Tight bass and good overall control, good slam factor for the money, inspite of its budget pricetag. Fantastic value for money.

Low pricetag belies what this amp can do!

This amp is partnered with the Tannoy M1 speakers and sounds wonderful with music ranging from Jazz to classical music and even the occasional pop.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel 921

Excellent Value, Huge Reserves of Clean Power, Simple Design, Punch and Dynamics

None at this Price!!

This review is for the NAD C320BEE. Like the reviewer below me I deliberated for some time over what amp I was going to purchase, I was prepared to spend $1500 on good amplification. I looked into some preamp/amp combos, but I was really looking for a great integrated amp because I wanted to keep the clutter to a minimum. My associated equipment is NAD C541i CD player and PSB Stratus silver i's, both of these being amazing pieces of audio equipment in themselves, I really wanted something that would do them justice. Living here in Bismarck, ND really limits my ability to audition good equipment, but we have one dealer who I would consider higher end. NAD was the only line at the dealer I considered within my budget, but I did look at McIntosh and Sunfire amps that were amazing but not monetarily feasible. I looked at NAD integrateds but unfortunately they did not have the 320BEE for me to audition. I was looking for an amp that plays at low levels and yet still retains punch and dynamics. The NAD I auditioned didn’t seem to fit the bill. (C350 and C370) I extended my search to the internet and read every review I could find about various amps, I checked out Audiogon, Ebay, etc. for some pre-owned integrated amps and was prepared to buy used because of the great values I could get on higher end equipment. However my searching kept leading me back to NAD, which IMO presents a tremendous value for audio, and I was especially interested in that 320BEE that I never got to audition. I searched for every tidbit of information I could find on the 320BEE and finally decided to try it unheard. I was afraid of its 50 watt/ch rating but convinced myself that I would look past the specs and see if NAD could back up the claims on this amp. When it came I was very anxious to get it going to say the least. I was kind of worried about its relatively lightweight of 15 pounds, and thought to myself "did you really think $350 was going to get something great?!" I got it all hooked up to the PSB's and the 541i and threw in "Reference Recordings" Pomp and Pipes for a "do or die" out of the box test. I hit play and nothing; the volume was factory set a zero, DUH!! I went back to sit down and started over, I turned the volume to about 8 o'clock (Zero Volume is at about 7 o'clock on the dial) and away it went belting out pipe organ and orchestra music, I could not believe what I was hearing. This thing packed a whollup and it was barely turned up. My room dimensions are 15x21 and when I had the volume at the 9 o'clock position I was absolutely rockin' out. I have no idea what this guy below was using for equipment, but the 320BEE does not sound like AM radio. I put all types of music to the test, Rock, Vocal, Acoustic etc. and I came to a simple conclusion, this amp is amazing! It plays at low levels extremely well, bass comes through with that authorative visceral feeling, the midrange is accurate and impactful and the treble accurate and detailed. Overall I would say the amps character is neutral to warm, has very good low level listening ability, images very well and when called upon could peel the paint right off your walls. I was proved wrong about NAD, I am extremely happy with my purchase and would have paid much more for this amp had I got to audition it first. I saved a bundle of money and won't get that upgrade bug for quite some time. Value here cannot be stressed enough!!! Keep in mind these are just my opinions, different speakers and sources will affect evaluations of this amp greatly. I would have to say that PSB Silver i's and the NAD 541i CD player that I use are giant killers in themselves and may exaggerate the potential of this amp a bit, but ultimately it is up to your own ears to decide. I mean who would buy a CD player that costs more than their amp, or speakers that cost more than both combined? ME, and it sounds amazing!!!

Similar Products Used:

Marantz 2270, NAD T751

Clean design...too clean.

Lack of meaningful tone controls.

I purchased this unit after months of deliberation. Not interested in surround sound or movies all that much, I sensed that "old-fashioned" stereo equipment was, in due course, going to become a specialty item. What did I want? A simple, high-quality integrated amplifier that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. I didn't want a lot of extra nonsense that I would never use. The C320BEE appeared to fit the bill perfectly . . . until I took it home. I like listening to music at very low volume levels. And at these levels, the NAD couldn't do anything except make my stereo sound like an AM radio. Honestly awful. At higher levels (with the volume pumped up to the 10 o'clock or higher position), the C320BEE sounded very good. But I listen to music at this volume perhaps once or twice per year. It bears noting that many people who fancy themselves as audio hobbyists - and who would be the typical audience for NAD equipment - are younger and tend to like listening to their music at high volume levels. Well, I'm not in this crowd. You see, the C320BEE - like most other NAD equipment - is based upon a design philosophy that assumes that you like your music at least moderately loud. The unit is incapable of boosting or cutting bass or treble beyond 5dB, which, quite honestly, is useless for many realistic setups. And there is no compensation for this in the form of a loudness control, which is true of just about all other NAD equipment. Many "audiophiles" will insist that loudness controls are just noise-inducing controls, not necessary on "better" equipment. If you ever hear somebody tell you that, *run* - do not walk - away from them as fast as you possibly can. At very low volume levels (as I might like to say, between 7 and 9 o'clock on most volume dials), loudness is rather essential if you don’t want your system to sound like an AM radio. It's a basic principle of human hearing that a boost in bass and treble is *necessary* at low power levels. If you don't believe me, you can do the research yourself. Go to Google and perform a search on "Fletcher-Munson." NAD engineers, ponder this: if you are going to leave loudness circuitry out of your designs, then at least include meaningful tone controls. Five decibels of boost and cut is just about useless except for fine-tuning sound at high volume levels.

