NAD C315/316 owners

[admin_exported]

How decent is the headphone section of these amps? Ive read the reviews whathifi has done but see no mention of how the headphone section performes so id like the opinion of owners who may use them with headphones. My current CA 340A has a really bad headphone section and its just a tad underpowered for my Dali Ikon 1s so im thinking about side/upgrading to the smalles of the nad's.

 

[Anonymous]

I dont have C 315 BEE

But I dont have problem hooking myheadphones to my NAD C 320 BEE. However, the bass on the headphone is so out of proportion but i think that is the problem with the headphone - Sennheiser HD 202 (same problem reported by several customers, which i found from amazon's webiste, but it was too late).

 

[Anonymous]

I've got the 315BEE but never used the headphone jack...I'll try it out in the next coulple of days.

 

[Anonymous]

excellent. look forward to your "review" 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

Be warned that it's impossible for an in depth review. the headphones are basic Seinheiser in-ear headphones and my point of reference tend to be small MP3 players...but I'll give it a shot. That model is quite well stocked with most NAD dealers, perhaps taking your own headphones for a demo is worthwhile. As it has just been mentioned, the headphones used are going to play a large part to play.

 

[Sizzers]

Well if you are otherwise happy with your amp then it would be cheaper (and better) to invest in a headphone amp.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes Sizzer and i got an headphone amp on another system. I would like to keep the system as basic as possible due to space restriction where the system sits with just amp/cdp and speakers. It will be a bonus if the headphone section was ok for when i need to listen to headpones but not the primary use for it 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

andypalf:Be warned that it's impossible for an in depth review. the headphones are basic Seinheiser in-ear headphones and my point of reference tend to be small MP3 players...but I'll give it a shot. That model is quite well stocked with most NAD dealers, perhaps taking your own headphones for a demo is worthwhile. As it has just been mentioned, the headphones used are going to play a large part to play.

Yup its just a hassle to take the big cans with me to town if i can avoid it 🙂 Going to use the sennheiser 650 and a pair of senn 555's. I was really just wondering if somenone by any chanse had tried to use their 315/316 with headphones and could give me a general thumbs down or up 🙂 I know i cant expect too much from that budget amp

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I occasionally use my ATH-A900 on my NAD C326 and I think it is very good. I never used headphones amps though, but I think the sound is really good through the C326 jack.

 

[Anonymous]

Thx Robby. 🙂

 

[saintsboy]

I have a 315 BEE and it works just fine for me via headphones. I use Grado SR60s and Shure 440s; the Grados sound particularly good.

 

[Chokobolt]

That's great 😉

What can you say about the 315 BEE for stereolistening with your loudspeakers? My parents are considering buying this amp

 

[Anonymous]

saintsboy:I have a 315 BEE and it works just fine for me via headphones. I use Grado SR60s and Shure 440s; the Grados sound particularly good.

Great! I think ill go for the 316 BEE then.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry sir, can't find a headphone jack the right size so can't do a little test.

 

[Anonymous]

oki thanks anyway 🙂

Ill wait a month and go for the C326 and not the 316. Need the extra power and i just got to try the headphone socket and it was decent.

 

[MCRetina]

One question

When I play my c315 at very low volume i can hear only one speaker or mostly one speaker (left), when I turn the volume up I can listen to both of them very nicely. Im using MA-BR2.

Any coment?

Thanks

 

[Cypher]

One question

When I play my c315 at very low volume i can hear only one speaker or mostly one speaker (left), when I turn the volume up I can listen to both of them very nicely. Im using MA-BR2.

Any coment?

Thanks

Lots of amps have this problem. My nadc326bee has it too. But it's no problem for me personally because I never listen at very low volumes.

 

[matthewpiano]

It's the cheap part used for the volume control. Cheaper CA amps such as the Topaz series ones suffer from the same issue, which only disappears when you get into their Azur range, which use Alps Black Box.

 

[ear]

my topaz sr10 doesnt have such problems

but headphone jack is rubbish

 

[MCRetina]

Greetings from Mexico

Thanks a lot for the info.

I'm also not sure its a problem. Anyhow I contacted NAD and the said that it may need new "speaker relays" so I sent my amp to service. I will let you know how it goes..

On the other hand I was thinking that I may need less sensitive speakers. I'm using the MA BR2 and ther sensitivity is 90db, probably the KEF Q300 will do better at low volume since the amp will need to make a "bigger effort" to move them sice they have 87 db of sensitivity....... any thoughts?? (I hope what im saying is logic, im just an amateur).

Thanks

 

[eggontoast]

Greetings from Mexico

Thanks a lot for the info.

I'm also not sure its a problem. Anyhow I contacted NAD and the said that it may need new "speaker relays" so I sent my amp to service. I will let you know how it goes..

On the other hand I was thinking that I may need less sensitive speakers. I'm using the MA BR2 and ther sensitivity is 90db, probably the KEF Q300 will do better at low volume since the amp will need to make a "bigger effort" to move them sice they have 87 db of sensitivity....... any thoughts?? (I hope what im saying is logic, im just an amateur).

Thanks

As previously mentioned the imbalance at low volume is usually down to the volume pot not tracking together. One way to get around it if you do a lot of low level listening is to get some RCA attenuators and fit them on the inputs, this then moves your listening range to a higher setting on the pot where it tracks better.

The NAD C315BEE is unusual in that it has an internal adjustment for low volume settings. I am guessing that when your amp is returned from NAD that they will have just tweaked this and balanced the channels better.

How decent is the headphone section of these amps?

I'm listening to one at the moment with a pair of DT770 pro's and it sounds pretty darn good, its just dropped of the main power stage via resistors. Considering you can pick these amps up for £100 they are a bargain.

 

[MCRetina]

As previously mentioned the imbalance at low volume is usually down to the volume pot not tracking together. One way to get around it if you do a lot of low level listening is to get some RCA attenuators and fit them on the inputs, this then moves your listening range to a higher setting on the pot where it tracks better.

The NAD C315BEE is unusual in that it has an internal adjustment for low volume settings. I am guessing that when your amp is returned from NAD that they will have just tweaked this and balanced the channels better.

[/quote]

Thanks eggontoast , this attenuator idea sounds very good and a lot cheaper than new speakers but how much do you think that the attenuators will affect the performance of my (budget) sistem?

NAD c515 CD

NAD c315 amp

MA BR2

soundquest cable 16

 

[eggontoast]

Thanks eggontoast , this attenuator idea sounds very good and a lot cheaper than new speakers but how much do you think that the attenuators will affect the performance of my (budget) sistem?

NAD c515 CD

NAD c315 amp

MA BR2

soundquest cable 16

IMO they won't

 

[MCRetina]

It's the cheap part used for the volume control. Cheaper CA amps such as the Topaz series ones suffer from the same issue, which only disappears when you get into their Azur range, which use Alps Black Box.

Sory for the quote without text.

I sent my amp NAD C315 to service and the said the found the problem and changed something called “relevador de volumen” in Spanish, I assume it’s the "speaker relays” that NAD international recommended to change and guess what?............. it sounds exactly like I sent it, mono at very low volume!!

To be honest I’m not sure if they did anything at all.

As it was mention in the forum by matthewpiano and others this is a common problem with budget amps, does anyone noticed this mono at very low volume in their systems?

I don’t want to send it again for nothing.

Thanks.

 

[Blackdawn]

Hi, yes my amp (sig) is slightly louder sounding at low volumes in the right channel but not that noticable. You could use the balance control to reduce the difference in volume between both speakers.
A lot of the budget amps have this type of cheaper volume pot. You could either play the music louder! or try a different budget amp. What about the CA Azur range.