This amp simply does 90-95% of what the much more expensive intergrateds do at fraction the price. If you are more interested in just listening to the music than being critical of every nuance of the equipment, this amp will satisfy in spades. Balanced, quiet, well composed sound is what you will get. My listening room is about 170 sq ft and there plenty of power left that I don't use or need. Equipment used: NAD 515BEE CD Player, Tannoy Sensys 2 Speakers, Audio quest interconnects and jumpers on back of amp.

In the past 8 years, I've been on the upgrade merry go round. I've owned integrated amps mostly, but some amp/preamp set ups. everything I've owned prior to the 325 has been over $1500 up to $3500 retail. You think you always get what you pay for? If I had started with this Nad, I wouldn't be a high volume buy/sell customer at Audiogon. The amp I most recently owned was an Arcam a85 at 85watts. Let me start by saying the nad is much more powerful. The bass is much stronger and defined. The mids and highs are just more open, airy and musical. If I see any negative reviews for this product, I know, from my experiences, its probably a cd player or turntable that is insufficient. A very good cd player is essential to a quality system more than any other component. If you see this review and your thinking about spending a lot more on an integrated., do as I did and buy one used on Audiogon for about $200. If you don't like it, sell it for about the same $$. Also, one very necessary upgrade for this amp, the posts on back are a weak link. call frank at signal cable and he makes a solid silver set of jumpers for $50. that is an excellent change that opens this amp up significatly.

This amp reminds me of a 100 WPC tube amp. It's just so smooth, musical and detailed. It has that tube magic that I have never heard in a solid state amp. I have now had this amp for 4 days and every day it gets better as it breaks in. I am very pleased with my purchase. I use to have the Audio Research and Thiel but not that I have children, this will have to do. Don't get me wrong, this is as or more enjoyable that that stuff. I am using it with a pair of small Castle Acoustic floor standers.

Great little amp. Built myself a couple Gainclones and this is much better. It's just plan musical!

The music just flows with this integrated amplifier. It does not show any apparent grain which is what I have come to expect from other solid state amps in its price range. Also, the mids are so articulate. (If this is a function of the CD player, at least the NAD 325BEE is not masking any of these newly discovered details.)
The bass has a warm and fast sound. It reminds me of the best bass I heard from expensive tube amps.
The NAD 325BEE may present detail wonderfully also because I use the Arcam FMJ 23T CD player which I love though I am not really a fan of their amps. Also, I took out the plug from the pre out and main in and use Tara Lab 2200i interconnects instead which characteristically favors the bass. Next, I use Audioquest Type 4 which sounded better than Kimber 8TC with these speakers and also made the amp sound more powerful than when I tried Straight Wire speaker cable. Lastly, the PSB Alpha B1 bookshelf speakers were bought at the same time with the amp and they are synergistically a perfect match! It is hard to tell what is the amp and what is the speaker since there is not a consistent emphasis from one part of the sound spectrum. Sometimes it is the highs, other times, the mids, or sometimes the lows. It just depends on the song and how it is recorded. This is not the experience I have had with other amps that have that same sound everytime no matter what you play (or what you pay!) If you have not bought your speakers yet, I would try this amp with the PSB Alpha B1s. If you aleady have speakers that are not easy to drive, in that case, i would look for another amp. Though I have heard the Vandersteen 1C with the NAD 325BEE, I like them better with the NAD 352 and the 2CEs with the NAD 372. For now, the NAD 325BEE seems to be a perfect amp for your favorite bookshelf speakers if they are easy to drive!! Also, it is great sounding (I think) because of synergy and the room size of 12x13 which does not need a lot of watts to fill.

The lively sounding little miracle, The bass is almost alive!!!

It is even better, than C355BEE, is it a weakness???

NAD C325BEE is one of the best sounding integrated amplifiers in the price range up to 1000$. It continues the good style of C320BEE, which i have been using too. When listen to the sound of C325BEE you want to sing, just because the perfofmance is so good, fresh and dynamic. The bass is amazing, deep, fast and strong. Mids are detailed and transparent, highs are good too (considering the price). I wish NAD always to produce such miracles. I like this thing and give it 5 stars with confidence. It is even better, than C355BEE (which i have, but dislike - 3 stars, no more...), and louder too in fact! C325BEE - is the great integrated amplifier. If you are going to use it in 20-30 sq. meter room with sensitive fine speakers - there is no other in this price range. Its reliability and sound quality will give the real satisfaction!

Similar Products Used:

NAD C320BEE, C352, C355BEE, Marantz PM34, PM4001, Yamaha AX396, AX496, Harman/kardon HK630, HK650, HK670, HK970, Denon PMA700AE, PMA500, Rotel RA-931, Sony TA-F-35...

I auditioned the C325bee versus the NAD352, and CA 340. Couldn't tell much of a difference between the 325bee and the 352 (maybe a bit more depth with the 352, but it is pricier). The 325bee sounded less muddy than the 340, with more bass depth to it.

Strengths are as above:

I might add that it is 50 wpc, but I rarely ever have to turn it up past 10 O'clock to get to very loud (tolerable) levels, so I'm not sure how manufacturers rate the power of amps these days, but this will do fine volume wise in a medium size room (25 x 20 living room). Couple of other things I noticed were that at higher volumes, the music holds together very well, with the Onkyo when at higher volumes it would start to get harsh sounding. Same with low volumes, the music and the details don't get lost with the NAD even if its at background levels. Noise floor is excellent.