very good imaging, fine sound, easy designed, fair value

handling and controls look and feel old-fashioned

I review NAD C-320 BEE. My previous amp is (i'm still using) Yamaha AX-492. I'm using the NAD with Sony CD-Player CDP-XB 720 and Klipsch loudspeaker SB 2.1. I've bought the C-320 BEE a few days ago and used much time to compare my amps. First difference I noticed, the BEE has half of the weight of AX-492 and reproduces bass much better. In another review I read that this might be because of using the button 'pure direct' on the AX-492. By closer listening I found that the BEE produces a finer sound and better imaging than AX-492. Contrary to AX-492 the BEE has no loudness button (which you really won't need with the BEE). The BEE needs a short time to start whereas the AX-492 is playing immediately. As you'll probably agree the AX-492 isn't a bad amp. It has a strong performance and natural sound, but in my opinion it produces not the fine sound that the BEE does. Going back to the price - the BEE is worth the money, but it's not a cheap product.

Excellent value. Very precise imaging. sound quality is awesome for an amp in this price range. Will beat ANY AVR for musical quality.

Nothing that bothers me.

This review is for the new C320BEE, model year 2002. Without using alot of audiophile jargon, let me just say this amp is an excellent value. After a little over one month of burn-in this amp is sounding awesome. I used to be one of those who thought the more a component (especially an amp) weighed the better quality of sound. Not so with the C320BEE. This amp weighs a mere 14 lbs, yet it is very powerful, and effortlessly musical. Before buying the C320BEE I was using an older HK integrated that, when brand new, cost well over $1000.00. I loved the HK, but it had seen better days and needed to be replaced. I took a chance on the C320BEE, no dealers in my area had any to audition. Let me say, I made the right choice. I did get to hear the C350, and in my opinion the C320BEE sounds better. More than enough power, but imaging is it's strong point. You can practically reach out and touch the music. Instruments are in their proper space. Voices are very realistic (I won't say they sound like they are in the same room, even though they do). The highs are very detailed without sounding overly bright. And the mids, very natural. Acoustic instruments sound very real, with a wide and deep soundstage. I said I wouldn't use any audiophile jargon, but I guess this amp could be audiophile quality, whatever that is. Let me suggest to those who are not satisfied with their AVRs for music, to buy this amp. If you have a DVD player with built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoders just connect the front L/R outputs to the C320BEE, and the other 4 channels to an AVR with 6 channel input. You will get much better sound both in stereo and multichannel. If you can a C320BEE to audition, I would recommend hearing it. Spend a little less on that AVR you are thinking of buying, and use the C320BEE for your front channel amplification. You won't be sorry.

Similar Products Used:

HK PM665vxi

Clarity, dynamics,...a typical british sound !

Nothing for the price

For this price and sound ??? TAKE IT !!! If you like the "British Sound" its the best for the money. My System: Ruark Prelude II (I love this speakers !) Systemdek IIV900 with Goldring 1042 NAD C320 Pioneer PD-S507 with Musical Fidelity X-Act (DAC)

Beautiful 'natural' sound. Listen to the music the way the musician and the recording engineer intended it. Very clean , simple and efficient design

Volume knob could have a less flimsy feel. And the even simpler design of its predecessor 314 looked even better

This is a real killer amp! Forget about power. This thing only has 2x40W but outperforms even a Marantz PM5000! It has a nice clean sound that goes well with speakers such as B&Ws. The fantastic design [although not everybody seems to understand it..] makes it stand out even more

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Denon Receiver

Clear natural sound

None found yet

A really great amp, which produces a real clear natural sound. A high quality cd comes out great, what makes imaging easy. I used this fine amp in the following system :

NAD C320 2*40W
NAD 522 cd-player
B&W DM602 speakers

This is a great amp at a great price. Price-quality very good..

No doubt this is a winner in the price range untill $ 750 US dollar.
It sounds so musical, involving to the music, much emotion.

Similar Products Used:

NAD C340,Marantz 66 KI,Marantz 78, Denon 735

Best integrated for the money

None worth mentioning for the price

For the money this is the integrated to buy, except if you are in North America. It seems the Canadian idiots who purchased NAD, in all their dumb ass "Wisdom" choose not to sell the C-320, or the C-319 here. The rest of the world has the right to choose these integrateds over the sonically inferior C-340, and C-317, but not us. The C-320 is amazing, the C-319 is even better, but you will have to go to London to audition them, as I did. Thanks a lot for nothing NAD.

Similar Products Used:

Cambridge Audio A3i, NAD 312, Musical Fidelity XA1