NAD C 3050 LE BluOS streaming integrated amplifier

January 11, 2024 / By mobanmarket

Although NAD was founded in England in 1972 as New Acoustic Dimension, my introduction to the brand was in 1980. I bought an NAD 3020 integrated amplifier after hearing it successfully drive Acoustic Research’s current-hungry AR9 loudspeakers. Designed in England by Bjørn-Erik Edvardsen (footnote 1) and manufactured in Taiwan, the ridiculously inexpensive 3020—it cost just $135 back then—showed that an amplifier didn’t need machined faceplates, intimidating heatsinks, or technically glamorous components to be able to drive real-world speakers. In 2002, the 3020 was nominated by Stereophile‘s writers and editors as one of the 100 most significant audio products in the magazine’s first 40 years (footnote 2).

NAD was little known in 1980, but the 3020 put the brand on the map, the company selling 1.1 million units over the amplifier’s lifetime. NAD subsequently went through ownership changes and in 1999 was purchased by Canada’s Lenbrook Group, the brand’s Canadian distributor since 1978.

Stereophile has favorably reviewed many NAD amplifiers over the decades. One of the most recent was the Master Series M10 class-D streaming integrated amplifier, which I purchased to use as my daily driver after I reviewed it in January 2020. The M10’s price included a free license for Dirac Live low-frequency room equalization, which I found invaluable with my long-term reference standmounts, the KEF LS50s. So when I learned that NAD was introducing a 50th Anniversary integrated amplifier, the C 3050 LE, which also included Dirac Live, I asked for a review sample.

The C 3050 LE (Anniversary Edition)

The LE in the amplifier’s name stands for Limited Edition—just 1972 samples will be sold at a US price of, you guessed it, $1972. (1972 was, as mentioned above, the year of the company’s founding.) The price includes an MDC2 BluOS module. (There will be a non-LE version, which will cost $1899 with the BluOS module, $1299 without it.)

With its wood-grain vinyl wrap, the cursive-font “New Acoustic Dimension” logo on the front panel, and its twin, illuminated VU meters, the amplifier’s styling is distinctly retro, resembling that of the NAD 3030 amplifier from 1976. Inside, however, the C 3050 LE is thoroughly modern. The BluOS module allows audio to be streamed from local storage on the owner’s network or from Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon Music Ultra HD, Deezer, TuneIn radio stations, and other streaming services,with digital resolution up to 24bits and a sample rate of 192kHz. MQA unfolding is supported. Audio can be streamed from iOS devices with Apple AirPlay 2, and the BluOS module works with the Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect apps. Music can also be streamed from mobile devices to the amplifier or from the amplifier to wireless headphones with two-way Bluetooth aptX HD. Playback can be voice-controlled using Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple’s Siri. An IR remote control is provided, and multiroom operation and integration with smart home-control systems is supported.

BluOS is an app-based multiroom “music ecosystem” (think Roon) which provides access to your own content and integrates a large number of music services—not just the usual suspects like Tidal and Qobuz but also some obscure ones, such as nugs.net, IDAGIO, and Bugs, which is available only in South Korea. If a streaming service isn’t available, you can send it to the C 3050 LE with BlueTooth or AirPlay.

The C 3050 LE accepts data via HDMI eARC, Type A USB, and coaxial and optical S/PDIF inputs. The C 3050 LE’s D/A circuit uses Texas Instruments PCM5242 differential-output DAC chips. These can decode PCM data up to 32 bits and 384kHz, though the amplifier’s playback is limited to 192kHz. Installed at the lower left of the back panel is the MDC streaming module (but optional on the forthcoming non-LE version) with an Ethernet port, mounts for the included Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antennas, a service port, and a USB-A input to connect a memory stick or “supported peripherals.” The Gigabit RJ45 (Ethernet) input supports sampling rates up to 192kHz and bit depth up to 24. Analog inputs include one pair of line-input RCA jacks and one pair of RCA jacks for MM phono input; all are digitized by the C 3050 LE, and RIAA correction is performed digitally. Jumpers connect a pair of single-ended preamp output jacks to single-ended amplifier input jacks. The provided subwoofer output can be adjusted with the BluOS app, and there’s a ¼” headphone jack on the front panel.

Front-panel controls allow the user to adjust treble and bass—these can be bypassed with the BluOS app—as well as balance and volume. A rotary switch selects either or both loudspeaker outputs, turning them off for headphone listening. The C 3050 LE’s power amplifier stage uses HybridDigital UcD class-D modules and the maximum continuous power is specified as 100Wpc into 8 or 4 ohms; instantaneous maximum power is specified as 180W into 8 ohms, 250W into 4 ohms, and 300W into 2 ohms.

Setup

Installation of the C 3050 LE was straightforward. I connected its Ethernet port to my network and set up its Wi-Fi connection. I installed the BluOS app (v.3.20.2) on my iPad mini 2 (above) and used this to check that the amplifier’s firmware was up to date. I then logged into my Qobuz and Tidal accounts. The BluOS app located and indexed the audio library I use with my Roon Nucleus+. (Though the Roon app recognized the NAD, it reported that “the manufacturer has not yet completed certification for this device.”) I connected the single-ended analog outputs of my Ayre Acoustics C-5xe^MP disc player to the NAD’s line inputs with Canare interconnects, the player’s AES3 output to the TosLink input via a Z-Systems RDP-1 used as a format converter. The NAD’s speaker outputs were connected to my KEF LS50s with AudioQuest Robin Hood cables.

A rear-panel switch selects whether the C 3050 LE’s front-panel meters show the input or the output signal levels, set with a back-panel switch. I stuck with the former. The amplifier’s volume setting is indicated with a row of LEDs on the right of the front panel. The leftmost LED is orange, and green LEDs successively light up to its right as the volume is increased. A button on the remote control allows these LEDs to be dimmed, but even at the lowest setting, they are still bright. Fortunately, they can be turned off completely. The VU meters remain illuminated.

NAD says that the MDC2’s two-way communications allow Dirac Live to work with all sources connected to the C 3050 LE. To use Dirac Live with the amplifier, I plugged the included microphone into the 3.5mm jack on the also-included USB adapter then plugged that into the C 3050 LE’s USB Type A port. I installed the Dirac Live app (above) on my Mac mini, after first making sure that it and the C 3050 LE were connected to the same Wi-Fi network. The app found and identified the amplifier as “C 3050 – 0184n.” I then followed the on-screen instructions for “tightly focused imaging,” placing the microphone in each of the nine positions specified by the app and performing a “chirp” test at each. Dirac then calculated a correction filter operating below 500Hz (below) and asked first for it to be named, then to be saved to one of the five slots in the C 3050 LE’s DSP memory. When I ran the BluOS app on the iPad, the Audio Settings menu now included an on/off switch for the Dirac filter. With Dirac active, there was a 10dB reduction in level, presumably to keep the equalized digital signal from exceeding 0dBFS.

Responses of the low-frequency correction filters calculated by Dirac Live for the KEF LS50s in JA’s room. (Left channel blue, right red.)