Critical listening and pure music enjoyment may not be the priorities of an A/V receiver as they once were, but don’t tell that to NAD. While the latest movie soundtrack surround sound technology is enough to give anyone goosebumps while enjoying their home theater, NAD touts its “music first” design philosophy among the core values that were incorporated into its new A/V receivers, the T 785, T 775, T 765 and T 755, as well as a new T 175 preamp-tuner-processor.

The products feature a highly modular construction system, using five fully independent, replaceable/upgradeable circuit cards for key digital and analog audio and video sections, while NAD’s Power Drive amplifier design handles the focus on music reproduction as benchmark for the new line’s quality.

All of the components incorporate Audyssey Auto Calibration for balancing and adjusting a multi-channel speaker system. The T 785 and T 775 receivers, and T 175 pre-pro also add Audyssey’s MultEQ XT Room Correction. Additionally, the new models use latest-generation Aureus 7.1 Audio DSP from Texas Instruments for surround formats, including the full range of Dolby Digital and Pro Logic IIx, and DTS ES, 24/96, and NEO:6 modes.

A front-panel Universal Portable Media Player input (3.5mm analog jack) connects iPods and similar portable media devices (except T 755), while the T 785, 775, and T 175 add Made-for-iPod connectivity for an optional NAD iPod-dock, enabling the receiver or pre-pro to control the player and display its metadata on-screen using the NAD Illuminated Learning Remote Control.

Of course, in this age of Blu-ray and HD DVD, high-def video capabilities are still key for any new receiver, and NAD’s models incorporate HDMI v1.3 inputs and switching and employ HDMI “cross conversion” by delivering analog-video inputs to HDMI with full quality, the company says. Signals are routed up to full HD 1080p resolution.

Visit www.nadelectronics.com for more.

Arlen Schweiger - Managing editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen contributes product news items to electronichouse.com along with his role on the print publication. Got a tip? Send it along!