NAD C420 dimensions Nad C, audioXpress 6/02, PHOTO 2 Front view of Parasound TDQ-150, Ca

FM Tuners:

NAD and Parasound

Reviewed by Charles Hansen and Nancy and Duncan MacArthur

PHOTO 1: The NAD C 420 stereo tuner.

NAD C 420 stereo AM/FM tuner.	sent the budget end for high-end	screen shows the band and fre-
NAD Electronics International, 633	tuners. These two manufacturers’	quency of the station being tuned,
Granite Court, Pickering, Ontario,	higher-priced tuners (NAD C 440,	FM stereo, whether the station is a
Canada L1W 3K1, (800) 263-4641,	$349; and the full-size Parasound	memory preset, and whether Blend
www.NADelectronics.com. $249	TDQ-1600, $400) offer better FM	and FM Mute are engaged. It also
U.S. Dimensions: 435mm W ⋅	sensitivity and lower audio distor-	has a vertical seven-bar-graph sig-
70mm H ⋅ 285mm D. Net weight:	tion specifications. However, if	nal strength indicator.
8.8 lbs (4kg). Warranty: two years	you don’t require fringe area re-	Pressing the display button cy-
parts and labor.	ception, these two tuners repre-	cles the display to RDS program
	sent excellent values.	service. Another push cycles it to
Parasound TDQ-150 stereo tuner.	NAD C 420	RDS text. The display then returns
Parasound Products, Inc., 950		to the default mode after a few
Battery St., San Francisco,	Photo 1 shows the C 420 front	seconds. The infrared sensor is lo-
CA 94111, (415) 397-7100,	panel. Just above the power switch	cated on the left side of the dis-
www.parasound.com. $269 U.S.	on the left is a small green LED in-	play window. A rocker switch on
Dimensions: 9.5” W ⋅ 1.75” H ⋅	dicator, which turns amber in	the right side of the unit is for the
7” D. Net weight: 4 lbs. Ten-year	Standby mode. A row of six push	Preset/Tune functions.
limited warranty.	buttons selects Blend, Memory, FM	The tuner chassis is black paint-
	Mute/Mono, AM/FM, Display	ed steel, and the cover is held on
The NAD C 420 and Parasound TDQ-	modes, and Preset/Tune functions.	with five screws. The front bezel is
150 AM/FM stereo tuners repre-	The white fluorescent display	plastic and the unit sits on four
			plastic feet with elastomer
			rings on the bottom. There is
			adequate finger space under
			the unit to easily lift it.
			The rear panel (not shown)
			has the attached two-prong
			polarized AC line cord, a +12V
			trigger jack, the “NAD-Link”
			input and output jacks,
			stereo audio jacks with gold-
			plated shells and tin center
			contacts, a two-conductor AM
PHOTO 2: Front view of Parasound TDQ-150.
60 audioXpress 6/02	www.audioXpress.com

antenna connector, and a threaded 75Ω F-type FM antenna jack.

The C 420 provides up to 30 sta- tion presets, which you can use in any combination of AM and FM stations. FM Mute and FM Blend status information is stored with each FM preset. Empty presets are skipped over during tuning to pro- vide quicker access to the stored stations.

The preset information is stored in non-volatile EEPROM memory, which provides permanent power- off storage. Many tuners use “super capacitors” to hold the pre- set memory in CMOS chips for a limited time—maybe a month or so. My own NAD 4155 uses a now- tired super cap, and it must be powered up at least once a week to maintain all the presets.

FM Mute/Mode switches the C 420 to mono and disengages the muting circuitry so you can manu- ally tune weak stations. FM Blend provides a means to automatically reduce noise and hiss on weak sta- tions while still retaining some stereo separation. Once the signal level drops below a certain thresh- old, it will revert to mono. The tuning increments for FM are in