NAD C298 Review - Purifi Inside - The Future Is NOW!

#NAD #hifi #audiophile

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What a banging amplifier - we were properly impressed with this one. It's absolutely fantastic value for money and sounds epic. Hope you enjoy the review, please like and subscribe!

Tested using:
Dynaudio Heritage Specials
Triangle Borea BR02
Klipsch RP600m
PS Audio P12 powerplant
Mola Mola Tambaqui Dac
Polyvection Dac32
Sonore Optical Rendu streamer
Innuos Phoenix USB Reclocker
NAD C658 - Streamer, Dac and preamp
Synthesis A50 Taurus - Integrated Tube Amp (KT88)
Audioquest Go 4 speaker cables
Atlas 4dd power cable
Supra Ethernet cable

[rolandlickert]

During my over 50 Years of Audio Journey, I had several systems as you can imagine from Power A to Power A/B.Recently I switched to NAD C-388 Power D and never looked back. Looking back the Power A and Power A/B sounded more on the warm side and a bit on the darker side and you realize that only once you switch to Power D which is cleaner, more precise more reviling at least for me . Matching a suitable speaker helps (in fact for any system) the kind of music you prefer plays a role as well. After over 50 years I'm not looking for the holy grail of sound I'm looking for convenience, the possibility to upgrade by a module to keep up-dated, fewer cables, need less space, and a nearly cool-running amp. I came to the conclusion that when you have a good recording most audio systems sound good if you have a lousy recording which today seems to be the new normal(too much compression) even on a very expensive system sounds poorly in fact even more. Botton line enjoy the Music first.

[sheffsteel]

You have a talent doing very professional and informative presentations. Surprised you don't have more subscribers. Thanks and make sure you stick at it as it because I'm confident your channel will grow.

[reptidan]

I actually love the look! Very minimalistic!

[mrpmj]

As much as I love my Parasound 2125v2 for my GoldenEar BRX, I've upgraded to NAD C298.
My Parasound will be moved to powering the surround L/R speakers in a mixed use music/movies 7.4.4 setup.

My requirements (<50 lbs and <16 in deep, trigger input/output, gain adjustment, RCA loopout for subwoofer).
It's 2024, and I'm shocked how many amps don't have at least a trigger input, much less a gain adjustment.

Apple Music

I've also own another Class D amp: Parasound Zonemaster 2 and it sounds great!

[dougg]

Watched that anniversary documentary on this company, very impressive.

[saschaschmeer]

Thank you very much for the excellent review!
I sold my Brooklyn Amp and also other D-Class Amps for not being adequate. Now have to listen to this?
Take care and go on like this!

[philvale]

Hi, Great territorial on the NAD C298, I am looking to buy a new power amp, as my Cambridge power amp has stopped working, can is from the late 70s, I live France, and have problems with language and cannot seem to find anybody that restores vintage equipment around in the area where I live, However I have had quite a few preamps made by NAD, The one I’ve got at the moment is 314, So I need a new power amp and I have been looking at the NAD, The C298 is right at the top of my budget, However I have been looking at the C275 BEE which I think is cheaper, And it is to drive a pair of transmission line speaker cabinets 100 W at 8ohms, And I’ve just recently changed the driver units as I had problems when my power amp blew it took out the tweeter and damaged the woofer as well, so I have replaced them with SEAS, I have a very wide taste of music which might seem very strange at my age at 70 years young, Classical Hans Zimmer Opera Aida Garifulina Andrea Bocelli, heavy rock, Led Zeppelin Pink Floyd Metallica, Viking folk music and war music and various other along those lines. And my cabinets are by-wired, What is your comments and what would you suggest if you could please help me very much appreciated, Phil from the moulin France.

[titntin]

Timing is everything. Starting and stopping a note correctly is essential to me, and may explain why after 35 years of various Musical Fidelity amps I've settled on a Naim 250DR. Since the DR's, Naims have retained their essential timing, but have now got more assets to add to their arsenal and can sound transparent and almost 'sweet'.
Shame its not quite got the timing, but its interesting to see class D finally starting to be a proper consideration.
Thanks for the video!

[dennisstempher]

Love how balanced your reviews are! Very often it's just black or white...

[terrylarson]

Great review, apparently or transparently, this is a great amp that doesn't draw attention to it's self. The " NAD product styling" is with fine me, but, only another NAD geek would bother to look at the model number. I have grown to appreciate the understated look of NAD products. quality Class D is here to stay,

[luxpiotr]

Alternative Purifi amps are from:
UK:
- Nord

Norway:
- Vera Audio

EU:
- Apollon
- Audiophonics
- Boxem
- ATM Audio
- Rouge Audio Design

US:
- VTV

Australia:
- March Audio
- Holton Precision Audio

And orginal Purifi Eval1 board for DIY.
For Quality I think best are Apollon and BoXem.

[richm]

Thanks for the review! the blue speaker terminals indicate the left and right output don’t share a common ground. Don’t use the high level outs for connecting Subwoofers etc.

[edvedder]

Great review. I have this arriving in 4 days. I'm using this to drive my new Q Acoustics 50's. The Q's were stressing my NAD 758v3 a wee bit. Subscribed.

[cpg]

“Decay”, may be one ingredient in what we often describe with the term “musical”. I like musical, that’s for sure.
Great observation!

[andrewmorgan]

Great stuff. Fantastic for anyone who values transparency. Worth also mentioning how power efficient it is and that it runs cool. Not pretty but mine sits nicely in a rack and doesn’t clash with other gear.

[connorduke]

Excellent and clear review. Soundstage and decay are two features I like a lot so this may not be the optimal amp for me, even if it ticks off every other box. Another new Class D power amp causing some waves is the Peachtree GaN400 with its 400W of GaN transistors, so that might be worth a review as well.

[royphair]

I've got a rotel rb1572 class d power amp and I absolutely love the control it has over the music the amount of power in reserve its got is unbelievable but it is 250 watts a channel into 8 ohms both channels driven class d is the future for amplifiers the size to weight ratio to output is unbeatable compared to a b amplification

[revelationsoundstudio]

Excellent review, I like your delivery, communication skills, and your methodical process of explaining how the amp sounds and its character. This was one of the amps I was seriously considering to replace my aging Adcom 555 as well as the PS Audio M700+ mono amps which are also Class D. I agree the bass and mids is the latest Class D amps are great. The top end however still is not up to par compared to Class A/B amps. I decided on the McIntosh MC152 amp which is just a brilliant amp in every way. Though its clean, it has nice smooth sound. Plus it actually has closer to 200 watts than the 150 watts they claim it has.

[Grizzly]

I have three of these puppies. Great amps.

Have a pair powering my JBL M2s atm.

Brilliant.

I listen to lots of leading edge ambient techno, electronic, jazz, country etc

Sounds amazing.

Not as classy as my previous Firstwatt F7 for soundstage and Holographic imaging, but mostly everything else is better.

[kas]

Any amplifier cannot stop a "decay" of a sound sooner than what's in the recording. It either follows the recording to the dot (ie faithfully), or if the amplifier lacks control (has very low damping factor), your "decay" might get slightly extended.