About The NAD C3050 BluOS Streaming Amplifier
Paying tribute to NAD's 50-year history of innovation and value, the C 3050's vintage design was inspired by the NAD 3030 Stereophonic Amplifier, a 1970s classic. Retro design elements include dual VU meters, push-button input selectors, a walnut-finished vinyl-clad cabinet, and a dark grey front panel with the original New Acoustic Dimension logo in its 1970s cursive typeface. Underneath its vintage-inspired exterior are advanced features like a HybridDigital UcD output stage, high-performance Texas Instruments PCM5242 differential DAC, and NAD's MDC2 future-proofing technology. The C 3050 BluOS model featured here uses the MDC expansion slot to incorporate exciting new capabilities like BluOS high resolution multi-room streaming and Dirac Live room correction
Amplifier Innovation: Employing NAD's proven HybridDigital UcD amplifier technology, the C 3050 can deliver 100 Watts per channel of continuous power and 135Wpc of instantaneous peak power for effortless reproduction of musical transients. Noise and distortion are virtually unmeasurable through the entire audio-band. The result is neutral, distortion-free sound through any loudspeaker load - even at high listening levels. The C 3050 BluOS will reproduce the music you love with wonderful detail, immersive three-dimensionality, and thrilling dynamics.
The C 3050's digital section is built around Texas Instruments' PCM5242 high-resolution differential DAC, a design known for its excellent dynamic performance and immunity to clock jitter. This enables the C 3050 to deliver amazing musicality, stunning clarity, and pinpoint sound-staging from all your digital sources.
Ready For The Future: The C 3050 features the latest generation of NAD's Modular Design Construction future-proofing technology, MDC2, which lets users add new functions and features by inserting a module into the MDC2 slot on the back panel. On this model, the MDC2 BluOS-D module delivers two highly desirable capabilities: BluOS high-resolution music streaming and Dirac Live room correction.
Music Everywhere: Featuring dual-band Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet, the MDC2 BluOS-D connects you to almost all the music ever recorded through BluOS, the award-winning wireless music-management system. With MDC2 BluOS-D, the C 3050 can be part of a whole-home music system with as many as 64 zones. BluOS has integrated support for more than 20 popular streaming services, including several that offer lossless and high-resolution audio, such as Amazon Music Ultra HD, Deezer, Qobuz, and Tidal. BluOS supports high-resolution audio to 24-bit/192kHz, and has MQA decoding and rendering capability, for studio quality streaming from Tidal. The MDC2 BluOS-D also lets you play music from your personal library and thousands of internet radio stations through the C 3050 integrated amplifier.
You can select music using the intuitive BluOS Controller app, available for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. The MDC2 BluOS-D supports Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect, so you can cue up music in the apps for those services, then transfer playback to the C 3050. Also supported is Apple AirPlay 2, so you can stream audio to the MDC2 BluOS-D from any app on an iPhone, iPad or Macintosh computer. You can also control playback by voice using Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri. Bidirectional aptX HD Bluetooth connectivity lets you stream audio to the MDC2 BluOS-D from a smart device and stream audio from the C 3050 to a pair of wireless headphones.
Tune Your Room: The MDC2 BluOS-D lets C 3050 owners address the weakest link in most music systems-the listening environment. Connect the supplied microphone to the MDC2 BluOS-D's USB port, and then follow instructions in the easy-to-use Dirac Live app. Dirac will play test tones through your speakers, analyse the results, and then create correction filters that counteract common acoustic problems like standing waves and unwanted reflections. You can create up to five settings for different listener positions or room conditions, for example whether the drapes are open or closed. With Dirac Live enabled, you'll enjoy deeper and tighter bass, vastly improved tonal accuracy, greater clarity, and more precise imaging. Because MDC2 enables two-way communication between the expansion module and host component, you'll experience these transformative benefits with all sources connected to the C 3050.
Plug & Play: With its full suite of digital and analogue inputs, the C 3050 can accommodate all your source components. In addition to an ultra-low-noise MM phono input for connecting a turntable and an HDMI eARC port for connecting an HDTV, the C 3050 has a pair of line-level analogue inputs and coaxial and optical digital inputs. Listeners can connect two pairs of speakers with Speaker A/B switching, as well as a subwoofer. The C 3050 also has a dedicated headphone amplifier, and pre-out/main-in jacks that let you connect a more powerful amplifier and/or use the C 3050 as a preamp only. The C 3050 includes an IR remote control and has installer-friendly features like 12V trigger and IR input.
A Feast For The Senses: With its vintage-inspired design and innovative technology, the NAD C 3050 Stereo Integrated Amplifier is a feast for the eyes and ears. The C 3050 BluOS adds compelling features like BluOS multi-room streaming and Dirac Live room correction - not to mention new capabilities that have yet to be developed. In the C 3050, NAD's 50-year history of amplifier innovation meets the future of hi-fi.
NAD C 3050 Review
"Fire up the C 3050, and like countless models from NAD's vaunted past you can instantly hear why competitors in this price range and beyond shake their head in admiration, if not wonder. Whether the C 3050 will ultimately be honored in the mid-2070s in the way it's celebrating its predecessors today is hard to say. But it doesn't take guesswork to appreciate what it represents in the here and now. NAD has secured its reputation by always being the value play, but that's only because it's been the sonic play, too. The C 3050 upholds this tradition in grand stereophonic fashion. Nicely appointed, cool looking, great sounding, what else could it be but a NAD?" The Absolute Sound
Our Take
To pay tribute to their 50th anniversary, NAD created this modern iteration of their classic 1970s 3030 amplifier. The C 3050's vintage-styled exterior features glowing analogue VU meters and other classic cosmetic touches. But it's also got advanced amplification, a built-in high-performance DAC and Bluetooth
This amp will render your digital and analogue sources in sparkling, authoritative detail. It uses NAD's super-efficient HybridDigital UcD (Universal Class D) technology for effortlessly powerful amplification. It can deliver 100 watts per channel of continuous power, and it has the headroom to handle dynamic peaks, from hard-hitting electronic dance tracks to explosive Marvel movies. This amp will drive even demanding low-impedance speakers with its cool-running high-current power, at vanishingly low noise and distortion levels - even when cranked.
