NAD CELEBRATE 50 YEARS WITH THE NAD C 3050 LE STEREOPHONIC AMPLIFIER

NAD Electronics celebrates its founding in 1972 with a limited-edition amplifier, the NAD C 3050 LE Stereophonic Amplifier.

NAD Electronics is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1972. The brand will mark the milestone with a series of events, as well as the launch of a vintage-inspired limited edition integrated amp, the NAD C 3050 LE Stereophonic Amplifier.

NAD ELECTRONICS 50^TH ANNIVERSARY

The celebrations start now in October 2022 and finish around the High End Munich 2023 show next May.

Over the past 50 years, NAD Electronics produced electronic components that include amplifiers, source products such as turntables, CD and cassette players and more recently, streamers and A/V receivers. The brand became a household name in HiFi with the success of the NAD 3020 integrated amplifier, which over time became one of the highest-selling budget amplifiers in history.

The early days of NAD

AMPLIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES

In the decades since, the brand has pioneered many amplification technologies, including its work to perfect class A/B and class G amplification, class D digital and hybrid digital amplification, and the introduction of early protocols for network streaming for audio. Throughout, NAD Electronics has championed truth in specifications, creating its own Full Disclosure Power standard that rates amplifier power based on real-world listening scenarios versus laboratory conditions.

“Rating power at one frequency, one volume level, using a simplified test load is fine for submitting documentation to regulators but in reality, music impacts our emotions by being complex and dynamic,” says Greg Stidsen, Chief Technology Officer of Lenbrook International, the parent company of NAD Electronics. “It’s easy to create an amplifier that performs well in narrow conditions, but we are music lovers designing products for music lovers, so we rate our amplifiers across the whole frequency band and dynamic range to give our consumers a realistic expectation of amplifier performance for all the music they enjoy. That often meant the power rating on paper of NAD’s products were lower than what our competitors would publish, but our ratings better reflect the full and rich sound that great recordings contain.”

Marty Borish

MARTY BORISH AND BJORN ERIK EDVARDSEN

This way of designing products comes from within the core values of the brand, which include value for money, performance, simplicity, and innovation, and were present from the very beginning with Founder, Marty Borish, and legendary amplifier genius, Bjorn Erik Edvardsen. Both have since passed away – Borish in 2017 and Edvardsen in 2018 – but not before they mentored a global team who now carry on Borish’s market development work and Edvardsen’s innovative approach to technology development.

Marty Borish

Bjorn-Erik Edvardsen

ANNIVERSARY ACTIVITIES

The brand kicks off the North American portion of its anniversary activities at Toronto Audio Fest the weekend of October 21st-23rd 2022, and the European portion at the Paris Audio-Video Show the weekend of November 4^th -6^th  2022. At these shows, NAD will debut a limited-edition anniversary product, the NAD C 3050 LE Stereophonic Amplifier.

Bjorn Erik Edvardsen

NAD C 3050 LE STEREOPHONIC AMPLIFIER

With only 1972 being manufactured, the retro-look integrated amplifier harkens back to the heyday of HiFiand incorporates LED illuminated left and right VU metres, as well as a satin walnut veneer wooden case that conceals fully modern features like hi-res multi-room streaming, ability to decode MQA studio master recordings, and Dirac Room Correction via the included BluOS-D MDC2 module, as well as AirPlay 2, two-way aptX HD Bluetooth, and HDMI eARC. Other inputs and outputs include a phono stage and dedicated headphone amplifier. It is powered by the latest version of NAD’s HybridDigital amplifier rated at 100 watts per channel of Full Disclosure Power and features a high-resolution audiophile-grade DAC.

NAD C 3050 LE Stereophonic Amplifier

NAD C 3050 LE STEREOPHONIC AMPLIFIER PRICE

The NAD C 3050 LE will have a suggested retail price of USD $1972, and each unit is uniquely numbered from 1 through 1972 and will come with a certificate of authenticity. These amplifiers will be available at select NAD Electronics retailers around the world starting mid-November 2022.

Rear of the NAD C 3050 LE Stereophonic Amplifier

NAD 3030

“The C 3050 LE is based on a 1974 industrial design of the original 3030 stereophonic amplifier, which in its day, produced 30 watts per channel using a class A/B design and offered audiophiles and music lovers an affordable performance-oriented amplifier option versus its contemporaries,” says Cas Oostvogel, Product Manager for NAD Electronics. “The original 3030 had a matching companion tuner but the C 3050 LE modernizes it as a ‘just add speakers’ product that comes equipped with BluOS, a hi-res multi-room streaming platform, giving music lovers access to thousands of internet radio stations, as well as over 20 music streaming services.”

NAD C 3050 AMPLIFIER

Stretching into 2023, the brand will continue its celebrations in March with the launch of the NAD C 3050 integrated amplifier, the more widely available version of its “LE” sibling. Offered at a lower suggested price point than the limited-edition version, the C 3050 will retail for USD $1299, allowing consumers the choice to upgrade the unit to include BluOS and Dirac via its MDC2 feature for an additional USD $549. The C 3050 LE will be available at all NAD Electronics retailers worldwide. Rated at 100 watts per channel, the C 3050 includes line inputs, HDMI eARC, two-way aptX HD Bluetooth, phono stage, and a dedicated headphone amplifier.

