Elac Speakers: New Models!
First of all, the Uni-fi speakers are now on display! It’s been a long wait, but worth it.
Next, Elac has expanded the Debut Series by two new models.
F6 Tower: $760 per pair (43h, 8.5w, 10d, 48lbs)
F6 is a bigger brother to F5. Big surprise, eh? It features the same silk dome tweeter as the other Debut models, a 6.5” Kevlar midrange driver and two additional 6.5” Kevlar woofers. It’s a legit three way with the strongest Debut sound yet, which is saying a lot! When we demo the B6 shelf speaker for $280 per pair, most people think we have a subwoofer turned on. With F6, everyone thinks we have a subwoofer turned on!
B4 Bookshelf Speaker: $180 per pair (11.5h, 7.5w, 8.5d, 10lbs)
Our first female visitor who saw B4 said it is “darling.” B4 uses the same Debut silk tweeter as its brethren, and also uses – you guessed it, a 4” Kevlar mid-woof driver. While B4 won’t knock you over at 30 paces (F6 will!), you won’t believe what this little guy puts out. If you’re after a very smooth, small speaker that does have some octane, B4 will indeed fit on a shelf and do the job. When you consider most people are buying computer speakers at this price made out of plastic cabinets and flimsy drivers, B4 is a welcome addition to the field.
NAD Analog Integrated Amps: Standard Bearers!
It makes sense to buy an integrated amp when you’re on a budget. It’s the best way to get plenty of punch to your speakers without over spending. You’re going to use Sonos
or your computer for radio and streaming. Hence you don’t need those streaming features on a modest integrated.
You might run phono. But no manufacturer knows how deep you’re into it. How fancy a phono preamp will they make you buy? You might want a DAC for computer use. But no manufacturer knows how deep you’ll be into it. How fancy a DAC will they make you buy?
NAD’s theory is that you should buy a phono preamp or DAC as an outboard unit. Buy something that performs commensurate to the level of your interest in phono and digital. Then you are flexible for changes in the future. This allows NAD to focus on the blood and guts of performance of the integrated amp. They’re not spending your money on features you might not use.
C316BEE $380, 40×2 (8 ohms. 02% THD, 20-20k)
NAD’s entry level integrated still has guts. It will play stronger into impedances of four and two ohms. Most modest electronics crash and burn into low impedances. C-316BEE does use NAD’s PowerDrive circuitry to allow it to handle peaks and impedance challenges. Please note that 316’s distortion is extremely low at .02%. Most competitors in this range are more like .2%!
C326BEE $550, 50×2 (8 ohms, 009% THD, 20-20k)
C326BEE is the least expensive integrated I really get excited about! You’ll note distortion is much less than its little brother above. Peak horse power jumps up too. 100X2 into 8 ohms, 150×2 into 4 ohms, 200×2 into 2 ohms. C-326BEE is a strong middle weight puncher. I’ve heard C326BEE do a very respectable job with Magnepan and Bryston speakers, both 4 ohms.
C326BEE also has PowerDrive and Soft Clipping, a perennial NAD amplifier feature that lets it play louder than the other guys before distorting. It uses a Holmgren toroidal transformer. Has pre out and main in loop. Has mono sub out. C326BEE is a great, cost effective integrated!
C356BEE $800, 80×2 (8 ohms, .009% THD, 20-20k)
C356BEE is half again stronger than 326. With peak power of 140, 220 & 270w- 356 can drop the hammer. Feature wise 356 has the pre out- main in loop- but also has two additional pre outs. It also features speakers A-B.
C356BEE will surprise you with big time speakers. $800 sounds too cheap to drive highly resolving speakers but… when you hear 356 shake hands with Maggie MG .7s or MG 1.7i’s, you’ll be impressed!
C375BEE $1500, 150×2 (8 ohms, .009% THD, 20-20k)
C375BEE is a true heavy weight! Get out of the way and let this bad boy go to work. Power levels run 250 (8 ohms), 410 (4 ohms), 600 (2 ohms).
It has the feature set of C356BEE but virtually double the power. Keep in mind NAD tone controls can actually be useful. With extremely low and high hinge points, NAD controls just affect
extremes as you would like.
A recent The Absolute Sound review showed an esteemed $2500 competitor to produce 160×2 into 8 ohms at .05% THD. Sounds like nice numbers but C375BEE at a grand less gives you the same power and dramatically less distortion. What about lower impedances?!
The reviewed piece put out 240 into 4 ohms, just over half of what the NAD does! The reviewed piece will not handle 2 ohms, while the NAD will. At a grand less money!
Make no mistake, C375BEE is quite at home with some of the biggest and best speakers in our biz. It will allow you to get the speaker you love and power it very well for only $1500!
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904), An American… for a while.
Dvorak grew up near Prague. He made his living playing violin in the orchestra and pipe organ on the side for a little pizza money. By 1873 he became a full time organist at a church to reduce his work load, so he could compose more.
His international reputation as a composer was rising and in 1891 he was lured to NYC to be director of the National Conservatory of Music. He was paid the astonishing salary of $15k to make the move. He wrote prolifically in NY (including the New World Symphony) as he became acquainted with American music. Among other things unique to America, he appreciated that women and blacks were part of the American music making scene. He got summers off and spent one in Spillville, Iowa where there was a large Czech speaking community.
His American financier ran low on funds and in 1895 Dvorak and family moved back to Prague. Some of his greatest music was composed in the US. If you haven’t listened to sym #9, The New World, recently, give it a spin. It’s positively beautiful and American sounding!