NAD M2 Direct Digital Amplifier Review

[Κώστας Φ.]

Για τον NADάκο τα είχαμε πει κι εδώ.
Μια και το πρώτο review από τον Robert Harley (του TAS) είναι έτοιμο και θα ακολουθήσουν κι άλλα, είπα να ανοίξω κι ένα dedicated thread με τις σχετικές δοκιμές.

Θα βάλω μόνο το conclusion αλλά αξίζει να διαβάσετε ολόκληρη τη δοκιμή. Καταπιάνεται αρκετά με τα τεχνικά στοιχεία (χωρίς να "ξεφεύγει") και έχει ενδιαφέρον να διαβάσετε τι κάνει και τι δεν κάνει το συγκεκριμένο εργαλείο της NAD.

Γράφει συμπερασματικά λοιπόν ο Harley:

Conclusion

Despite costing one-tenth as much as my reference system (all the components of which are outstanding), the M2 was extremely engaging musically. Overall, I preferred the reference system, but not by as much as the price disparity would suggest. I usually wouldn’t judge a $6000 product against one costing more than $50k, but the M2’s outstanding performance in many areas invited the comparison. Moreover, the M2 represents a radically different approach to amplifier design, digital-to-analog conversion, and system architecture. As such, I evaluated how the M2 sounds not just in comparison with similarly priced conventional amplification and digital-to-analog conversion, but how its new technology stacks up on an absolute basis. (You should consider this when reading how the M2 falls short of a reference-quality system. I included those observations not to diminish the great achievement the M2 represents, but to put this new technology in context.)

As for the M2 as an alternative to a $3500 conventional integrated amplifier and a $2500 digital-to-analog converter, it’s a slam dunk. I haven’t heard, nor can I imagine, any combination of amplification and DAC at the price approaching the M2’s performance. Moreover, the M2 delivers, in one chassis, decoding of high-resolution digital audio, the source-switching and control functions of a preamplifier, and 250W of amplification—all with outstanding ergonomics. I can envision the M2, or its descendents, as part of a three-piece playback-system: music server, M2-like product, and loudspeakers.

NAD's M2 is a triumph on many levels, not the least of which is that it points toward a new direction in amplifier design and system architecture. I predict that years from now audiophiles will look back on the M2 as the progenitor of the next generation of audio.

Διαβάστε ολόκληρο το review εδώ: avguide.com

 

[gstriftos]

Πάρτε και ένα review απο το Stereophile:

I wasn't sure what to expect from the M2. My experience of class-D amplifiers has been somewhat limited, but from that experience I anticipated taut, dry lows, somewhat threadbare highs, and a flattened soundstage. I got none of those things. Instead, when I fed the M2 the 24-bit/88.2kHz master files of Cantus's While You Are Alive (CD, Cantus CTS-1208), the soundstage was wide and deep, the high frequencies silky smooth, the lows warm and rich.

All of the above comments describe the sound of the M2 as driven from its digital inputs. The analog inputs are certainly of high quality, but feeding the dCS Puccini's balanced analog out to the M2's analog input gave a sound that, with CDs, wasn't quite as well resolved as when I used the Puccini's digital output to drive the M2.

Overall, however, my time with the M2 was among the more enjoyable periods I have spent reviewing an audio component.

Summing up
This review proved a more difficult undertaking than I had expected. My system has been locked into the paradigm of Source Component(s) to Preamplifier to Power Amplifier(s) for the past three decades. When I decided to review the NAD M2, I had not appreciated just how radically it would shift that paradigm. The integration of a D/A processor and power amplifier into a single chassis eliminates the need for an actual preamplifier, instead substituting a digital-domain volume control and switching. Of course, the M2 does have two analog inputs, but as these are digitized ahead of the volume control, it doesn't affect the picture I have painted of the M2 as a paradigm-breaking component.

Once I had changed my system approach, the NAD M2 provided many nights of extended listening, with one album leading to just one more. And one more. While the M2 is relatively large and heavy for a class-D amplifier, runs warmer than you might expect, and is not inexpensive, when fed high-quality PCM data it offers sound quality that competes with that of the best conventional amplifiers. Given my long-term skepticism about the sonic benefits of PWM amplifiers, that was not what I was expecting. NAD's Masters Series M2 is a winner all the way.

Αναλυτικότερα : link