Bought this amp with the remote from a trustworthy electronics technician for a R1000 2nd hand (£49 or US$76) so my 5 stars for value might be a bit unfair. I've owned it nearly a month, at first I was a bit disappointed in it's sound. It did not have the bass I'd expected since I owned a 3020 Series 20 and a 3020i before, but one does not always want lots of bass. It certainly not worse than the 3020i but like all amplifiers each and every one has it's own character. The C300 is a very controlled and clean sounding amp since it uses output ICs intended for DC Motor Operation and is biased to run in Class A, it's built on MOSFETs right through. So it is most definitely built on the inside to last a lifetime, as long as you take care of it, it won't drop you. But like all NADs they have some mystical hypnotic effect on you, the longer you listen to it the more you like it. You cannot sum up the performance of this amp in a week's time. 25W/ch isn't much but after owning a 3020 you'll know at average listening volumes you don't even use 1W depending on what type of speakers you are using. The C300 is more than able to drive a various range of speakers from bookshelves to floor stands, it's certainly not scared of low impedance speakers. I throw all kinds of music against it, Paco De Lucia, Rachmaninov, Deep Purple, Earl Klugh, Cat Stevens, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Norah Jones, Joe Satriani, Slade, BB King, Dire Straits and it seems to keep up. Although I would argue that it doesn't deserve an overall 5 stars rating, I'd still give it a 4. If you're looking for a clean sounding amp for clean music, tough as nails, look no futher than a NAD C300. The only negative things I can say against it is, I would've loved a power button on the remote, a speaker A+B selector and a built-in phono amp. It can take a turntable, but it would require a RIAA phono amplifier to boost the signal as stated in it's user manual. On the positive side, volume control is servo-powered when using the remote, input connectors are gold-plated, and banana plugs compatibility makes switching speakers much easier and is much safer than other cheap ways to lock speaker cables. I wouldn't mind having another C300 in my collection.

Sound quality, clarity and definition. It is (for the price) more than wonderful. What a piece of work!

"Plasticky" slab placed under the treble and bass controls. Remote control? It's got volume and mute controls, nothing more! I don't care, but you just might...

I had to upgrade my old Proton AM-1 because after 14 years of use it was getting more and more "quirky". I've put a couple of acoustic and folk cds through the NAD and I cannot even comprehend that I've put up with my old amp for so long. The old Proton must have been broken all the time, that is the only logical explanation to why it sounded so bad in comparison to this NAD c300. :) Clear, distinct sound and a good balance between treble and bass even with my old (Proton HP-400) speakers. I've yet to put it through my reggae collection though. I am really looking forward to hear them records sound like new all over again. I am very, VERY impressed. This sound for that price? I must be dreaming!

Similar Products Used:

Proton AM-1 (my old system) ...In addition to being round to every hifi-dealer in the universe to listen to and find the product most suited to my needs.

Musicality ... and more musicality

¿simply and weak remote? For me, no problem

The best amplifier that I have had: smooth, easy listening, superb and natural midband, 40 amperes of real power ... very, very much for too little money

Similar Products Used:

Marantz PM-55, Yamaha AX-550, NAD 306, Luxman 384 (hybrid), NAD C340 (short time)

everything comes out sounding delightful.

nothing

I bought the c300 as I had heard how good nad were in the "old days" and though it might be ok, Ok!!!! fabulous more like! It is warm and smooth without being dreary, handles all and any music from beethoven to beatles and does it all with ease and finesse, I have it connected to a philips cd723 and some wharfedale glendale xp2''s, which i bought in 1980! and with decent interconnects it sounds like a million dollars to me.

Similar Products Used:

marantz 2225, sansui au217

Extremely musical, natural and open sounding. I felt this best describe the small 25W integrated amplifier. I have listened to and owned many equipment prior to NAD C300 and with it driving my Spendor SP 3/1 (85dB/1W), though clearly a mismatch in terms of price differential and the insensitivity of my Spendor, the sound is really stunning. The pace of music is just right which is neither too fast nor slow, the balance of midrange to the highs and lows perfect, dynamic yet not overly so which can be tiring over long hours of listening. This is a great audio gear to own if one is not seeking for looks and built quality, ability to extract the last ounce of detail in recordings, richness in tone of instruments, dynamics and fast rhythm, or even extended bass. What one gets is musicality and the ability to enjoy listening to recorded music.

Similar Products Used:

Audio Analogue Puccini SE, Rotel RA1060, Audiolab 8000A, Copland CSA8, Audio Note valve amplifiers, and others.

Effortless sound. You will forget it''s there except to notice how neat it looks. Tone bypass that works properly.

Lousy supplied remote. No power on/off on the remote. Just a mute for phone calls. Some very old traits--like the pop on power off. Thought everyone suppressed that long time ago.

I needed to replace my Kenwood to drive my Epos 11''s when moving to Hong Kong (voltage difference). Looked for C320 and C521, but Hong Kong only has C300 and C520. British reviews for 300/520 were not good, so I hesitated. Dealer assured me not much difference. Don''t know. What I do know is that both the reviews I read here were dead on. This is such a good amp, I replaced my Denon and use it to push my big Epos 22''s. No sweat. I remember to steer clear of amps the British call ''exciting''--those are the ones that break glass.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood, Denon, Onkyo integrated amps

sounds great, punchy, fast, controlled.

remote is not very responsive

This must be the best budget amplifier available; it sounds much more powerful than 25Watts. Have compared it to NAD C340 and C350 and found both of them to sound harsh and aggressive. Have it connected to AE109 speakers and Marantz CD6000. For this little money you can't go wrong.

Similar Products Used:

Cambridge A300v2
Linn Majik
NAD C350/340

Headroom in spite of it's low power rating, very precise, very fast and strong bass, many inputs (7), remote for volume. NAD Style has improved and it is very slim

You can't show off because this integrated amplifier is not expensive enough.

Hello,

When i went to the shop, i was decided for a Marantz PM8000 (you can choose 2*25W in pure class A or 2*95!!! in class AB).I was very disappointed by the headroom of this amp, even in AB mode.
Fortunately, i tested the NAD C300 in the same shop, with the same speakers.

This amplifier is purely wonderfull for the price!!! It is more than twice cheaper than the Marantz,
and its subjective power is a lot greater, in spite of it's low power rating(2*25W). It also produce a wonderfull imaging and the bass are clean,fast and very controlled. A lot stronger than my old PM-25!!!

Another good feature : you can use big wire with it.

I coupled this amp with the NAD C520 player and the overall quality is perfect for me.

I am not sure about that but, i think that the C300 is a better audiophile amplifier than the C320 or 340. The max peak current announced is 40A(very low impedance) instead of 35A for a C320. The first stage amplifier is made in class A.

A best buy!!!

Similar Products Used:

Marantz PM25