NAD C 3050 LE STEREOPHONIC AMPLIFIER SPECIFICATIONS

All specs are measured according to IHF 202 CEA 490-AR-2008 standard. THD is measured using AP AUX 0025 passive filter and AES 17 active filter.

PREAMPLIFIER SECTION

LINE INPUT, PRE-OUT (Analogue bypass on)

THD+N (20 Hz – 20 kHz) <0.005 % at 2V out

Signal-to-Noise Ratio >95 dB (IHF; A-weighted, ref. 500 mV out, unity gain)

Channel separation >86W(at 1KHz 0.1% THD 8Rx2CH) >102W(at 1KHz 0.1% THD)

IHF dynamic power >100 dB (1 kHz), >90 dB (10 kHz)

Input impedance (R and C) 28 kohms + 360 pF

Maximum input signal >4.5 Vrms (ref. 0.1 % THD)

Output impedance 440 ohms

Input sensitivity 270 mV (ref. 500 mV out, Volume maximum)

Frequency response ±0.3 dB (20 Hz – 20 kHz)

Maximum voltage output -IHF load >2 V (ref. 0.1 % THD)

PHONO INPUT, PRE-OUT (ANALOGUE BYPASS ON)

THD (20 Hz – 20 kHz) <0.03% at 2 V out

Signal-to-Noise ratio >79 dB (200 ohms source; A-weighted, ref. 500 mV out)

Input Impedance (R and C) 46 kohms/100 pF

Input sensitivity 5.5 mV (ref. 500 mV out, Volume maximum)

Frequency response ±0.3 dB (20 Hz – 20 kHz)

Maximum input signal at 1kHz >80 mVrms (ref. 0.1 % THD)

LINE INPUT, HEADPHONE OUT (ANALOGUE BYPASS ON)

THD (20 Hz – 20 kHz) <0.005% at 1V out

Signal-to-Noise Ratio >96 dB (32 ohms loads; A-WTD, ref. 2 V out, unity gain

Frequency response ±0.3 dB (20 Hz – 20 kHz)

Channel separation >60 dB at 1kHz

Output impedance 2.2 ohms

BluOS SECTION

AUDIO

Supported audio file format MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, WMA-L, ALAC, OPUS

Supported high- resolution audio file format FLAC, MQA, WAV, AIFF

Sampling rate up to 192 kHz

Bit depths 16-24

SUPPORTED SERVICES

Streaming cloud services Amazon Music, Bugs, CustomChannels, Deezer, IDAGIO, KKBOX, Napster, Neil Young Archives,nugs.net, Qobuz, Qsic, Spotify, SOUNDMACHINE, TIDAL, Tunify

Internet radio CALM Radio, iHeartRadio, LiveXLive, RADIO.COM, Radio Paradise, SiriusXM, TuneIn

Integration partners Control4, Crestron, ELAN, Lutron, Push, Roon, RTI, URC

Voice Control Integration Skills and support for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri with corresponding enabled devices and App

CONNECTIVITY

Network connectivity Gigabit Ethernet RJ45

Wi-Fi 5

Supported network file share protocol Server Message Block (SMB)

USB 1 x Type-A port for connection to USB memory stick (FAT32 or NTFS formatted) and supported peripherals

Bluetooth quality aptX HD 5.0

Bluetooth connectivity Two-Way (Receive and Headphone modes)

USER INTERFACE

Supported operating system Music playback from network shares on the following desktop operating systems: Microsoft Windows XP, 2000, Vista, 7, 8 to current Windows Operating Systems and macOS versions

Mobile Application Free BluOS Controller App available for download from the respective App stores of Apple iOS devices (iPad, iPhone and iPod), Android devices, Kindle Fire and Windows or macOS desktops

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

MAIN IN, SPEAKER OUT

Continuous output power into 8 ohms and 4 ohms 100W (ref. 20 Hz-20 kHz at rated THD, both channels driven)

THD (20 Hz – 20 kHz) <0.03% (250 mW to 100 W, 8 ohms and 4 ohms)

Signal-to-Noise Ratio >95dB (A-weighted, 500 mV input, ref. 1 W out in 8 ohms)

Clipping power >115 W (at 1 kHz 0.1 % THD)

IHF dynamic power 8 ohms: 180 W, 4 ohms: 250 W, 2 ohms: 300 W

Peak output current >20A (in 1 ohm, 1 ms)

Frequency response ±0.3 dB (20 Hz – 20 kHz)

Channel separation >75dB (1 kHz)

>70dB (10 kHz)

Input sensitivity (for 100 W in 8 ohms) 540 mV

Digital: -6dBFS

Power consumption

at Auto Standby ON and Network Standby OFF 0.5 W

at Auto Standby ON and Network Standby ON 2.0 W

OFF mode (Power switched OFF) 0.1 W

DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT

Gross dimensions (W x H x D) 435 x 110 x 355mm (17 1/4 x 4 3/8 x 14 inches)

Net weight 10 kg (22 lbs)

Shipping weight 12.6 kg (27.8 lbs)

HiFi Pig Says: Retro-looking HiFi with modern tech inside is proving very popular, and we are sure the NAD C 3050 LE Stereophonic Amplifier will be too.