Following NAD’s long-standing tradition in identifying and developing cutting-edge technologies, the new M33 (US$4999/€4999/£3999 MSRP) will be available in March 2020 and will be the very first commercially available product in the market to offer the outstanding performance or the new Purifi Eigentakt HybridDigital amplifier technology.
"With a minimum of 200W per channel on tap, the result is lifelike performance, exemplified by ultra-low distortion and noise. The measured performance is remarkable in that it nears the limits of even the most sensitive and sophisticated test equipment available," Cas Oostvogel, NAD’s Product Manager reveals. “The NAD Masters M33 is a true state-of-the-art audiophile amplifier in the traditional sense yet with a distinct difference: At the same time, it fully caters to the modern world where the majority of music is delivered over the internet with an entire catalogue of recorded music readily available at your fingertips. This is obviously a wonderful convenience. Then, the M33’s ability to distribute that music in a multi-room audio system adds that much more enjoyment, simplicity and value.”
Unusual in a class of products often associated with complexity is the M33’s intuitive operation, courtesy of the 7” inch touchscreen color display combined with BluOS. NAD considers it the most advanced network streaming and multi-room operating system available. BluOS leads in true wireless High-Resolution multi-room systems and already offers a growing ecosystem of compatible products that tightly integrate hardware and software for an exceptional user experience.
Besides multi-room, another compelling feature of BluOS is its high-res streaming capabilities, with full MQA decoding support from a local NAS or shared drive but also from Internet streaming audio services. Among the some 20 supported services which offer high-res content are Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz, Amazon HD and others. Music services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Slacker, TuneIn, nugs.net and many others are also supported.
With BluOS, the M33 retains all the features that matter to music enthusiasts and further adds a range of facilities that will expand its capabilities yet simplifies ease-of-use at the same time. Operable with the BluOS app, the supplied remote control or through hands-free control with any Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant device, the M33’s front panel doesn’t actually need to be touched. To expand the multi-room locations, adding additional rooms is both easy and affordable.
Featuring also one of the most highly regarded Room Correction systems available, the M33 not only adjusts for frequency response, but unlike other room correction systems, it also optimizes the impulse response and the full speaker/room interface. To complement the Dirac Room Correction, the M33 is supplied with a precision microphone to measure the room.
Each of the 5 Dirac memory profiles can store a unique room measurement (for different acoustics with curtains open or closed, different listening positions, etc), or different frequency target curves to suit a particular musical taste or genre. The M33 also supports independent subwoofer outputs, compatible with Dirac’s advanced Bass Management.
And the M33 is very complete with a wide range of in/outputs, including HDMI eARC, Gigabit Ethernet, AES/EBU XLR and more digital inputs including USB, 3 analogue inputs, including MM/MC phono, already fully integrated, meeting the requirements of the most demanding users. Around back, the rear panel hosts two sets of speaker outputs capable of bi-wiring and two subwoofer outputs with a fully configurable digital crossover. Dual Band Wi-Fi 5 a/c/n, Apple Airplay 2 and Bluetooth aptX HD allow for local wireless streaming from a phone or tablet. Through Airplay 2, control is also possible with Siri.
To minimize the risk of future obsolescence, the M33 comes with two MDC slots that allow for further expansion. NAD introduced the MDC platform well over a decade ago and allowed updating products with new technologies which didn’t even exist at time of introduction.
The M33 high-quality selectable MM or MC phono stage is able to rival specialized outboard units, offering accurate RIAA equalization, a clever phase cancelling infrasonic filter, and a huge overload margin.
Furthermore, headphone enthusiasts, will delight at the sound of the discrete headphone amplifier, which is able to drive even planar and high impedance studio headphones. With high voltage and low output impedance, headphones will sound their best. For those who wish to enjoy their headphones but not be tethered to a cable, the integrated Bluetooth aptX HD module makes it simple to also enjoy wireless headphones.
The all aluminum casework, with a single control knob for volume is supplemented by a color TFT touchscreen display, reinforcing the units role at the core of an entertainment system. And the NAD M33 is fully compatible with all the leading smart home systems from leading companies like Apple, Crestron, Control4, Lutron, KNX and many others.
www.nadelectronics.com
