Dual mono mirror amp output stage, Sanken. Heaps of power and headroom, clean presentation. Great for all kinds of music -classical to hardrock, industrial. Amazing bass depth and control. Great articualtion of soundfield. Sounds like a live band is in my living room.

Perhaps not the deepest soundstage I would prefer, which comes at a higher price in better equipment, but my pocketbook isn't going there, nor does it need to. Found the power button popped off and don't know how to fix it properly so had to rig some cloth tape to stick it on.

Fabulously balanced and cleeeeeeannn power! Lovely delivery of entire audio spectrum with a nice natural hint of warmth too. Smooth transitioning yet a clear distinction between instrumentation. Very similar to an Arcam sound but with more grace and detail, perhaps not as "sweet" sounding as Arcam, and a more laid back vocal field. Arcam has a beautiful vocal presentation but sometimes seems to over accentuate the singers presence in the soundstage. Very quiet and dark background. Upgraded from the Anthem MCA20, wich was a great power amp but after adding Kimber 8TC I could hear more treble then I'd prefer so thus became the hunt for a very balanced amp. To upgrade from the Anthem I certainly had to start spending alot of money, and the Nad as a great bargain for amazing sound for a decent price.

Similar Products Used:

Anthem mca 20, Arcam FMJ P25, Arcam avr 200,

Build, power, sound, price and looks.

None! Really...I cannot find one negative thing to say about this piece of equipment!

NAD S-500 IMHO combines the best build quality, design, power and sound of any power made today! It is a very smooth and natural sounding amp with limitless power and dynamic headroom! Not a hint of hardness...very neutral! And...it is gorgeous looking!!! Entire piece is silver color with a sapphire blasted finish. All aluminium construction. Very thick faceplate and heatsinks. Cardas RCA's (single-ended), Cardas binding posts as well as true balanced (XLR) operation. IEC cord receptacle. An all-around best bang for the buck...you will not be disappointed. BTW: The entire NAD Silver Series is just as magnificent...I own the CD Player S-500.

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Chord, BAT, Rogue, Krell, Legend, BelCanto

Good bang for the bucks.A good try to wrest itself from the "good MidFi" moniker.

In this class, none . NAD is getting closer to HiFi.

Yes this amp is really good. Especially considering it's price. But I have a hard time to beleive that it beats a MARK LEVINSON.Or a KRELL.Or a PASS LABS, or even the new LINAR 250...

Similar Products Used:

Rarasound HCA 200 ATI 200 Rotel Adcom

Open, transparant, warm, natural and powerfull.

This is my second review for this amp. Early this year, I just bought a very good old Acoustat Spectra 66 (the best Acoustat in the market together with Acoustat Spectra 6600). I thought that my NAD S 200 (225 Watt power)do not have enough power to drive those big electrostatic loudspeakers, so I planned to change it with Mac Levinson 336, a 350 watt dual-mono power amp. When I compared the two power amp one by one directly, I realised that I should keep the NAD, because NAD is more open, transparant and warm than ML 336 with the same depth image. ML 336 is more focus and higher quality craftmanship, but I like open, transparant & warn sound. So,before you buy, you should try the components directly on your system and decide to buy according to your preference to the sound/ music. Do not buy based on review only. You should try it. Now I am still looking for a pair of monoblok which is better than my NAD. I hope NAD will produce Silver series monoblok with 300 or 350 Watt power. I use all Cardas Golden Reference interconnects, power cords and cables.

Similar Products Used:

ML 336 and Audio Research VT 100 MKII

Un medium fabuleux.tres defini .dymamique et transparant

en cherchant bien peut etre que les ecarts de
dynamiques sont marque

Voila un amplificateur de puissance qui est tres defini tres transparant et surtout pas grossier.il fait meme mieux
en finesse que beaucoup d autres integres

son point fort outre sa puissance c est sont fabuleux medium
toujours plein d emotions est d humanite
il sonne juste
autre atout c est sa neutralite et le relief qu il donne

Similar Products Used:

NAD 214.216THX.AMC 2100

Build quality, low heat emission, sci-fi look, great swithches on back panel

None

Wow!! What a difference. Never thought my Paradigm Studio 100's could sound so good. After trying for months to find an amp that would properly power these monsters, finally!! The S 200 overloads way past the point that my ears do. Tight, clean, punchy bass - snappy crisp mids that hit you in the face, and crazy loud clean beautiful highs. Only thing that came close is the Bryston, but even then it didn't have the top end control of the NAD. Soft clipping mode is a major plus (as well as balanced imputs), although with so much headroom it hasn't been a question. HUGE bang for the buck. What else can I say ??? Highly recomend, destined to be a classic. Now it's time to buy another and bridge'em!!!

