March 2010 Reviewed by Vince Hanada	NAD T 775 Audio/Video Receiver

Description Model: T 775 Dimensions: 17.125"W x 6.125"H x 15"D Weight: 50 pounds Price: $2999 USD Warranty: Two years parts and labor

Features 100Wx7, all channels driven (manufacturer rated) Toroidal power supply High-current output Modular construction for simple upgrades Dolby Digital TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding Burr-Brown 24-bit/192kHz D/A converters 4 HDMI v1.3 1080p inputs 1 HDMI v1.3 1080p output Audyssey MultEQ XT room setup/correction with custom NAD output curve Audyssey Dynamic Volume and Dynamic EQ Rear channels assignable to Zone 2, 3, or 4

When I was told that a T 775 A/V receiver was coming my way from NAD Electronics in Ontario, Canada, the word sexy didn’t come to mind, as it does with some gear. NAD’s trademark charcoal-gray box and round buttons immediately make me think of minimalist, no-fuss stereo and home-theater gear.

Judging by the T 775, however, NAD has improved the visual appeal of its products by a notch, though this alone wouldn’t justify its asking price of $2999. But NAD has also added easily upgradeable firmware and modular construction. If the T 775 also displayed great performance, I thought, perhaps that price could be justified. But it still doesn’t look sexy.

Standard configuration

At its base price of $2999, the T 775 includes the VM100 video module, the AM200 audio module, and a slew of digital and analog inputs and outputs, including one HDMI v1.3 output and four HDMI v1.3 inputs -- just enough for all my source components. There’s a rear data port for NAD’s optional iPod dock, and on the front a 3.5mm stereo phone jack that’s compatible with any MP3 player. The bank of 7.1-channel analog inputs on the rear can be connected to similarly equipped Blu-ray players. As well, 7.1 preamp outputs are available for connecting a subwoofer and higher-powered amplifiers, if desired.

Audyssey MultEQ XT room setup and correction are provided, with a twist. NAD has developed a custom, target frequency-response curve (the T 775 includes the standard Audyssey curve as well) to generate output response from your speakers that’s tailored to NAD’s preferences. The processing engine is a high-speed, 32-bit, 7.1-channel Aureus DSP chip from Texas Instruments. High-quality 24-bit/192kHz Burr-Brown DACs are used, along with 24/96 ADCs.

The T 775’s power output is conservatively rated at 100W for each of its seven channels. NAD calls their power ratings Simultaneous Full Disclosure Power; this differs from the power-amp specs cited by most other makers of receivers, which usually measure the power output with the AVR driving only a single channel at 1kHz. In addition to the prodigious simultaneous power rating, NAD claims that the T 775 puts out 240Wpc of dynamic power into 2 ohms. This is amazing for a receiver -- most manufacturers won’t rate their receivers into 2 ohms at all, because the devices can’t handle it. And even if they can, most AVRs are so limited in current that their power rating drops to a fraction of the NAD’s 240Wpc. Based on my experiences with the T 775 and other NAD components, and having glimpsed the size of the massive Holmgren toroidal power transformer visible through the vents in the T 775’s chassis, I found NAD’s power claims credible.

The T 775 is also well equipped for use as the heart of a multiroom audio system. If you’re setting up only a 5.1-channel system in your main room, you can tell the T 775 to assign its amps for the rear surround channels to Zone 2, 3, or 4. And on the rear panel are a multitude of 12V triggers and IR inputs and outputs for incorporating the T 775 into a custom-installed system.

Modular construction

The T 775 sits at the center of NAD’s upgradeable series of AVRs, between the T 765 and the T 785. NAD offers upgrades for all three through software updates and replaceable modules. Software updates can be accomplished by hooking up the T 775’s rear-panel RS-232 port to a PC.

NAD currently offers four High Definition MDC (for Modular Design Construction) modules, two each for video and audio processing -- the base models, the VM100 video ($400) and AM100 audio ($400) boards, with an upgrade available for each slot: the AM200 ($600) and VM200 ($950). My T 775 was equipped with the standard VM100 video and the upgraded AM200 audio modules. Like the AM100, the AM200 includes Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, but adds to these three Audyssey products: Dynamic EQ, Dynamic Volume, and MultEQ Pro.

Audyssey Dynamic EQ maintains high sound quality as the volume level decreases. Normally, when you lower the volume, the bass response becomes nonexistent, a situation that many AVRs attempt to correct with modes such as Late Night Theater. Audyssey Dynamic EQ differs from such "loudness" controls by analyzing the audio signal and making adjustments on the fly to preserve the bass level in relation to the treble, this made possible by the T 775’s high-powered TI Aureus processor.

Audyssey Dynamic Volume is useful when watching TV. Usually, when a commercial begins, the sound level rises significantly. Dynamic Volume sidesteps this annoyance by equalizing the volume levels.

Although my T 775 didn’t include it, the MDC VM200 video module adds a higher-quality Sigma Designs VXP video scaler, which would come in handy if you have a number of standard-definition sources that would benefit from upscaling. The VXP is the same chip used in such top-shelf processors as the Anthem Statement D2v. The VM200 improves on a host of other video features as well, including adding motion-adaptive deinterlacing with edge interpolation, and advanced noise reduction and detail enhancement, to name just a few.

Setup and ease of use

Although the T 775’s graphic-user interface (GUI) lacks pizzazz, it made it dead simple for me to set up all my components. For each input, a multitude of analog and digital options can be selected, and the GUI made it easy to find the right settings. The T 775’s simple front panel is one of the least intimidating and easiest to use that I’ve seen. Its handful of strategically placed buttons made changing modes and getting where I wanted to go laughably easy.

