NAD Integrated Comparison

There is a great review of the NAD C372 by TNT. The reviewer liked it so much he bought it! The Dyn 1.3s will definitely perform better with the added power of the C372.

I have owned 77175pe and 7020 receivers, c320bee and c355bee integrateds. The bee series are very good. If you want to drive the Dynaudios I highly suggest the c372, which can be found for a great price right now, or the c375bee which will be more. I have a friend that has the c372 driving Magnepan 1.6. Sounds great. If you are going used the c372 is a good. If buying new take a serious look at the c375bee; trickle down technology from the Master's series M3.

I've owned the 302, C320BEE, C325BEE, and now the C372. The 300-series are great amps at the price, warm and lovely to listen to. But the C372 is a huge leap up in transparency, and of course with more power it can drive more difficult loads. My upgrade happened for very similar reasons and with similar budget restrictions--and it's worked great with Vandersteens and now Spendors. A lot of amp for the price.

I realize that this post is a couple of months old but this info. may benefit somone else with the same question.

This past summer I went on a hunt to find an integrated amp to power my Dynaudio Contour 1.3s (I have since upgraded to the 1.3 SE model). I owned and compared an NAD C320BEE to a YBA YA201, a Bryston 2B with a PS Audio preamp, a Consonance a100 Linear and finally a Krell KAV 300iL. The NAD was a fine sounding unit but seemed to lack transparency and dynamics when compared to the Bryston, YBA and the Krell. I believe that in an effort to make the NAD seemingly punch above its weight that the midbass is humped up a bit. I ended up keeping the Krell 300iL. The Krell offers incredible dynamics and is noticebly more refined from top to bottom.

Dynaudios can sound good with many amps but they definitely like power to sing to their full potential. If a Krell or similar amp is outside of your budget I would look for a Bryston B60, YBA YA201, Naim NAIT 5i, or a Simaudio offering. Stretch the budget a bit and get the more transparent refined sounding amp.

NADs are great amps. I did not do a direct comparisons of my grade and the higher up amps in the NAD line. But I understand from the ecoustics.com forum that the difference between my C352 and the higher end NAD was worth the price of admission. You will find better replies to NAD products in that forum. I see more NAD/ROTEL users in that forum, than here or asylum.

My personal experience is, use the POWER AMP section of NAD integrated amps with a different preamp. You will be amazed how good the amps are. Their amps are compatible with passive preamps, and that is what benefitted me in the first place. NADs are affordable compared to other brands, but they make great sounding amps!! My reply may not have helped you, but at least you know you are headed in the right direction :-)

I purchased my 326BEE based on a review of another kind fella here.

So far, I am content with my purchase. For $400 plus sales tax, you have a no BS amp with several discrete components inside and 2 separate power sub pre-outs to boot which is a nice feature IMO (for movie watching if you do not live in an apt)

This amp however has no phono stage which has not bothered me since I don't have a vinyl collection.

My only critic of the 326BEE is that it comes with a smaller toroidal transformer than its predecessor but with my efficient JBL S-38, I think the 326BEE is more than I need to really rock the bedroom. I am thinking about selling my Totem Storm (light use less than 18 months of ownership) Anyone wants one:-))

I have not fully run my 326BEE in yet. Will report when I get there.

NAD 372 is better than 326BEE in terms of bass definition at lowever volume due to more wattage.

NAD 372 is just a bit better than 326BEE in terms of transparency but you have to pay a few hundreds $$$ more for that improvement.

I have used my 326BEE to drive my GF's Dynaudio DM 2-10 and JBL S-38 with ease. IMO, the NAD 326BEE is very refined, noticeably more refined than its predecessor 320BEE.

I like the newer 326BEE more after I replaced the cheap factory metal bars with the Audioquest Copperhead Preamp jumper cables.

Your Dynaudio Contour 1.3mk is probably not efficient and will not sound as loud as my GF's Dynaudio DM 2-10 or my JBL S-38.

And thus you may want to get the 372 or its replacement 375 to make your Dynaudio Contour 1.3mk sounds good at any listening level.

I talked to Dynaudio and they recommended me the NAD 372 for my GF's Dynaudio DM 2-10 and indeed they sound great together.

If you have more $$$, by all means, get a better amp.

My preferences for Dynaudio speakers are either NAD (low-fi) or Sim Audio (real hi-fi)

I owned an older NAD monitor series reciever which I liked alot. Since, I have owned gear from CJ, Aragon and McCormack. Presently I am listening to a NAD integrated amp-C355BEE. The preamp/amp is very good. Not up to the McCormack gear, but surprisingly close. I beliee the new stuff is manufacturerd in China so NAD is able to pack higher quality parts than it other wise would be able to do. Also, the unit has some trickle down technology developered for NAD's M series, which I have not heard but is supposed to be excellent. I got the 355 used for $350-so its really a good deal. If you need more power, you can get an add'l amp and bridge them both into mono-a very good set up. The biggest drawback for me using the NAD is the binding posts wont accept spades-only bare wire or bananas. If however, you can swing a piece from Plinius, I would definiately go that route!! Much more refined. Good luck.

While I have not used the 320bee, I have owned the C720bee which to my understanding is a 320bee with a tuner. As the upgrade bug hit, I added the C272 power amp but still used the pre-amp in the C720bee. Then when the prices fell, I ended up sending the C720bee to my brother and I purchased the C162 pre-amp instead.

I'm new to this hobby and my ears don't pick up on the same details as most of the members of this forum. However, moving to the C162 pre-amp made an improvement to the sound that I could hear immediately. I hate to use these words because I think they are over used to a point, but the 'sound stage' really opened up in my system with the C162 and had more 'depth' to it.

I've not compared the C162/C272 combo with the C372 so I can't comment on that integrated. If the pre-amp section in the C372 is the same as the C162, then I think you will find an improvement with the C372.

Hope this helps.