The high-performance built-in Texas Instruments TI PCM5242 DAC delivers smooth, musical detail from digital sources. It's known for its wide dynamic range, ultra-low noise and distortion, and near-zero levels of jitter (timing errors that can smear musical detail).
The C 3050 has optical and coaxial digital inputs for taking advantage of its great internal DAC. You also get an HDMI eARC port for playing TV sound and controlling the amplifier volume with the TV's remote control. Analog connections include two pairs of RCA inputs, including a moving magnet phono stage that gives you precise, natural sound with extremely low noise. The phono preamp's circuit design cuts down on frequencies below the threshold of human hearing - that inherent turntable rumble - without conceding fantastic bass response.
In addition to two sets of speaker outputs, the C 3050 has preamp output jacks and a mono subwoofer output. Bluetooth with aptX® HD gives you another easy way to access high-quality streaming. A front-panel ¼" (6.35mm) jack connects you to a built-in headphone amplifier that can drive even demanding high-impedance cans.
This C 3050 BluOS version comes with network streaming built in that lets you play 24-bit high-res music from sources on your local network or from the web. The selection of supported services - including TIDAL, Spotify®, Qobuz, and Amazon Music, among others - is one of the most impressive we've seen. Apple users can easily stream from their devices using AirPlay® 2.
Two-way communication also lets this module stream music from your connected sources — even a turntable - to BluOS components in other rooms. You can also use the module's two-way Bluetooth to stream to a pair of compatible headphones. And its Dirac Live room correction lets you compensate for your room's acoustics for improved bass clarity, imaging, and timbral accuracy.
Main Features & Specifications
- Design: Retro Styled Streaming Amplifier & DAC
- Retro design elements include front-panel VU meters, push-button input controls, 1970s cursive branding, walnut-finished vinyl-clad cabinet, and dark grey front panel
- 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
- Installed MDC2 BluOS-D module adds BluOS high-resolution multi-room music streaming and Dirac Live room correction
- High-performance TI PCM5242 differential DAC
- Ultra-low-noise MM phono stage with infrasonic filtering circuitry
- One optical, one coaxial digital input
- Pre-amp out / Main-in connections
- HDMI-eARC input
- One set of line-level analogue inputs with low-noise buffer amplifiers
- Speaker A/Speaker B outputs
- Subwoofer output
- Dedicated headphone amplifier
- IR remote control
- CI-Friendly - IR remote, 12V Trigger out, IR in
BluOS Audio
- Supported Audio File Formats: MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, WMA-L, ALAC, OPUS
- Supported High-Resolution Audio File Formats: FLAC, MQA, WAV, AIFF
- Sampling Rate: up to 192 kHz
- Bit Depths: 16 – 24
BluOS Supported Services
- Music Services: Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify, Tidal and more
- Internet Radio: TuneIn, Radio Paradise, iHeart Radio and more
- Integration Partners: Control4, Crestron, ELAN, Lutron, Push, Roon, RTI, URC
- Voice Control: Skills and support for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple's Siri with corresponding enabled devices and App
BluOS Connectivity
- Network Connectivity
- Gigabit Ethernet RJ45
- Wi-Fi 5
- Supported Network File Share Protocol: Server Message Block (SMB)
- USB: 1 x Type-A port for connection to USB memory stick (FAT32 or NTFS formatted) and supported peripherals
- Bluetooth Quality: aptX HD 5.0
- Bluetooth Connectivity: Two-Way (Receive and Headphone modes)
User Interface
- Supported operating system: Music playback from network shares on the following desktop operating systems: Microsoft Windows XP, 2000, Vista, 7, 8 to current Windows Operating Systems and macOS versions
- Mobile Application: Free BluOS Controller App available for download from the respective App stores of Apple iOS devices (iPad, iPhone and iPod), Android devices, Kindle Fire and Windows or macOS desktops
Amplifier Section
- Continuous output power into 8 Ohms and 4 Ohms: 100W (ref. 20 Hz-20 kHz at rated THD, both channels driven)
- IHF Dynamic Power
- 8 Ohms: 180 W
- 4 Ohms: 250 W
- 2 Ohms: 300 W
Connections
- HDMI eARC port for playing TV sound
- Digital Inputs: 1 Toslink Optical, 1 Coaxial
- 2 Stereo RCA Audio Inputs, including a phono input (for use with a moving magnet cartridge)
- Stereo RCA preamp output for connecting a separate amplifier
- Stereo RCA "main in" input for connecting a separate preamplifier and using the C 3050's amplifier section only
- Mono RCA subwoofer output
- IR input and 12-volt trigger output
- ¼" (6.35mm) front-panel headphone jack
- 2 pairs of binding post speaker connectors for A and B speakers
- Removable Power Cable
General
- Finish: Dark Grey Front Panel with Walnut-Finished Vinyl-Clad Cabinet
- Dimensions (WxHxD): 447 x 127 x 355mm
- Weight: 10 kg
- Manufacturer's Warranty: 2 Years
Note: Features & Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE.