Full Disclosure Power Ratings
Inflated power specifications have been used to “sell” receivers as long as there have been receivers to sell. But not at NAD. Instead, we encourage our customers take a clear-eyed look at the real issues.
Receivers don’t make music and filmsound by driving laboratory test-loads, they do it by driving loudspeakers. And loudspeakers, whether labeled 8Ω or 4Ω in “nominal impedance,” are far more challenging. A speaker that “looks like” an 8Ω resistor at some frequencies will show 4Ω at others, and often, 3Ω or even 2Ω at still others. Furthermore, actual loudspeaker loads are far more complex than simple test resistors. What does all this mean? Simply, that power on paper is a poor predictor of “how loud,” “how dynamic,” “how musical.”
Nevertheless, in a competitive market comparisons will be made. But when you make them, read the fine print—all of it. At NAD we test under the most demanding, “worst-case” conditions, reporting the minimum power output we achieve at any frequency within human audibility (full audible bandwidth of 20Hz-20kHz), and with all channels driven and fully stressed simultaneously at clearly specified, vanishingly low distortion. Many competitors do not: they often quote single-frequency power (1 kHz) reflecting at most one “associated channel” (maximum 2 channels) dominating the receiver’s power supply—often under a variety of deceptive power headings. And if distortion is stated at all it’s usually at quite high levels: 0.5 percent, 1 percent—in one case, 10 percent! — it’s easy to print big numbers that simply do not tell the true story. The bottom line: don’t be fooled by specs; let your ears be the judge.
PowerDrive™
This keystone of the NAD receivers’ amp-section design underpins the unique dynamic potential of every model. PowerDrive’s foundation is a “dual-rail” power supply that delivers optimized internal voltage levels especially during the most demanding conditions: dynamic peaks, big musical transients, deep-bass excursions that drive a loudspeaker into its most power-hungry impedance range. It’s a little like the “kickdown” of a sophisticated automatic transmission - providing distortion-free current on demand.
PowerDrive is one big reason why NAD AV receivers do not exhibit the dynamic compression, flattened imaging, and even tinges of harshness audiophiles so often decry as “receiver sound.” And PowerDrive not only makes NAD receivers sound better, it makes them cooler running, more efficient, and more reliable as well.
Performance
Today’s advanced Surround Sound receivers require quality in the digital decoding stages, the video processing section, and in the power amplifier design for the best overall performance. The T785 is an excellent example of the NAD Design Team’s expertise in all three areas. Not only that, but we have made many ergonomic refinements to simplify operation and make it more enjoyable to get all the performance this magnificent receiver is capable of delivering.
Using the latest 32 bit Dual Core Floating Point DSP technology,
NAD was able to include the most popular surround formats from Dolby and DTS, as well as including NAD’s own highly regarded music surround mode; EARS. Unlike, the typical artificially enhanced DSP modes like “Club”, “Stadium”, and “Church”, EARS uses DSP technology to extract the natural ambience of the recording. This is redirected to the surround channels to create natural surround sound from any 2 channel source. This induces a warm natural reverberant effect without the “BOING” of artificial reverb. The surround mode of the source material is automatically detected via the digital inputs of the T785, and the “highest” or most advanced form of decoding is switched on. Conversion of the encoded digital bitstream is performed with high resolution and extremely linear Burr-Brown 24 bit/192kHz D/A Converters carefully selected for their performance capabilities. The T785 uses five two-channel DACs rather than the usual single 8 channel DAC favored by many of today’s surround sound receivers. We have found that the sonic performance of the two-channel DACs used in a dual differential mode, is well worth the extra cost of this configuration.
NAD’s reputation for producing power amplifiers that are both potent and musical is upheld in fine manner with the T785. Boasting a minimum of 120 watts continuous power per channel, the T785 can fill even very large rooms to lifelike sound levels.
Credit for the sound of NAD’s components rests squarely with our unique design approach and our experienced and very talented design team. Most companies design their products to a technical specification and a price point. While this sounds logical enough, it does not address the way the product will actually be used by the eventual owner. You don’t listen to specifications, you listen to music and sound. While NAD products exhibit excellent technical measurements, we have relied on our own ears and listening experience to determine the final design of our products. Because of our unique design approach, NAD’s sound is simply more “real”, adding enjoyment and excitement to your favorite films and music recordings.
Flexibility
The T785 has all the flexibility required to serve as the command center for even the most sophisticated Home Theater and multi- room systems. A full suite of video switching caters to all the popular video formats (HDMI, Component Video, S-Video, and Composite Video). The T785 uses the very latest V1.3 HDMI chips from Analog Devices. All input resolutions (480, 576, 720, and 1080) are supported at the output. All analog formats are cross converted between Composite, S-Video and Component. These analog inputs are also up-converted to HDMI output. Digital inputs (including a handy front panel input) and outputs are available in both coaxial and optical formats to make it easy to attach all your digital sources for playback and recording. Digital Inputs are converted to analog for multi-zone applications.
With the T785, NAD has made it easy to add more speakers for listening to music in additional rooms or “zones”. A second pair of speakers can simply be added to the front channel amplifiers and switched on or off from the remote control or front panel switch. More elaborate systems can also be created using the Zone 2, 3 and 4 outputs to add additional amplifiers and speakers with