While looks is a matter of taste, I do like the minimalist look of the unit, and while the face of it is kind of a hard plastic (a little cheap looking), I notice that the kids fingerprints don't seem to stick to it, so it always looks fairly "clean" or not smudged.

Good remote, well laid out and sturdy. Lots of inputs, including front one for MP3 players. Tone controls perfect (not overdone).

I am sure there are better amps out there, but I and my budget haven't bothered to explore the next level, and don't feel the need to right now. For example, I wouldn't suggest this amp gets you perfect 3d imaging, but nonetheless this seems a great amp for the price. I listen 90% to music off of cds (not downloaded & burned, as I notice the sound quality dips) and can say paired with a half decent cd player, it really takes you a far notch in terms of sound quality above the "bestbuy HT receiver system and dvd-player-as-cd-player combo".

No phono stage input, for those that like that included.

For the remote, the volume increments could have been made more precise. Sometimes you can't get exactly how you want it with the remote.

I'd say so-so headphone output, so I tend to listen to headpones through the output of the cd player instead.

I have had the C325bee for a couple months now and can say I am very pleased with the performance of this integrated amp. Let me preface the review by noting it was an upgrade over a circa 1990 Onkyo TX 810 receiver, not a bad working receiver at all, just felt it was time for an upgrade. At any rate, the improvements to my listening experience that leapt out at me are summarized in order of noticeability as follows:

1. Overall greater presence and "liveliness" of the music (indie and brit rock mostly, some folk). On some well-produced recordings (ie, Police, Radiohead, Tori Amos), you very much feel as if it is live in the studio, whereas this did not occur with the Onkyo.
2. Bass presence heightened and more forceful, it just leaps out at you. With the Onkyo, to get a good bass sound, I had to turn the sub volume to 4-5 on the dial, with the NAD, I have to keep it at 2-3, otherwise the bass is overwhelming. I also noticed that my bookshelf speakers (admittedly budget Athena ASB1s, but pretty good sounding...see the reviews in this site) got a lot boomier with the NAD, as they are placed on a bookshelf and are rear ported. I've had to put a cloth in the ports to control them!
3. Drums much more lifelike, much more slam, more heightened than before. Cymbals more present and lifelike. Rolls and fills that are typically mixed more behind the main instruments get good air, and add to the vitality and propulsion of the music.
4. A Lot better detail extraction from the music and separation of instruments/voicals, especially during complex and busy musical passages.
5. Better soundstage. You can locate instruments, electronic found sounds, and multi-tracked vocals easily.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TX 810 (Circa 1990)
Sony Mini-CD System (avoid)
Being used with Marantz CD 5001 cd player

Great soundstage,& imaging.
Ample power for most situations,unless you are in a big room,or have big loudspeakers.

Can be a bit bright,but the tone controls help..

This amp is definitely a steal. plenty of power some to spare,as long as your loudspeakers are fairly easy to drive, (90 db or higher.)
The sound is clean and clear,with plenty of depth and imaging.
The tone controls are a nice feature,if you use them sparingly.
The 2-year warranty is nice. Some high-end compaines only give you a year,and you spend $2000.00.
I used it as a preamp with an B&K ST 1400 power amp and actually liked the sound of the NAD by itself better.
I've owned some pretty expensive gear over the years,(Bryston ,Audio Research, Classe, Arcam,)I won't say that this piece is a"last purchase",but it covers a lot of ground for so little,that you gotta love it!

Similar Products Used:

Arcam A-80

Certainly one of the best for the price. Very good balance, good, tight bass,
signal to noise very low, open midrange.

None.

Hi! I bough that 325bee two weeks ago. It remind me the Honda Civic in the price class.The Civic is not the best car on the market, but could be the best car for the price.Samething fot the Nad 325BEE. If you want absolutly the best, buy a Krell or Mark Levinson. But, for the price the nad is probably the best or one of the best integrated amp . My old amp was a nad 302. The 325bbe is faster, cleaner, mid more open, has 6 inputs without frills.However, be honest and don't try that Nad or any other brands with a bad speakers. Start with a good cd with a good sound engeneering and you'll see. Enjoy! Bye!

Similar Products Used:

Older Nad 302, Rotel RA-02

Accuracy, imaging, and clarity.

Overpowered midrange, weak bass, and hollow sounding at high volume.

I purchased the C325BEE based on very positive reviews of the C320BEE. They are basically the same amp except the 325 has a 3.5mm input jack for connecting mp3-type devices.

The setup:
I paired the C325BEE with an NAD525BEE CD player and some vintage Marantz Series 930 floor speakers. I left the tone controls on zero or neutral and began playing some music. The first CD was David Gilmore's About Face. I was certainly impressed with the vocal impact I was hearing. There seemed to be a very strong presence of frequencies around the 2-3kHz range. The highs were crisp, accurate, but not overly emphasized which is great on the ears. I was also picking up a lot more detail in the music than previously noticed. Musical notes were precise and imaging very good. The lows however were certainly a big disappointment for me. I'm well aware what my speakers are capable of and the NAD amp seemed to really lack the mustard. There is no bass authority with this amp. I tried many other artists including Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, to name a few with similar results. At this point I had been listening at low to moderate levels. I threw in some BB King and cranked up the volume. The midrange became extremely over-pronounced and hollow sounding. It was very unpleasant.

When compared to my Marantz 170DC amplifier, well, there is no comparison.
I'm starting to wonder if the speakers were a poor choice for the NAD. I know they sound absolutely bliss with my Marantz amp, but maybe they just don't work that well with the NAD. I'm going to buy some PSB T55's to see if there is any improvement. Otherwise I'm very disappointed at this time.