NAD C368 Hybrid Digital Amplifier

NAD C 368 Hybrid Digital DAC Amplifier
The C 368 ties together all the critical elements of a top performing music system. It accepts music sources past, present, and future, and boasts a near-unrestricted reservoir of power that allows your speakers to reveal every nuance of musical detail. This advanced amplifier includes many cutting-edge technological breakthroughs developed by NAD over decades of creating affordable ultra-high performance audio components.

Key Features:
– 2 x 80W continuous power
– HybridDigital efficient amplification process
– Class D PowerDrive amplifier design
– Bluetooth A2DP with aptX supported
– MM Phono input
– Analogue, digital, and wireless connections
– USB port for service purposes
– Speaker A/Speaker B
– Stereo or Bridge mode configuration
– Preamp/Subwoofer out
– Dedicated headphone amplifier
– Modular MDC Slots for future upgrades (additional MDC modules sold separately)
– Smartphone Control App
– RS-232 Serial port for control

User Manual (PDF)

Expansive Power with Unprecedented Flexibility
With the C 368 Hybrid Digital DAC Amplifier, your home audio system will never fall behind the pack. Thanks to the MDC technology, the C 368 is easily customisable and ready for all future features and upgrades. With the optional BluOS module upgrade, the C 368 can connect to your network and be controlled through a smartphone, tablet, or desktop, and connect wirelessly to any other BluOS Enabled device to create a multi-room High-Resolution Audio system. You can also instantly connect to the C 368 through Bluetooth, giving you the ability to stream wirelessly from any Bluetooth Enabled device, and if you’re a vinyl fan, you can also add a turntable. Enjoying music has never been so easy. A totally modern approach to amplification, the C 368 is the ultimate amp for any music lover’s system.

Getting the Basics Right
It is surprising how many seemingly advanced products in the market today often miss many of the most basic requirements for satisfying performance. Low noise circuits, precise volume control action, accurate channel balance, proper input and output impedance characteristics, high overload margins and stability with difficult speaker loads. NAD starts by getting these features exactly right, and advances from there.

Included is an MM Phono stage with accurate RIAA equalization, high overload margins, extremely low noise, and an innovative circuit to suppress infrasonic noise that is present on all LPs, all without affecting bass response. The line inputs can accommodate all kinds of analogue source components, by offering ideal input impedance characteristics with linear ultra-low-noise buffer amplifiers to prevent any sonic degradation caused by inappropriate loading of the source device.

The C 368 features a dedicated headphone amplifier with low output impedance and very high output voltage capability, enough to drive even high impedance studio monitor headphones. Low impedance line outputs that can connect to other amplifiers or subwoofers extend the versatility of this well thought out amplifier. These are all details you can hear.

HybridDigital Amp Technology
The search for a high-performance Class D solution led NAD to HybridDigital. This is an innovative amplifier technology that uses a variable modulation frequency to bring out the life-like qualities of music while reducing distortion under every operating condition. This highly optimized design gives a phenomenal performance to the C 368 amplifier, both measurable and subjective.

Read more about NAD’s HybridDigital technology here

Future-Proof Modular Design
This NAD exclusive feature allows you to customize your amplifier with additional capabilities, connections, and features. The two available MDC slots can accommodate a variety of upgrade modules including additional digital inputs, additional analogue inputs, and one of the most advanced Hi-Res Audio multi-room wireless systems available, the BluOS music management system developed by Bluesound. BluOS connects to your network and is controlled via smartphone, tablet or desktop to manage your music collection and connect to a growing list of high-quality streaming music services.

Connected and Smart
You can connect instantly to the C 368 with Bluetooth allowing you to stream music wirelessly from any Bluetooth-enabled device. The high-performance aptX codec is fully supported for true CD-quality sound. Bluetooth can also be used to listen to other sources connected to the C 368 via wireless headphones such as NAD’s own HP70. There is also a control app that allows your smartphone or tablet to control all functions of your C 368.

Adding the optional BluOS Module provides access to your local area network via Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connection and adds Hi-Res Audio streaming. The BluOS Module also makes the C 368 a single-zone streamer in a complete multi-room wireless music system that is fully compatible with BluOS-enabled music systems and wireless speakers. These are available in a variety of sizes and shapes to fit every room and extend the performance of your primary music system to create a warm ambiance of sound in your home.

Sophisticated Power
NAD has moved away from the old-fashioned power-hungry linear power supplies and Class AB output stages that waste nearly half of the energy consumed and produce heat rather than sound. Instead, they have developed even better-performing circuits based on switch mode power supplies and Class D output stages. Once thought to be inferior to traditional topologies, NAD’s advanced work in this area has created some of the best performing amplifiers regardless of basic design principle. These new designs are very linear over a wide bandwidth and provide consistent performance into all speaker loads, providing a dramatic advance over previous models.

The power supply is capable of 80 watts continuously and over 120 watts instantaneously to allow for short-term musical transients. It can operate with any AC mains voltage from 100 to 240 volts and provides pure DC power to all the various stages of the C 368. This highly efficient supply also provides near perfect regulation of voltage across a wide range of conditions and provides a solid noise-free foundation for the amplifying stages.

The C 368 uses a customized version of the proven Hypex UcD output stage. This allows for massive power with nearly unmeasurable distortion and noise in the audible range. Every detail of this design has been carefully planned and perfectly executed to wring out every last drop of performance.

About NAD
In 1972, a new kind of audio company was born. NAD took form when a large group of audio-industry importers in Europe, all music lovers, set out to develop products that cut through the industry hype. The goal of NAD was to prove that excellent sound quality and excellent value could exist together. It was a formidable goal – some of the most reputable electronics brands of the time were unaffordable to most, while the affordable spectrum of the market was dominated by poor quality imports from global electronics giants. NAD’s founders remained undeterred and their original vision led to an inspiring story of how a group of specialty audio mavericks took on the Goliaths of the audio industry to carve out a unique place of their own.

NAD are dedicated to innovation, performance, value, and simplicity in all their products.