NAD C320 Speaker Issues

[jooooe2448]

Hi All

I'm having a bit of trouble finding a suitable pairing for my NAD C320 Amp

I've currently got a pair of Dali Zensor 1's but I can only use them with the amp at barely 10% volume before they start to become really shouty and uncomfortable to listen to. A work around to this is dialing back the volume of the source (e.g laptop via aux or phone via bluetooth) to around 40% and then I can turn up the amp to about half volume and the sound feels way more full and complete. This issue is I obviously can't do this with my turntable.

Any suggestions as to what the problem might be? The amp is recently refurbished so can only assume it's the speakers

*Relevant Specs
NAD C320
- 40 watts per channel at 8 ohm's

Dali Zensor 1
- 6ohm
- recommend amplification 25 - 100 watts

 

[Gray]

Am I right in thinking that the input they've labelled as 'disc' is a phono input?
And if your vinyl does go via the NADs internal phono input, is the sound equally as bad - when compared to phone / laptop?

 

[jooooe2448]

I

Am I right in thinking that the input they've labelled as 'disc' is a phono input?
And if your vinyl does go via the NADs internal phono input, is the sound equally as bad - when compared to phone / laptop?

I don't believe it is, have just tried it to double check and yeah the sound defo felt like it was missing a phono stage

*had to crank the amp all the way up to even hear anything

 

[jooooe2448]

Essentially what I'm after is a bit more volume control rather than a small adjustment resulting in a huge volume jump from the speakers. Would a higher wattage 8 ohm speaker cope better with the amp?

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

You could try some of these between source and amp. I use them and notice no deterioration in sound:

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[jooooe2448]

You could try some of these between source and amp. I use them and notice no deterioration in sound:

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amazing yeah these look great

 

[Gray]

amazing yeah these look great

They are.
They will effectively be doing the same thing as you reducing the level of your laptop / Bluetooth sources 👍

BUT the reason I asked whether your amp had a built-in phono amp and how it compares......
IF you are using a built-in phono amp and your vinyl sounds just as bad - external attenuators will do nothing to help that.

I'm guessing that your volume issues are ok with your vinyl though 🤔?

 

[nopiano]

Essentially what I'm after is a bit more volume control rather than a small adjustment resulting in a huge volume jump from the speakers. Would a higher wattage 8 ohm speaker cope better with the amp?

There’s something not right if you find the turntable input too loud. Typically it’s a bit *quieter* than say a CD player input. Unfortunately, my limited experience with PC and phone as a source says they’re unpredictable at best. You’re right to wind them back, as otherwise the input side of your amp is overloaded and will sound awful - as you seem to have discovered.

Please set out exactly what turntable you are using, and how it is connected. Your answer to the phone situation is to reduce the phone’s output as you already tried.

Edit:- and I guess you’ve plugged in a Bluetooth adapter as I don’t think your amp has a BT input as it’s getting on a bit, isn’t it?

 

[nads]

C320 or C320 BEE.

I did not get on with the Dali speakers when I was auditioning speakers for my NADs.

All your inputs are line level.

 

[Al ears]

Am I right in thinking that the input they've labelled as 'disc' is a phono input?
And if your vinyl does go via the NADs internal phono input, is the sound equally as bad - when compared to phone / laptop?

As @nads stated I thought all inputs were line level.
It would seem clear that all his outputs from phone and PC have already been amplified and are not at line level.

 

[jooooe2448]

Just the standard C320

C320 or C320 BEE.

I did not get on with the Dali speakers when I was auditioning speakers for my NADs.

All your inputs are line level.

They are.
They will effectively be doing the same thing as you reducing the level of your laptop / Bluetooth sources 👍

BUT the reason I asked whether your amp had a built-in phono amp and how it compares......
IF you are using a built-in phono amp and your vinyl sounds just as bad - external attenuators will do nothing to help that.

I'm guessing that your volume issues are ok with your vinyl though 🤔?

I always just used an Edwards audio phono stage ( as you can probably tell it's a pretty budget setup)

It's odd as I raised the issue with a local Hifi Repairman and he tested my whole system with the exception of him using his test speakers and there weren't any real issues, he seemed confident that there weren't any issues with the phono and amp and turntable combo

 

[jooooe2448]

There’s something not right if you find the turntable input too loud. Typically it’s a bit *quieter* than say a CD player input. Unfortunately, my limited experience with PC and phone as a source says they’re unpredictable at best. You’re right to wind them back, as otherwise the input side of your amp is overloaded and will sound awful - as you seem to have discovered.

Please set out exactly what turntable you are using, and how it is connected. Your answer to the phone situation is to reduce the phone’s output as you already tried.

Edit:- and I guess you’ve plugged in a Bluetooth adapter as I don’t think your amp has a BT input as it’s getting on a bit, isn’t it?

Hi there

Yeah it's odd, in terms of my full setup it's a:

- Pro-ject T1 turntable
- Hooked up to an Edwards Audio Apprentice MM Phono Stage
- That's hooked up to my amp with QED RCA cables via the CD input ( but have tried the other inputs and it didn't sound any different
- And then my amp is connected to the speakers via banana plugs

 

[jooooe2448]

They are.
They will effectively be doing the same thing as you reducing the level of your laptop / Bluetooth sources 👍

BUT the reason I asked whether your amp had a built-in phono amp and how it compares......
IF you are using a built-in phono amp and your vinyl sounds just as bad - external attenuators will do nothing to help that.

I'm guessing that your volume issues are ok with your vinyl though 🤔?

No if anything it's probably worse, don't know if that's due to my external phono boosting the signal too much? ( quite a newby to all this so I might be talking nonsense)

 

[Al ears]

No if anything it's probably worse, don't know if that's due to my external phono boosting the signal too much? ( quite a newby to all this so I might be talking nonsense)

Depending on which Edwards Audio product you have it cannot boost the signal to more than line level ....

 

[nopiano]

Hi there

Yeah it's odd, in terms of my full setup it's a:

- Pro-ject T1 turntable
- Hooked up to an Edwards Audio Apprentice MM Phono Stage
- That's hooked up to my amp with QED RCA cables via the CD input ( but have tried the other inputs and it didn't sound any different
- And then my amp is connected to the speakers via banana plugs

Thanks! If your turntable is the *plain* T1 then it doesn’t have a phono stage included. There are phono and BT versions too, so I’m double checking you aren’t boosting your cartridge signal firstly in the turntable and then a second time in the Edwards phono stage?

It’s a quite a common mistake these days. However, if you’ve just got the Edwards stage doing the boosting and equalisation I’m at a loss to know why you have so much gain. Less sensitive/efficient speakers, or an attenuation device seems a step I simply can’t imagine should be necessary.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks! If your turntable is the *plain* T1 then it doesn’t have a phono stage included. There are phono and BT versions too, so I’m double checking you aren’t boosting your cartridge signal firstly in the turntable and then a second time in the Edwards phono stage?

It’s a quite a common mistake these days. However, if you’ve just got the Edwards stage doing the boosting and equalisation I’m at a loss to know why you have so much gain. Less sensitive/efficient speakers, or an attenuation device seems a step I simply can’t imagine should be necessary.

Agreed, I have only ever used attenuators to slightly reduce the output of a CD player to bring it more in line with the volume from my turntable set-up.

 

[Gray]

It's odd as I raised the issue with a local Hifi Repairman and he tested my whole system with the exception of him using his test speakers and there weren't any real issues, he seemed confident that there weren't any issues with the phono and amp and turntable combo

How well did you explain your issue to the repair man?
Did he understand your complaint?
Were you there to hear what he heard when he declared that there were "no real issues"?