Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Got my Nad T773 today

So far, I'm not really that impressed with it's sound. I need to play more. But coming from 13 yr old Carver pre/pro, I find the nad missing a lot in the bass dept, and a little too much mids for my liking. The detail is there in the highs, but it sounds a little tin'y.

I used to turn off my sub when playing music because the 80's had enough on their own. With the NAD, there is no bass in the 80's. Everything set to +10, I've switched between large/small...just not impressed.

I'm surpised just how high I have to turn this thing up to hear it as well.

I must say, I'm really kind pissed off. I'm wondering if the Denon 3805 would have been a better choice now.

It does sound good with movies. Seperation is very well done.

In reply to:

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So far, I'm not really that impressed with it's sound. I need to play more. But coming from 13 yr old Carver pre/pro, I find the nad missing a lot in the bass dept, and a little too much mids for my liking. The detail is there in the highs, but it sounds a little tin'y.

I used to turn off my sub when playing music because the 80's had enough on their own. With the NAD, there is no bass in the 80's. Everything set to +10, I've switched between large/small...just not impressed.

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http://www.touristfilms.com/images/Amp_Sound.pdf

Maybe you were expecting too much.

you might be right.

I do really like it for movies. which is what this amp will be for mostly, so I may keep it. It has a lot of other things going for it as well, I won't list them right now. It's just that I feel my 80's are now a little under utilized compared to what my carvers used to put out. If I had any money left, I'd get some sort of eq that could accept digital inputs. But the only one I know of right now is the behringer pro, which is well over 300 US for an eq with a bunch of stuff I'll never need. Not to mention it's a little odd looking.

I find the sound great, whether movies or music. I use the front channels of the NAD to run the zone 2 speakers and run my fronts through and Anthem MCA 3 amp. I get excellent bass out of mine. I love the sound in stereo without the sub as well. I am not sure if it is the Anthem amp or the receiver though. I must admit that the Monitor Audio S8's that are run off of the NAD front channels have excellent bass.
Everyone has a different idea of what sounds good though. If you are not satisfied, at the cost of that unit I would return it. From there though, it is either HK, Rotel or seperates, as they are the most reputable. With the 3805 you will not get the same power, with all channels running, as you will with the NAD, HK or Rotel.

Maybe take a look at a seperate amp such as I use, to power your mains when you really want to turn it up.

Good luck, Troy

thanks. It's not that I want ear bleeding volumes. I'm just looking for the right sound. I don't like it when I have to turn the amp up just to get bass.

I connected an older Kenwood 7030 eq to it yeterday. Of course I can only do one source with the eq. I can connect it to the tape loop, but for some reason, the sub won't work through the tape loop, and I can't change to any of the sound modes. I expected the dolby digital to not work, but why the pro-logic, ears, advanced stereo and so on won't work through the tape is beyond me.

If I keep this, I am definitely going to look at getting an eq. Probably a behringer by the looks of it. I just can't seem to find any other eq on the market that allows a digital connection. I was hoping to get away with no eq with this setup.

I got 30days to make up my mind about this thing. I wish I could audition a 3805, or something while I had it. But there's no good hi fi shops around which means I have to get everything mailed.

took some time today to try a few things. Keep in mind my main concern right now is two channel music.

First thing I did was hook my old Carver tfm-15 poweramp, and CT17 pre-amp back up and start comparing back and forth. Absolutely no contest. I could care less if the sub was on at all with the Carvers powering the M80's. There's more bass with just the 80's on, then the nad with the 80's/sub together without turning the sub to insane levels of course. even at low volumes I can watch the 80's woofers bounce around easily with the bass cranked. not to mention every picture on my wall hanging on for dear life. With the NAD, I can turn it to insane volumes and there will be min movement on the woofers and my pictures are very safe. Honestly, anyone running the t773 on the m80's, you have no idea what your 80's are capable of.

That being said, I presisted to find out if it was indeed the Carver amp, or the preamp making the difference. I expected that the ct-17 preamp was just better. So, I used the NAD as the preamp, and used the Carver tfm-15 to power the m80's. Low and behold, very similar sound to using just the NAD for everything, but the mids were a little less pronounced, and highs a little different, but the bass was similar. Very hard to describe, bottom line was, very little difference and not enough for me to warrent using the Carver power amp all the time. So the NAD power amps are quite fine.

So, it's the NAD's preamp that's the pos. Little harsh I know, but for 2 grand, I expected a lot more and feel let down. Honestly, I don't think I'd even would have bought the 80's if I already had the NAD before hand. You just aren't getting the sound they are capable of. You end up relying on sub to do all of the work.

I tried playing with crossover settings. Little to no difference. Turning the speakers to large/small....same thing, no difference. There's just no bass to be found in the 80's using the nad.

So, i get to pay to send this thing back I guess. But where do i go from here? This is a pita. The room will be done in a weeks time, ready to mount screen and everything after it all sitting packed away for months. And now, I still have no amp.

My qs8's will be here Monday, as will the vp-150. I get to try everything again with those.

I have no idea what to do now...none.

I know you've written that you checked the settings... but it just doesn't sound right to me that the NAD would be that anemic in bass. I'm guessing it's a defective model or, like I said, there's still a setting involved.

Any differences, if they're there at all, would likely be subtle...

missing something? yeah, I'd hate to say it because I always hated them...but a darn loudness button would do great right about now.



well, thankfully that eq I got is still pretty good. I basically dropped the highs, mids, and raised the bass and tweaked the tin'y sound of the mid range, and voila. Just gotta turn it up a tad more. Gorgeous sound yet again. Now I'm finally happy....well, sorta. Now, it's still not the amount of bass I had with the carver which was overpowering sometimes, but it is enough.

I didn't want to equalize the crap out of it, but here we are, and i think i finally have the music sound sound I'm looking for. But I'm back to the problem of I can only eq one source, and no digital.

Almost there..... And my pictures are now scared again...with no sub on. Let the 80's sing!

I would agree. The NAD has ample power and the pre section is as good as most in this price range. My NAD has zero problems with pushing bass.

Do you have soft clipping on or off?

soft clipping on and off.....no difference.

keep in mind that my Carver preamp in it's day was 1799 Canadian.

This is where i get lost as to what to do next. I am more experienced with seperates and not digital receivers. If what you guys say is true, and I'm sure it is, but no yamaha, denon, any receiver short of rotel and better is going to be any better then this nad. Rotel is $$$ for this kind of power/.


As far as power is concerned.....that is a non-issue with this nad. Sound is the problem(or at least mine), and everyone has a different opinion of what is good. There has never been anyone that walked into my home and thought they have ever heard a better "sounding" stereo without getting into insane amounts of money at least. I had something special with the Carver combo i think.

In an ideal world, i would have the multiple receivers here all at once, trying them all. But, my world ain't ideal.

any other suggestions, pass them along. I think I tried everything, but outside of hidden menu's somewhere....there's nothing left. Cables are all 12awg too. I even tried some 14's. Speaker cables are only at best 6' away from amp anyways.