NAD C 3050 LE/Non-LE
Just got my LE in and it’s still running in. I’m sure some break-in time will help. However, I gotta say, for an AIOS, this thing is pretty damn good. Even at the listed price. I know some have expressed their dismay over the use of the previous gen Ucd amplifiers instead of the newer generation types. That would have defeated the market cost position. I’ve so far tested the Bluetooth function (good but will obviously never match WI-FI or direct connect streaming. WI-FI streaming is very good. Some of the best I’ve heard from such a feature (amp quality aside, kind of). HDMI audio input leads to very NAD sounding quality. I’m talking about NAD from 15 years ago in the golden heyday of cinema. Playing Bronson, it sound very cinema-like. Haven’t used any of the other inputs because I specifically bought this for a separate smaller system to be put in another room. Didn’t want to have to worry about booking it up to Ethernet. So I will refrain from going there.
fit and finish? Excellent. And the wood veneers are awesome and really stand out nicely. VU meters put on a bit of a show but are nice and dim for use any time of day or night. The volume knob is super heavy and smooth. I actually like it a lot. Overall the whole package is a really good deal and you get solid sound quality for the price. Definitely not saying it competes with anything above its price point. But I does give many AIOS pieces a run for their money. I bought it specifically because it’s a one and done piece that I can put anywhere and the retro look really sold me. Really happy this 50th anniversary piece finally came in year 51. Lol.
The driving point is for those that are considering the non-LE version, you’ll still have the majority of functionality except the lack of BLUOS (which I think is fantastic), but the option to add it later. Personally, I think it’s an excellent deal for what you get. And it turns on automatically once you go into BLUOS and select a song. It does take a minute to fully turn so you’ll have to pause the song until it comes out of standby state. Really slick.
Anyway… thought I’d just offer my two cents from a non-reviewer perspective. If you want those reviews, plenty out there.