NAD C 372: Volume control flaws

 

New member
Username: Zeppelin2

Post Number: 1
Registered: Nov-06
Hi! I have a couple of gripes with my new NAD C 372. Strangely enough, they all seem to be related to the volume control mechanism! Here's where my concerns lie:

- sound still leaks through when the knob is turned all the way down
- the next incremental increase in volume (ie. turn the knob until you notice it louder) is pretty darned loud for the 'quietest' setting
- the knob itself is a bit jiggly and loose
- the remote is no better, as volume adjustments on the remote bump up the sound in huge increments

Is this a common theme with other C 372's and even other NAD products? Is this really acceptable considering the price of the item?

I've heard that volume knobs really only become linear and channels balance out at around the 9 o'clock position. This turns out to be the point at which I wouldn't play my music ANY louder! It's almost as if I can only use the weakest points in the range :S

Curious to hear your opinions!

Ps. Speakers are Polk Audio LSi15 (88dB, 4ohms) tried with both a CD and DVD player
 

Gold Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 9378
Registered: May-04
.

Pots become linear where they are designed to become linear. The more expensive the part, the more linear the action. There are linear trim and log trim pots which each have a different amount of control over the range of the pot. Linear pots are found on the most expensive gear and each step on the control is a set amount of change, i.e. 1 dB for each step, and is constant over the course of the control's range. Log trim, or audio trim, pots are designed to bring a set level of change over a certain region of the control's range and will usually have more affect at the lower portion of the control. Which type your NAD uses, I don't know. You can try attentuating the output of your sources and this would put less input voltage into the pre amp. You would then have to advance the control further to get a relative amount of voltage out of the pre amp. This would give you a wider range on the control for smaller adjustments.If you are interested in this approach, go here; http://www.hlabs.com/technical/crossovers/ and you should be able to find a trim set that works for you.

.
 

Bronze Member
Username: James_lehmann

Post Number: 13
Registered: Nov-06
I have a C370 which is a very similar design to the C372, and I experienced the same 'too-much-power' issue you describe...

Here's how I solved it (pasted from another of my posts on the subject):

"Thanks to the extremely comprehensive design of the NAD C370 I've found a way to deal with the overpowering issue. The C370 has a parallel Pre-Amp 2 output with a continuously variable attenuation pot (down to -12dB) at the rear, designed for use with bi-amping or a sub. So I just switched the jumpers over from the default Pre-Amp 1 output to the Main Power Amp input, engaged some heavy attenuation and voila - I can now use the main volume knob over 50% of it's travel instead of 10% which gives me much more resolution, finer control, no L/R balance issues at low volume, and it doesn't blow the windows out with the slightest tweak!"

I recently added some acoustic treatment to my room and this has helped enormously with not feeling like this beefy amp is over-powering for my quite small space. The volume control can now live at a higher setting than before purely due to the absorption characteristics of the treament I've added.

'Off' isn't completely off for me either BTW - but it doesn't bother me.

FWIW if the C372 is anything like the C370 I have then it's a really superb-sounding amp and makes my AMC CD7 & PMC TB2's sound golden!
 

Silver Member
Username: Daniel_canada

Canada

Post Number: 219
Registered: May-06
What James said. I have the 162/272 NAD combo. I use the Variable pre out turned all the way to -12db, so I listen to my music anywhere from 8am to full blast on the dial.
 

New member
Username: Zeppelin2

Post Number: 2
Registered: Nov-06
Hello, sorry for the delay in following up! I tried what James and Dan suggested and it works like a charm.

Thanks!
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