NAD Electronics is celebrating its 50th anniversary by launching a vintage-inspired limited-edition integrated amplifier and hosting a series of in-person and virtual events from October 2022 until May 2023.
Founded in 1972, NAD Electronics has produced award-winning and high-performance electronic components, including amplifiers, source products like turntables, CD and cassette players and more recently, streamers and AV receivers.
The brand became a household name in hi-fi with the success of the 3020 integrated amplifier, which over time became its highest selling budget amplifier. This led to a completely new generation of hi-fi customers and drove the creation of a strong foundation for the continued growth of the industry.
Since then, NAD Electronics has been a key player in developing Class A/B and Class G amplification, Class D digital and hybrid digital amplification, and the introduction of early protocols for network streaming for audio. Throughout, NAD Electronics has championed truth in specifications, creating its own Full Disclosure Power standard that rates amplifier power based on real-world listening scenarios versus laboratory conditions, which sometimes put it at a disadvantage on the retail floor versus competitors who did not share that same commitment to transparency in measurements.
“Rating power at one frequency, one volume level, using a simplified test load is fine for submitting documentation to regulators but in reality, music impacts our emotions by being complex and dynamic,” said Greg Stidsen, CTO of Lenbrook International, the parent company of NAD Electronics. “It’s easy to create an amplifier that performs well in narrow conditions, but we are music lovers designing products for music lovers, so we rate our amplifiers across the whole frequency band and dynamic range to give our consumers a realistic expectation of amplifier performance for all the music they enjoy. That often meant the power rating on paper of NAD’s products were lower than what our competitors would publish, but our ratings better reflect the full and rich sound that great recordings contain.”
This principled way of designing products comes from within the core values of the company, which include value for money, performance, simplicity, and innovation. These were present from the beginning with founder, Marty Borish, and legendary amplifier expert, Bjorn Erik Edvardsen. Both have since passed away – Borish in 2017 followed by Edvardsen in 2018 – but not before they mentored a global team who now carry on Borish’s market development work and Edvardsen’s innovative approach to technology development. Today, the brand remains one of the most respected and award-winning brands in the hi-fi industry.
With many plans to celebrate its 50th anniversary, NAD has launched a limited-edition anniversary product, the C 3050 LE Stereophonic Amplifier. With only 1,972 being manufactured, the retro-look integrated amplifier harkens back to the heyday of hi-fi and incorporates LED illuminated left and right VU metres. It is also encased in a satin walnut veneer wooden case that conceals fully modern features like hi-res multiroom streaming, ability to decode MQA studio master recordings, and Dirac Room Correction via the included BluOS-D MDC2 module, as well as AirPlay 2, two-way aptX HD Bluetooth, and HDMI eARC. Other inputs and outputs include a phono stage and dedicated headphone amplifier. It is powered by the latest version of NAD’s HybridDigital amplifier rated at 100 watts per channel of Full Disclosure Power and features a high-resolution audiophile-grade DAC.
It will be shown at two in-person audio shows to help celebrate the milestone. Starting in North America, NAD Electronics has exhibited at the Toronto Audio Fest over the weekend just gone, and the European portion will be at the Paris Audio-Video Show over the weekend of 4-6 November.
The NAD C 3050 LE will have an SRP of $1,972 and each unit is uniquely numbered from one through 1,972 and will come with a certificate of authenticity. These very special and limited amplifiers will be available at select NAD Electronics retailers around the world starting mid-November 2022.
“The C 3050 LE is based on a 1974 industrial design of the original 3030 stereophonic amplifier, which in its day, produced 30 watts per channel using a class A/B design and offered audiophiles and music lovers an affordable performance-oriented amplifier option versus its contemporaries,” explained Cas Oostvogel, product manager for NAD Electronics. “The original 3030 had a matching companion tuner but the C 3050 LE modernises it as a ‘just add speakers’ product that comes equipped with BluOS, a hi-res multiroom streaming platform, giving music lovers access to thousands of internet radio stations, as well as over 20 music streaming services.”
Also in mid-November, the company will premiere a documentary titled ‘NAD Electronics: 50 Years of Truth in Power’, which covers the early days of the brand and its evolution to its position today as a hi-fi innovator. Mixing archival footage and materials with interviews with key personalities associated with the brand, the film takes viewers from its founding through to the launch of the legendary 3020 and the subsequent growing pains brought on by its outstanding growth and success. Its story arc concludes with the brand’s journey as a principled defender of truth in specifications with its Full Disclosure Power standards and staunch belief in ultimate value-for-money for consumers with its Modular Design Construction concept. Produced by 1Project, a Toronto-based media production company, the film runs around 30 minutes and features expert packing and beautiful cinematography.
“Anything less than a documentary feature film would have short-sold the brand of its influential history, and its fans of key pieces of the story,” added June Ip, vice president of marketing for Lenbrook International. “More importantly, it was the only way we could adequately pay tribute to the foundations laid down by Marty Borish and Bjorn Erik Edvardsen, and their passion project that was NAD, and the impact they had on the hi-fi industry over five decades.”
The company will continue its celebrations into 2023 with the launch of the NAD C 3050 integrated amplifier, the more widely available version of its ‘LE’ sibling. Being released in March, it will be offered a lower suggested price point than the limited-edition version, retailing at £1,299, allowing customers the choice to upgrade the unit to include BluOS and Dirac via its MDC2 feature for an additional $549. Rated at 100 watts per channel, the C3050 includes line inputs, HDMI eARC, two-way aptX HD Bluetooth, phono stage, and a dedicated headphone amplifier.
The launch of C 3050 will be accompanied by a series of global retail events jointly sponsored by NAD Electronics and its dedicated network of distributors and retailers, kicking off the weekend of 3-5 March, and concluding the weekend of 18-21 May at the Munich High End Show, where the idea to create NAD Electronics was born back in 1972. During this period, NAD retailers around the world will invite consumers for unique listening events, as well as exclusive promotional offers, all in celebration of the brand’s 50th anniversary.
“NAD’s success is a result of the dedication to the values the brand was founded on, that Marty and Erik led and mentored us with, and that we have maintained throughout our 50-year history,” concluded Gordon Simmonds, president and CEO of Lenbrook International. “The mutually profound relationship amongst our present-day team and our global industry partners together accounts for many hundreds of years of NAD experience, and that means that the multiple generations of hi-fi enthusiasts that form NAD’s fan base continue to benefit from excellent value for performance, without sacrificing the modern conveniences of music enjoyment. This is something few remaining brands can claim and something we are very proud to be able to claim.”