NAD C160 Specification Sheet

• 6 line level inputs incl. 2 Tape in/outputs with dubbing facility  

• Switchable MM and MC phono input  • 2 line level preamp outputs; 

one is variable from 0dB to –12dB  • Gold plated in and output sockets  

• Pure “Class A” discrete amplifier modules  • Independent headphone amplifier  

• Bass & Treble control with Tone Defeat switch  • Full Remote Control  

• “Blue Velvet” Alps motorized volume control  • Input switching through 

hermetically sealed relays  • 12V trigger  • NAD Link

With the arrival of the all new NAD Model C160 pre-amplifier you can get

the best of both worlds: Ultimate performance combined with the conven-

ience of remote control. Its outward simplicity belies the sophistication of

the circuitry inside. 

Features:

With 6 Line inputs (two of which are Tape In/Out) and a MM/MC phono

input available it’s unlikely you will run out of inputs to connect your

sources to. The C160 is fully remote controlled and comes supplied with

the NAD C Series system remote control. As the C160 has NAD Link, the

remote control will also operate many other NAD products such as CD

players, tuners etc. The headphone socket will drive virtually any non-elec-

trostatic headphones.

It is fashionable to omit tone controls nowadays: However, provided that

the tone controls are properly designed, they can really be a useful tool to

make improvements to the overall sound. The C160 tone controls only

work at the frequency extremes leaving the critical mid-band essentially

unaltered. The tone control circuits can be completely bypassed by using

the tone defeat switch.

For remote on/off switching of ancillary components in a system, such as

power amplifiers or active speakers, the C160 is equipped with a 12V trig-

ger system. When switching the pre-amplifier on, the 12V trigger output is

also activated which in turn can activate a 12V trigger input and switch on

the remote devices.

Unique is the Variable Pre-out 2 facility. Many systems can benefit from the

use of multiple power amplifiers for "Bi-Amping" (using separate power

amplifiers to drive the bass and treble section of a loudspeaker). Many

speakers are all ready set up for this with separate inputs for the low and

high frequency sections. But not all power amplifiers are identical in gain

(amplification factor). With the Variable Pre-out 2 facility differences in

loudness between power amplifiers up to 12dB can be dialed out precisely. 

The low output impedance on the Pre-outputs allow the C160 to drive sev-

eral power amplifiers in parallel and/or the use of long interconnect

cables (without the degradation of the performance that can so often

become apparent when long cables are used).

Design:

Following NAD's "Music First" design brief the C160 utilizes completely

new, innovative circuit topology which allows for investment in high speci-

fication, close tolerance components. Metal film resistors, polypropylene

capacitors, hermetically sealed relays and the Alps "Blue Velvet" motorized

volume control are a few examples of this.

Special attention has been paid to the power supply section of the C160.

The toroidal transformer has 4 separate secondary windings followed by 6

main low-noise regulators. From here no less than 6 super low-noise sub-

sidiary regulators and active filters are used to maximize supply rejection

for all sections of the C160 to more than 100dB. 

Often other manufacturers disregard the importance of a phono stage. NAD

recognizes the performance potential of a good turntable and has made

sure that the C160 will not be the limiting factor. The MC phono stage is

built pretty much like a small "power amp" so that a wide range of MC car-

tridges can be used while keeping noise very low combined with a high

overload margin. Likewise, the MM phono stage also can cope with a wide

range of cartridges and operates entirely in Class A. The built-in infrasonic

filter filters out unwanted rumble components from the turntable or record

itself but without introducing any significant group delays. To ensure accu-

rate RIAA response the entire circuit uses 1% tolerance metal film resistors

and 2% tolerance capacitors. 

Essentially the same circuitry used for the phono circuit is also used for

both the line input and output stage: A modular FET amp operating in Class

A. The line output stage is capable of driving 10V into 600 ohms. This,

combined with the high input impedance of the line input amplifier (500

C160

Stereo Pre-Amplifier