Does NAD Gear Lack Soundstage?

[freeagent]

You have room in there for a little switch and your SMSL DAC .

I picked up a rough looking Outlaw 2200 today for a pretty good price.. this will be my center channel.. I just need to get a modern AVR or surround processor.

I was looking at another NAD.. lol.. a little nicer than my T748.. V1.

I know NAD makes good stuff, I have heard it on an off for most of my life. This guy is a '78 vintage.

 

[OldJBL]

@freeagent
If you can find an AVR with Audyssey MultEQ XT32 it will give you some good room correction capability. It will also likely have a pretty good built-in DAC.

 

[JyriK]

Hooked back up my 3140, and the answer to OP's question is no. There's width and depth -- better than I remembered.

 

[Nordfors]

I wasn't going to reply to this thread which is bordering on clickbait. It is true that one man's meat is another man's poison. But there are also personal biases and preferences that take place with questions like this. Someone might not like the brand of a piece of equipment, and so they don't listen to it with open ears. Or they might not like the Country that the equipment is from. There does seem to be some anti-British equipment bias, you can certainly see it in all the hatred for Rega turntables that goes on over on the turntables forums. Other factors might also come into play, like a piece of equipment that sounds flat because it's 40 years old and unrestored.

However... I'm sitting here listening to some music, unwinding after a long day at work. Playing at the moment is remix version of the track "Incognito" from the band Incognito. It was recorded from my Dad's own vinyl copy on a 45rpm 12" single. It was recorded using a Rega Planar 2 turntable and a restored NAD 3020. I'm playing it through a NAD 5000 CD player, though another also-restored NAD 3020 amp, and Infinity 3000 speakers. When I look up from my phone, I can see where the speakers are placed in the room. So why is it, when I'm not looking ahead, I can hear a keyboard solo coming from further left than the left speaker? It almost sounds like it is coming from the very corner, which is not where the speaker is. And the rhythm guitar licks are coming from slightly left of center, but appear to be a few feet out into the room. It's almost like there is a soundstage here...

I've seen the pics of your listening space and it looks great! That could be it too, room, source, as well as needing a total re-cap. Don't know. Also, didn't mean to post boredrline click bait. Apologies. I've been really intersted in NAD and come to think of it, it may have been one of your posts that got me looking for them. Thanks for responding. This is the kind of feedback I was hoping for.

 

[Dony]

This is an interesting thread, I have a fair amount of vintage NAD gear (7140, 1700, 2 X 2700 THX, & 2 X C270). The 1700 has been serviced and recapped, the rest has not been serviced that I am aware of.

I must admit the 1700 is not a good as my upgraded APT Holman pre-amp when connected to my NAD 2700 THX amps but I must say the NAD amps are still very musical and don't lack anything.

I occasionally compare their sound to my vintage McIntosh, ARC, Hafler, APT, and Chord amplifiers. To me the NAD sound quality is quite desirable especially when paired with the correct pair of speakers. To me the aesthetics of the NADs is okay as it is in the same vein as my pro Hafler P500 or even the APT Holman components.

 

[Mr Boochie]

This is an interesting thread, I have a fair amount of vintage NAD gear (7140, 1700, 2 X 2700 THX, & 2 X C270). The 1700 has been serviced and recapped, the rest has not been serviced that I am aware of.

I must admit the 1700 is not a good as my upgraded APT Holman pre-amp when connected to my NAD 2700 THX amps but I must say the NAD amps are still very musical and don't lack anything.

I occasionally compare their sound to my vintage McIntosh, ARC, Hafler, APT, and Chord amplifiers. To me the NAD sound quality is quite desirable especially when paired with the correct pair of speakers. To me the aesthetics of the NADs is okay as it is in the same vein as my pro Hafler P500 or even the APT Holman components.

My 1600 pre-amp/tuner is still being used today. I've tried to replace it, but the bright sound of some of the newer (and way more $$$) solid-state pre-amps just isn't good for long-term listening, at high volume. I even tried the 1700.

The 1600 sound is very much like a good tube unit. Without the price and maintenance issues.

 

[Nordfors]

Update:
Further explorations with the 7240PE
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m just getting back into hi-fi after decades out of the “hobby” so exploring all I can afford or have room to set up. Synergy is becoming apparent to me as a priority. I appreciate all the comments, so thank you all again.

I was previously feeding the NAD with a Fosi ZD3 dac, which only came with one OP amp chip. Switched up dacs and soundstage did improve. I think the Fosi was contributing to the flatness of the soundstage, as, with this chip at least, it seems to have similar effect on other systems.

For the record, now using a FIIO 11, not the ladder version, so a bit brighter. On other systems this dac had a more than adequate soundstage and seems to pair well with the NAD. Good overall sound. Better soundstage. Still listening, experimenting.

Note also that generally the Fosi sounds better in most systems in all other aspects than soundstage, is better built, has more connections and subjectively looks better with vintage gear. The last bit obviously opinion. Looking to switch OP amp chips as I’ve heard this can improve soundstage and performance overall. It appears Dacs are a whole other thing to consider………

On we go! Hope you’re all well.

 

[Nordfors]

The VERY modest system in the studio before switching out the Fosi ZD3

 

[OldJBL]

Update:
Further explorations with the 7240PE

If you feel adventuresome, get a ZA3 amp and try it with the ZD3 or other DAC. I was switching between NAD 7100 and 7400 receivers when I bought a ZA3 out of curiosity. I inserted it in place of the NADs and was shocked that it sounded better than any of my vintage components. The clarity, detail, soundstage, transparency, etc. was better with the ZA3. I am not taking anything away from NAD components because they are good. However, the newer class D amps based on the TPA3255 amp chips are surprisingly good.... and affordable.

 

[mrehorst]

In my experience, sound staging is a function of the recording being played and the speaker and listener positions in the room.

 

[OldJBL]

In my experience, sound staging is a function of the recording being played and the speaker and listener positions in the room.

I think that listening environment is important. When I heard the difference in sound stage between the ZA3 and NAD receivers nothing changed but the amp being used. Adding the ZD3 enhanced the improvements further.

 

[El Rubio]

In my experience, sound staging is a function of the recording being played and the speaker and listener positions in the room.

Bingo! If the amplifier has good separation as described, the only other factors are speakers/ placement, room acoustics, and the listener.

 

[mrehorst]

In my experience, sound staging is a function of the recording being played and the speaker and listener positions in the room.

I can see different speakers having different sound staging, too. Multi driver speakers with passive crossovers might have different sound-staging depending on the crossover frequencies and the relative phases from the drivers around the crossover frequencies.

Maybe there's some interaction between the speaker impedance and amplifier that would cause one amp to have different sound staging than another due to phase shifts across the audio band and response variations due to high(ish) amplifier output impedance. Maybe.

 

[JyriK]

nevermind