NAD C 3050 LE Integrated Amplifier – In Retrospect

All Image Credit: NAD

Founded in 1972 and initially based in London UK, NAD (New Acoustic Dimension) are now headquartered in Canada after being purchased by Lenbrook International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Lenbrook Group of Pickering, Ontario, Canada, who owns, designs and manufactures innovative technologies and products for discerning music lovers through its three brands, NAD Electronics, PSB Speakers, and Bluesound wireless multi-room systems.

The C 3050 LE Integrated Amplifier was released back in November 2022 and was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NAD’s founding in 1972. This Limited Edition amplifier features a delightful retro design featuring a satin walnut sleeve, dual VU meters, push-button controls and NAD’s 1970s cursive branding. Within the vintage exterior, there are several state-of-the-art technologies to include; BluOS high-res multi-room music streaming, Dirac Live room correction and NAD’s proven HybridDigital UcD power amplifier design. To commemorate NAD’s founding year, production is limited to 1,972 units, each of them individually numbered on the back panel.

NOTE: NAD has released a non-limited version of the C 3050 in early 2023 for which the included MDC2 BluOS-D module will be optional and the sides and top wrapped in vinyl (not wood veneer).

Continuous dual channel output power of 100 watts into 8 ohms and 4 ohms is avilable from its Class D Hybrid Digital UcD power amplifier design with accompanying low levels of distortion <0.03% and high signal-to-noise ratio >95dB. Digital conversion for all the analog sources is handled by the high-performance 32-bit/384kHz Texas Instruments PCM5242 stereo differential DAC.

Several NAD designs sport either one or two removable Modular Design Construction (MDC) rear panels hiding the expansion slots that support the addition of future features. This 50th anniversary design comes with one slot that contains the pre-installed MDC2 BluOS-D module that adds both Dirac Live room correction and BluOS high-resolution multi-room music streaming by connecting to your home network via Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet. The module also supports a USB connection for external drives.

DIRAC Live together with the included calibrated microphone will analyze and equalize room acoustic anomalies from 500Hz and down, (upgradable to full bandwidth). The BluOS upgrade supports audio up to 24 bit/192KHz and together with the BluOS multi-room music management system and BluOS app provides access to a wide range of wireless features with more than 20 popular streaming services, including lossless and Hi-Res audio sources such as Amazon Music Ultra HD, Deezer, Qobuz and Tidal. BluOS also supports; MQA decoding and rendering, Internet radio access and lets you play music from your own digital library via the MDC USB port. The MDC2 BluOS-D also supports; Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect, the playback of which can be controlled from the intuitive BluOS Controller app, available for iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows; by Alexa or Google voice commands and from smart home control systems such as Crestron, Control4, Lutron, and RTI.

Rear panel input connectivity includes; a MM phono stage, HDMI eARC (1) for soundbar and TV interfacing, plus it has line-level analogue (1), coaxial digital (1) and optical digital (1) inputs. Analog outputs include; headphone on the front panel, while the rear sports; speaker terminals (2 sets), sub out (1) and Pre-out/main-in allowing the 3050 to be used just as a preamp or separate power amp.

The C 3050 LE also features two-way Bluetooth aptX HD, so you can stream music to the amplifier from a mobile device or stream music from the amplifier to a pair of wireless headphones.

Finally, user control is available via the front panel tactile buttons and knobs or using the supplied IR remote control, while Custom Integrators have additional control access via the IR input and 12V trigger.

Features At A Glance:

• Retro design elements include satin walnut case, front-panel VU meters, push-button input controls, 1970s cursive branding, and dark grey front panel
• Limited-edition release: only 1,972 units will be produced, each of them individually numbered
• HybridDigital UcD Amplifier
• Continuous Power: 100 Watts per channel into 8/4 ohms
• Instantaneous Power: 135 Watts per channel
• Vanishingly low harmonic and intermodulation distortion
• MDC2 port for expanded functionality
• Pre-installed MDC2 BluOS-D module adds BluOS Hi-Res multi-room music streaming and Dirac Live room correction
• DIRAC Live room correction – below 500Hz only. (Full bandwidth requires paid upgrade $99.00 – see here) upgrade to multi-sub not available
• MDC2 BluOS-D module provides access to more than 20 streaming services, including several that offer lossless and high-resolution audio
• BluOS file formats: standard; MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, WMA-L, ALAC, OPUS, Hi-Res; FLAC, MQA, WAV, AIFF
• Support for Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, and Tidal Connect. (Roon is yet to be certified)
• Data handling: up to 24bit/192KHz
• Voice control via Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri
• High-performance 32-bit/384kHz Texas Instruments PCM5242 stereo differential DAC
• Ultra-low-noise MM phono stage with infrasonic filtering circuitry
• One optical, one coaxial digital input
• HDMI-eARC input
• One set of line-level analogue inputs with low-noise buffer amplifiers
• Speaker A/Speaker B outputs
• Two-way Qualcomm aptX HD Bluetooth
• Subwoofer output (1)
• Dedicated headphone amplifier
• Supplied accessories include an IR remote control and a calibrated microphone for Dirac Live setup
• CI-Friendly – IR remote, 12V Trigger out, IR in
• Seamless integrations with smarthome control systems such as Control4, Crestron, RTI, URC, Push, Lutron, iPort, and Elan

Power Amp Specifications:

• Power Amplifier: Class D with continuous output power into 8 ohms and 4 ohms: 100W (ref. 20 Hz-20 kHz at rated THD, both channels driven)
• THD (20 Hz – 20 kHz): <0.03% (250 mW to 100 W, 8 ohms and 4 ohms)
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: >95dB (A-weighted, 500 mV input, ref. 1 W out in 8 ohms)
• Clipping power: >115 W (at 1 kHz 0.1 % THD)
• IHF dynamic power:
  • 8 ohms: 180 W
  • 4 ohms: 250W
  • 2 ohms: 300 W
• Peak output current: >20A (in 1 ohm, 1 ms)
• Frequency response: ±0.3 dB (20 Hz – 20 kHz)
• Channel separation:
  • >75dB (1 kHz)
  • >70dB (10 kHz)
• Input sensitivity (for 100 W in 8 ohms):
  • Analog: 540 mV
  • Digital: -6dBFS

Availability:

• LE version now – if your lucky
• Non LE version – now

MSRP:

• LE Version
  • US: $1,972.00
  • UK: £1,799.00
  • EU: €2,499.00
• Non LE Version
  • NAD has issued a non-limited version of the C 3050 in Q2 2023 for which the MDC2 BluOS-D module will be optional and the sides and top wrapped in vinyl (not wood veneer):
    • $1,299.00.
    • MDC2 BluOS-D module: $549.00

For more information visit the NAD web site.

Looking for a NAD streamer than check out these posts:

• NAD C 700 BluOS Streaming Amplifier
• NAD CS1 Endpoint Network Streamer