New from NAD is this 5 x 80w multichannel receiver, the £900 T755. The design brief was based around NAD's "Music First" philosophy that dictates that all the company's surround sound products have the same "warm, involving sound" as its stereo hi-fi components.
NAD claims the superior sound quality of the T755 is due in part to its use of similar audio-platform technology as used in the NAD C355BEE stereo integrated amplifier.
As well as having an FM tuner built-in as standard, there's also an optional DAB module, the DB1 (£125), which plugs into a special DAB input on the rear panel of the T755.
But the T755 is primarily built for home cinema duties, and in that regard it comes equipped with Audyssey auto set-up and calibration, Dolby Digital, DD EX, DTS, DTS ES and DTS Neo:6 surround modes, three 1080p HDMI video inputs and one HDMI output.
But it doesn't handle the new high-def audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD – a surprising omission in this highly-competitive sector of the market.
Other technical highlights include the use of NAD's PowerDrive amplifier technology, and a Holmgren toroidal power supply. NAD says PowerDrive ensures the T755 doesn't suffer from the dynamic compression, flattened imaging and harshness of many rival AV receivers.
The technical specs in full are:
- 5 x 80W Simultaneous Full Disclosure Power
- 5 x 110W Minimum Continuous Power (FTC)
- PowerDrive(tm) amplifier technology
- Holmgren(tm) Toroidal Power Supply
- Modular construction for simple upgrade and service
- Audyssey Auto Setup and Calibration of all speaker settings using supplied microphone
- Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, ProLogic II, ProLogic IIx, DTS, DTS ES, DTS 24/96, DTS NEO:6, EARS and Stereo Enhanced Surround Modes
- 5 A/V Custom Presets store unique listening modes, DSP options, tone, speaker and display settings
- Direct access speaker level adjustment for surround, center and subwoofer
- NAD Soft Clipping(tm)
- Burr-Brown 24 bit 96kHz A/D converter
- Burr-Brown 24 bit 192kHz D/A converter
- Texas Instruments Aureus(tm) 7.1 DSP (32 bit dual core floating point design)
- 3 1080p HDMI Video Inputs switch to 1 Output, freely assignable
- Cross Conversion of all analog video formats
- 7 Analog Stereo Audio Inputs (1 front panel)
- Media Player MP front panel input
- 6 Analog Video Inputs, all S-Video and Composite (1 front panel), 3 Component Video
- 7 Digital Audio Inputs, 3 Coax and 4 Optical (1 front panel)
- 3 Analog Stereo Audio outputs
- 3 Video Monitor Outputs, Component, S-Video and Composite formats
- 3 Analog Video Outputs, 2 Tape (Composite and S-Video) and 1 Zone (Composite)
- 2 Digital Outputs, 1 Coaxial, 1 TOSLINK
- 7.1 Analog Input (for DVD Audio/SACD/ETC.)
- Speaker A + B switching (Speakers B stereo only)
- Zone 2 A/V Line Level Output with independent source and volume selection
- ZR-4 Second Zone Remote included with discrete codes for independent zone
- IR Input
- 3 x IR Outputs
- RS-232 port interface for advanced control systems
- 3 x 12V Output Triggers, 1 x 12V input
- Preamp Outputs for all 7.2 channels (2 Subwoofers)
- RDS FM/AM Tuner with 30 direct access presets
- HTR 3 Illuminated Learning Remote Control
