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NAD C 375BEE and NAD C 565BEE

By Brent Burmester

June 2010

NAD C 375BEE integrated amplifier ($2299) and NAD C 565BEE CD player ($1199)

To BEE or not to BEE? What was the question? When the BEE suffix was first appended to NAD’s CD players and amps a few years ago, it was reserved for the tuned versions of the company’s standard-issue components. So, a BEE model would sit alongside its cheaper vanilla equivalent. Think Ken Ishiwata badging on Marantz stuff, only more cryptic. These days, however, NAD’s mid-range hi-fi line-up is very much the BEE-Team, featuring the circuit design stylings of electronic maestro, Bjørn Erik Edvardsen.

NAD C565BEE CD player

Neither the C 375BEE amplifier nor the C 565BEE CD player on review is likely to make your female visitors faint with aesthetic over-stimulation. They’re an uninspiring black and a bit too plasticky for my liking, but tuck them away in a corner and you won’t need to fret about that. Both units incorporate internal architectures enhanced by Mr Edvardsen. In the amp’s case, this includes the patented Distortion Cancelling Circuit, which probably serves to cancel distortion, and I’m guessing it does so without recourse to lots of negative feedback, or it wouldn’t be that big a deal. There’s also a special ‘clamp’ at work in the power supply, which prevents unpleasantness induced by the output transistors overheating when they’re handling difficult speaker loads. In fact, NAD would like to think of the C 375BEE as the next best thing to their rather special (and specially priced) M3 dual mono high-end amplifier. The company claims the 375 is tricked out with goodies developed for its more illustrious stablemate. That may well be: it’s certainly quite heavy.

There’s also the C 565BEE CD player, which I’ll despatch rather hastily, if I may, as it’s the amp I’d like to dwell on. The 565BEE also enjoys a trickle down from NAD’s M series. Like most of its direct competitors, it upsamples CD, in this case as high as DVD-A’s 192kHz, and DACs come courtesy of Wolfson, a name that is increasingly associated with all self-respecting digital devices. A feature I appreciate is being able to plug a USB stick into the front panel and have the player decode MP3s with rather more finesse than my laptop. More novel, and ergonomically satisfying, is the rotary control knob for track selection and play/pause functions. In terms of performance, the player showed no favouritism in genre, and all in all, I found it an accomplished player, even tempered and effective. It was, however, rather self-effacing, and some of the kick-out quality of earlier players was missing. In short it was good, and a worthy step up from the C542 in terms of sophistication, but it fell short of great.

NAD C 375BEE amplifier

Getting back to the C 375BEE, we uncover the real story in this pairing. NAD amps are famously direct in their sonic delivery, and in the past they’ve often exhibited an easily forgiven over-exuberance. They’ve never been especially interested in exquisite detail, but for what you pay they certainly deliver on system friendliness, flexibility, and fuss-free, no-refunds music making. But now we have this new black heavyweight, and suddenly NAD has gotten all serious and thoughtful, and as I waited over the course of several weeks for the amp to burn in and start a rumpus, it became clear that its maker’s priorities may have changed.

The C 375BEE still has the muscle to frighten away evil spirits, boasting 150W per channel and an unfeasible reserve of amperage for when the speakers find resistance is futile, but it doesn’t chuck its weight around at all recklessly. Instead, every squeak, tap, and scratch is presented with a calm intensity, like a ninja playing Jenga. I found it slightly unnerving, not because it caused any degree of audio offence, but because it was so not budget NAD. I haven’t heard the M range from which the 375 gets its voice, but I remember the earlier NAD Silverline integrated amp, and its similar, determinedly professional manner.

This, then, is an affordable NAD amp that has aspirations, and despite the somewhat working-class exterior, inside the 375BEE has blue-blood running through its circuit boards. However hard I leant on the volume knob, the big integrated amp kept its focus on the notes, who was playing them, and how they were being played, whether it be Led Zep on old vinyl or Jacques Loussier on new CD. I eventually had to concede that this an amp that, for remarkably little outlay, adheres to the audiophile touchstone of fidelity. How good is that?