Similar Products Used:

Nak AV-10, ADCOM GFA-7500, Bryston, Parasound.

Superb value. Lots of power. Very very clean sound. Simple and pleasing appearance. XLR inputs, bridgeable for even MORE power, soft clipping, can handle extremely low impedance (just be careful in bridged mode especially if you parallel speakers).

Remote is fine but doesn't match. You can buy a pricey silver colored remote but I sure won't bother. The only problem is that the NAD remote for the Silver Line also controls other NAD gear (such as my T770 home theater receiver) so if I up the volume on one, it goes up on both. Not a big deal since I don't ever listen to both at once but worth noting. NAD seems to advertise it as an advantage (universality of remotes or something) but it seems a bit goofy to me.

This sucker is great. It's super loud and extremely clean. It's basically NAD's first truly high end piece of gear. The rest of their stuff does sound excellent but this is on another level alltogether from build quality to internal circuitry to the finish. I commend NAD on their accomplishment because this is a piece of gear that can compete with Krell and other big shots. It sounds truly excellent. The XLR inputs (and outputs on the Silver S100 pre) are a very nice touch. Bridging two of these S200s will give you enough power to crack your floors and eardrums. Also, as is the NAD tradition, this amp can handle really low impedance levels with ease. Soft clipping is another nice touch, saves your speakers should that be necessary.

Highly recommended, outstanding value.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 218THX, which is what the S200 is based on. Considered getting Krell but this was a better value.

Unbelivable sound & power quality in this price.The style is very beautiful.

none until now

It is beautifully clear, open, transparant and powerful.It make Nautilus 805 speaker to sound open and natural. So the sound from this system (NAD S500, NAD S100, NAD S200 & Nautilus 805) is open, transparant, beautuful , and depend only on the quality of the recording. I do not understand, why such a good amp is not be reviewed in Stereophile Magazine. I give this amp the highest possible rating.

Similar Products Used:

A&R Cambridge C200 (old one)

Clarity, Neutrality, Depth

Does not lend itself to Bi-Amping, just a monoblock arrangement.

Well, I'm not going to use all the usual buzzwords of Soundstage, cleaner-tighter bass etc. as they get done to death. Naturally when you're upgrading, unless you were very silly, you bought something better than your previous components and you're going to think it's the best thing since sliced bread....

So, my 'review' is based on just two things.
Does it do it's job well, and was it worth the money?
Yes and Yes.

It was worth every penny.

It's beautifully clear, extremely low noisefloor, has some nice features (Soft Clipping etc.), and sounds 'effortless' in it's reproductions.
I have it powering a set of Tannoy Revolution R3's at the moment (Upograding to "Thiel Cs3.6"s next month). And they have never sounded so warm and open. My previous experience with NAD led me to think they had a harsh clarity that while accurate could actually be a turn off, not so with this unit - it has the same depth and comfortable warmth I always liked in Arcam amps, with much greater clarity and precision.


The only gripe I have is that it does not really lend itself to Bi-Amping. You can just about fit 2 lengths of decent cable into the protected terminals. But there is no pass through for a second amp, or even a second set of Terminals for Bi-Wiring.
A minor gripe, since the next logical step is to Monoblock with another S200 , as believe me you will not want to get rid of this one later on....Well, at least not for a long long while....

Similar Products Used:

Arcam 8, Arcam 10p

Powerful, accurate, dynamic, clean sound, soundstage

None!

I recently had the chance to demo this amazing amp and I am truly amazed by how amazing this amp is... For the cost, this amp is tremendous. It has the power to drive anything, and if you really want power, monoblock it!!! 780 watts at 4 ohms!!! This amp is quiet, detailed, smooth for solid state, and has a wide soundstage. In comparison to the Anthem AMP 2SE, it is nearly as warm but has a larger soundstage and is more detailed. My Paradigm Studio 100's need lots of power, and this amp is the ticket. It also has soft clipping, a nice feature.

Try this amp, it's that good.

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire 300x2, Anthem AMP 2SE