Sweet Surroundings
NAD (New Acoustic Dimensions) gained considerable attention soon after its founding in 1972 by offering impressive sound quality at fair prices. Today, most of NAD’s more affordable products still proudly bear the unique, workpants cosmetics of its early days. But that definitely doesn’t apply to the upscale Masters series, which includes the M17 V2 surround preamp-processor. As with all current NAD products, the M17 V2 is manufactured in China but designed in Canada, where the company is headquartered.
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The M17 V2’s front panel is dominated by a large display screen. Apart from that, only an on/standby indicator, a small on/standby button at the top, and a large volume knob interrupt the preamp’s clean, contemporary look.
Many of the NAD’s back panel inputs/outputs reside on plug-in modules. While there’s no such thing as complete future-proofing, this allows for upgrades as requirements evolve. The ample connections include two each coaxial and optical digital, and seven analog stereo inputs. A quintet of HDMI jacks is version HDMI 2.0 (a future upgrade to HDMI 2.1 should be possible with a new HDMI input/output module). While my unit had no composite or component video connections, an optional plug-in module provides them.
"Vocals drew me in and encouraged longer listening sessions."
There’s a full array of both balanced (standard-sized XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) outputs, with one exception. The NAD’s four height-channel outputs are balanced only, using miniature XLR jacks. NAD includes four short adapter dongles with mini-XLRs on one end, and standard XLRs on the other. But to use these you’ll have to also use balanced cables for the height channel outputs. The attached height channel amps must then have balanced inputs—or a generous supply of XLR-to-RCA adapters (not
