NAD Owners do you use soft clipping?

 

Bronze Member
Username: Jamesp

Mansfield , TX USA

Post Number: 95
Registered: Apr-04
I have a NAD T752 AV receiver and find when using the soft clipping feature the highs are rounded off "too much". But, how many of you actually prefer it? I could see it possibly being a benefit on brighter speakers. But warmer/neutral speakers the dialogue on movies is a bit unintelligible.

The manual recommends the use of the soft clipping option unless you will be doing "critical listening". The web site now states that soft clipping would be used as a safety feature when listening at louder volumes such as at a party.

A bit confusing. I have used the soft clipping feature for almost a year and have now disabled it. It sounds much better with soft clipping off IMO.
 

Silver Member
Username: Varney

BirminghamEngland, UK

Post Number: 332
Registered: Sep-04
All of the NAD owners I have spoken to say that they leave the SC switch off and it's widely recognised that, unless your going to be doing some serious partying, it's best left off. I haven't yet heard of anyone noticing the difference in the sound with it on or off though.

NAD is one of the few makers of small domestic amps which contain this feature and I'm sure I've read somewhere it is an exclusive NAD thing. I think if it were an essential safety factor across the board for normal listening, then perhaps more domestic amps would carry it. Keeping an amp from clipping, for the most part, is assumed the responsibility of the owner not to press too much a load and to drive it sensibly.

As you probably know by now, the reason it should sound better with SC disabled is because it 'rounds off' the edges of a clipped signal, as you've described your high notes.

As to the manual, I think it's NADs way of saying what I've said and perhaps the writing of manuals are not their strong point? Perhaps it was written in the far East? After all, that's probably where it's printed. I always thought they were a Danish company, but mine says NAD - London on the back.

I'd be interested to know - does any one else notice a difference between the two states? I assumed the feature doesn't come into play until the wave form is significantly a bad shape for it?

V
 

Bronze Member
Username: Diablo

Fylde Coast, England

Post Number: 13
Registered: Dec-04
They used to be a British firm, then taken over by some Danes but have been owned by Canadian firm Lenbrook for a few years now, according to this NAD history. I kinda wish they'd stayed British.

Anyway, my T753 handbook recommends having the soft clipping switch in the 'off' position and I'm content to go along with that. Used in a smallish room with fairly efficient speakers, I would deafen myself before the clipping came into effect!
 

Bronze Member
Username: Canuckinapickle

TorontoCanada

Post Number: 28
Registered: Jan-05
Hey hey hey.. there isn't anything wrong with them being Canadian. Since becoming Canadian they've released many a critically acclaimed product in the Hi-Fi sector -- although they seem to have a bit of trouble in home theatre.

I've had a NAD C370 120wpc integrated amp (2chan) for about two years. In that time I typically have left the Soft Clip on as I noticed relatively little difference on my Energy Speaker Systems C-5s. My T753, however, I do notice a more significant difference with and keep soft clipping off on that device.

Unless you are going to be pushing your amplifier to hard then you may as well leave it off. Logic says it's one less circuit you can bypass thus maintaining the original signal that much more.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Diablo

Fylde Coast, England

Post Number: 16
Registered: Dec-04
Canuck,
No insult to Canada was intended - NAD being Canadian owned isn't a bad thing! As you say, they have done well, generally, in the last 5 years. And I think my 753 is wonderful.

No, I was implying that it was a shame they were initially taken over by a lacklustre Danish firm, years ago. I was just insulting everyone in Denmark, really!

I think of Canada as a fine place, much rather live there than America, though not quite sure why, as I don't know all that much about the place, though I do eat tins of Canadian salmon, listen to Sarah McLachlan, and used to admire feisty F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve (not too sure about Jacques, though). Please pass on my regards to your Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeaux, next time you see him. ;)
Regards,
diablo :-)
 

Bronze Member
Username: Jamesp

Mansfield , TX USA

Post Number: 96
Registered: Apr-04
Thanks everyone for the great feedback.

This is off topic of this thread but I have a question for Canuck.

I would like to get a seperate 2 channel amp for my mains. Is the C370 an overall improvement for 2 channel stereo over the T753 running 2 channel only?

I have been holding off on getting a sub due to new products from HSU and SVS coming out. I have rather small Dynaudio 42 bookshelf speakers for mains. The AV seems to run them fine but would I get better overall performance from the C370?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Canuckinapickle

TorontoCanada

Post Number: 30
Registered: Jan-05
That's a bit of a hard question to answer James, The 370 is great, and yes, I notice a difference between it and my T753 in Stereo mode but not much of one. The bass is a bit tighter and the high-ends a bit more natural. I gather the typical rule is the more power the better the dynamics. I think the 2-Chan NAD hi-fi amps are of slightly better build quality too, but that's just a hunch.

Keep in mind that the C370 is an integrated amp (it has a stereo pre-amp in it). Originally I used it as a two-channel system and one day when I have money for new speakers I will again in another room. For the meantime I'm just using the amp section and yes it is a bit better. NAD makes a 2 Channel Amplifier only version of the 370 (or what is now the 372) but you'd have to look it up at www.nadelectronics.com to find out what it is.

Remember if you have a different wattage amp running your mains, when you play a movie in surround the volume will scale slightly differently on those than your other speakers. The HRT remote makes it easy to adjust on the fly the surround/centre volumes so I don't have much trouble with it but that is the down-side.

Good luck with your decision!
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