Problems with main-in on NAD amp C356BEE

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Anyone using a NAD stereo amp connected to a AV receiver using the receiver's pre-outs to the NAD's main-in inputs? If so, maybe you can share your wisdom on how to get this to work.

I bought a NAD C356 stereo amp a couple of days ago, hoping to increase the quality of my hi-fi sound over that which I have with my old setup. My old set-up is a Denon 1908 AV receiver to B&W speakers, 685s as the front left and right, using a Squeezebox (via DACMagic) to stream FLAC files from my computer. My idea, having read the forums, was to connect the Denon to the NAD using pre-out to the NAD's main-in, and then run my music via the NAD, and films and TV via the Denon/NAD combo. Woila - better sound for my music and a relatively easy connection - or so I thought.

It turns out connecting the Denon to the NAD that way means removing a funny little metal link connecting "pre-out2" with "main-in" on the back of the NAD. This turns the NAD into a power-amp - taking the line-in feed from the Denon. So far so good. However, what this means in reality is that the NAD will NOT accept any other inputs than the Denon into main-in. Meaning it is NOT possible in this configuration to connect my Squeezebox/DACMagic to the NAD. Instead, I have to still run the SQ/DM via the Denon. Surely this defeats the purpose and doesn't give much if any sound improvement.

Please correct me if I am wrong here, or if anyone has any other ideas on how to make this integration work.

See page 8 on the NAD user manual for a visual on the rear of the amp:

http://nadelectronics.com/content/100902145700-C356BEE_eng_OM_v09.pdf

Craig

PS

1) I've tried running Denon pre-out to an input on the NAD without using the main-in - it doesn't work

2) Other alternatives that go in the

EDITED BY MODS - please moderate your langauge

category are - a) not connecting the amps and just swapping the speaker cables between the amps depending on music or films, and b) pulling out the connecting cable and replacing the little metal link when playing music, and putting it back when playing films / watching TV :-(
 
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Anonymous

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put that metal link back where it was and connect the denons pre-outs to "aux" on the nad, make sure you then select "aux" using the nads remote control.. better turn down the volume a bit first..

trust me, i feel your pain, been there myself
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,,
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Thanks maxflinn, that is a good suggestion. I tried connecting the denon's pre-outs to the "aux" inputs on the NAD, and selected Aux on the NAD, after having moved the front left/right speakers to connect to the NAD (of course :)). However the problem is with that connection, I get no sound via the front speakers when playing TV/Films/Radio via the Denon :-( The NAD works fine playing my Squeezebox/DACMagic via the CD input. Hmmm.

I then experimented, trying the pre-outs to other connections on the NAD, eg, CD, with unfortunately the same result - no sound. I also dug into the Denon's dusty manual to try to find if there were tricks with pre-out, but found nothing.

Saw that you had a similar issue with your NAD 326BEE and solved it. This gives me hope. Will aim to take a photo and re-post, and keep experimenting. One other idea - could this be slightly different between the 326 and 356?
 
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Anonymous

Guest
All suggestions are gratefully accepted! I double checked this, and I am indeed plugging into the Pre-outs on the Denon, not the Ext-In connections. I also know that this connection works,as I have successfully connected from the Denon's pre-outs to the Main-in connection on the NAD. This has, however, major down-sides as mentioned previously. I'll keep looking at this after work, including swapping cables, and anything else I can think of. I've also posted a question to the NAD support team, so I hope I hear back from them in due course.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
UPDATE - PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Summary - volume was too low for the input I was selecting. Turning up the volume on the NAD to 9pm and also up a few notches on the Denon meant that I could hear the sound through the fronts! Magic and so simple.... feeling a little silly. Having taken the NAD back to the dealer (Hifiklubben in Stockholm), we managed to get it to work, hence leading me to the volume solution.

I was simply duped by the very high volume I got via the Main-in (at around 7-8pm on the NAD's volume switch), which produced nothing when the input went into the Aux input. Instead, to get sound through that input, I had to increase the NAD volume up much higher.

Now all I have to do, I believe, is run the Denon's speaker auto-calibration again to get some evenness back across the speakers.

Thanks for you all your advice and tips. I'll post a separate note about my selection of the NAD, against a Marantz and CA, something that might be of interest to some.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
remember to turn the nads volume down when you switch to cd input, ive got my marantz set at 12 o'clock volume, it startled me a few times when id forgot to turn it down
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