Not the NAD 3020
NAD's Director of Advanced Development Bjorn Eric Edvardsen (whose initials have cursed the C315BEE with a silly model number) couldn't avoid having the 3020 in the back of his mind when faced with the challenge of designing a new super-budget-amp. According to NAD, his brief included the need to "maintain the same performance specification as our more expensive amplifiers while removing cost."
 
Greg Stidsen, Director of Product Development, explains, "While we had to make some compromises compared to the C325BEE - CMOS input switching instead of reed relay, simplified PowerDrive circuit, etc. - the basic performance under most conditions is equal." What remains is terrifyingly good: even the more powerful, slightly more expensive C325BEE had better watch its ass.

Fed by the Marantz CD12/DA12 CD player via Kimber cables, with Yter delivering the signal to PMC DB1+, Sonus faber Guarneri or Rogers LS3/5A speaker systems, the C315BEE's performance continually surprised and enchanted, especially the way it caressed the LS3/5As. Two characteristics marked this standout performance, the most obvious being its real-world power. It could make the LS3/5As clip, but best of all, it could genuinely access the full range of the Guarneri. This is no mean feat: I've heard far costlier, more powerful amplifiers fail to drive the Italian masterwork.

When fed Keb' Mo's "For What It's Worth," the richness and attack of the bass had the same substance I expect from and experienced not long before with massive Krells. While there's no substitute for wattage, the NAD certainly has the right stuff for normal rooms, through probably any speaker in its price class. It was only when hammering the Guarneris that power became an issue.

I am not saying that NAD has defied all reason and come up with a dreadnought of an amplifier for under £200, able to massacre £6000-plus powerhouses. Close scrutiny reveals slight restraint in the absolute dynamic swings, the lowest reaches of the bass will not cause the room to quake and massive drums will reveal its absolute limits. But neither is it so painfully obvious at sane listening levels as to undermine the way this amplifier excels at its price level.

Far more important is the other characteristic that turned me into a champion of this amplifier: a mid-band so lifelike that the textures of vocals, its intimations of warmth, a sort of realistic sibilance presented in the correct context so authentic that even the LS3/5As could not embarrass it. Gravel-throated Johnny Cash at San Quentin, singing with his crystal-clear-voiced wife June Carter Cash, benefited from the amplifier's ability to retain their voices' characteristics even in tandem, as tricky a situation to resolve as any in music playback. To confirm this, I pulled out Lou Rawls' duets with Dianne Reeves and Louis Armstrong's with Ella Fitzgerald to see if these juxtapositions enjoyed the same respectful handling. And so they did: perfect balance.

Forgive my use of politically incorrect stereotypes, but one might posit that most £180 amps end up with students or those newly added to the work force, not ordinarily fans of lounge-style vocals. The good news? The '315 fears no genre. From Prince to Velvet Revolver to the White Stripes, the NAD could deliver hot transients and the requisite crunch. Headroom? In abundance, provided you use the '315 with real-world speaker loads. While there are occasional hints of top-end restraint - shades of the accursed '3020 - the '315 is rarely less than commanding.