roksan K3 just before your post! Should be here tomorrow if all goes well but the C390DD is still playing on my mind abit, I would audition them both but just dont have the time.

Can I ask did you allow the C390DD to burn in before serious listening as I read it takes ages for it to open up. Also what were the main differences in sound you noticed between the K2 and the NAD?

Thanks