The same was true of the remote control. One of NAD’s trademark features that I love is the ability to change the levels of the center channel, surrounds, and subwoofer on the fly without having to crawl through menu after menu. One thing I didn’t like about the T 775’s remote was the absence of setup codes for other equipment. It can be taught the functions of any other remote, but you can’t just punch in the four-digit code of another component to get some of the functionality of that component. You could spend hours programming each button, which I would find frustrating.

Using the Audyssey MultEQ XT setup and room-correction software, the NAD T 775 correctly calibrated my Paradigm Monitor 11 v.6 and Monitor CC-390 v.6 speakers as Large. The Paradigm ADP-390 v.6 surround speakers were set to Small.

I primarily used the T 775 with my Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player, as well as with my Sony PlayStation 3 and a Toshiba HD-A30 HD DVD player, all connected via HDMI cables.

Impressions

With 100W of power on tap for each speaker, the NAD T 775 easily drove all the speakers I threw at it to high listening levels in my medium-sized room (20’L x 14’W x 10’H). I used the highly efficient Paradigm Monitor v.6 array for the vast majority of my listening, but also had on hand less efficient models: the Angstrom Suonos on-wall speakers and the Focus Audio Classic FC 8s. The T 775 had no problem driving all of these to loud volume levels, indicating a robust power-amp section.

NAD’s target frequency-response curve for the Audyssey room correction seemed to tame the high frequencies of some of my speakers a bit too much, subtly but audibly affecting the performance of the Focus Audio FC 8s. When listening to The Dark Knight on Blu-ray, I had the distinct feeling of less involvement, and paid less attention to the movie with the NAD target curve on. The sound in the opening scene seemed less expansive and more closed-in, instead of pulling me to the edge of my seat. Dialogue intelligibility also suffered a bit. However, the Paradigm Monitor v.6 system performed better than the Focus speakers with the NAD target frequency-response curve. This feature will likely be speaker-dependent -- speakers with a brighter top end will likely benefit more, darker-sounding speakers less.

Using the Audyssey target curve restored the luster to Blu-ray listening through the Paradigm Monitor system. The decoding of the DTS-HD Master Audio track of the Blu-ray edition of The Golden Compass was flawless. Dialogue was clear and easy to follow, and this film’s epic scale was convincingly conveyed by the T 775’s impressively wide and deep soundstaging.

Once I stopped mucking with the settings, the T 775 gave the impression of a purist two-channel audio system. Although a ton of processing was going on behind the scenes, once the T 775 was dialed in, all I had to do was select the source and adjust the volume to get neutral sound across the board.

A good candidate to go head-to-head with the T 775 was my usual receiver, an Integra DTR-8.8. Although a couple of years old and now replaced in the Integra lineup, it’s nearly identical in features to the T 775. For $1999, it lacks the T 775’s modular construction, but adds THX Ultra2 Certification, Ethernet connectivity, and high-end HQV video processing.

In keeping with NAD’s purist ethos, the T 775 won’t expand 5.1-channel recordings to 7.1 channels, as the Integra will. On the one hand, the NAD is admirable in leaving soundtracks as recorded, without overprocessing, which some people will prefer. However, I tend to leave the Integra in THX Ultra2 Cinema mode most of the time because I prefer the more complete envelopment that happens when the surround soundfield is expanded into the rear surrounds.

Another area lacking in the T 775 receiver is a pure DSD Direct mode, something else in my Integra DTR-8.8 that’s permanently engaged. The Oppo BDP-83 outputs DSD from SACDs via HDMI, which the Integra can receive and process in native Direct mode. The T 775 converts such signals to PCM, which sounded slightly less transparent.

Comparing the T 775’s and DTR-8.8’s video performances proved interesting. Although my sample of the NAD lacked a high-end scaler, I preferred its video output to the Integra’s. I used almost exclusively the Oppo BDP-83, which contains a high-end scaler/video processor by ABT -- DVDs and BDs look stunningly good through the Oppo without the need of an external video processor. Also, a known problem with the DTR-8.8 is the lighter black levels caused by Integra’s implementation of the Silicon Optix processor.

There were no problems with the NAD T 775’s video output -- essentially, it output without alteration whatever it was fed. I’d forgotten about the Integra’s black-level problem, so inserting the T 775 in my system was like getting a new projector! When watching films with lots of inky-black scenes, such as The Dark Knight, I was floored by how good images from my older, 720p Sanyo PLV-Z5 projector looked through the NAD. Another BD that looked superb was Baraka. The video quality is top-notch, the details in faces in chapter 3 particularly breathtaking. The NAD T 775 passed along all of this video information untouched; through the Integra DTR-8.8, it looked distinctly less color-saturated and detailed.

When listening to two-channel recordings, I enjoyed taking advantage of the superb sound quality of NAD’s Enhanced Ambient Recovery System (EARS) to expand the sound to 5.1 channels. I found EARS superior to any of the modes offered in the Integra DTR-8.8, including Neural-THX. This was especially evident when listening to Patricia Barber’s Nightclub (CD, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab CMFSA2004). EARS provided a convincing sense of space without detracting from her performance of "You Don’t Know Me."

Conclusion

With the T 775 A/V receiver, NAD has succeeded in expanding their highly regarded two-channel-audio sound and minimalist design into a sophisticated and powerful home-theater component. Once set up, the T 775 was easy to use, and sounded great with both the extremes of two-channel audio and the 7.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks of Blu-ray movies. Although the T 775 lacks a few creature comforts, I’m sure most people would be pleased with the features that NAD provides. The clincher for some people will be its modularity and upgradability, which, along with its ample power for almost any speaker system, more than justifies its $2999 price.

Manufacturer contact information:

NAD Electronics International
633 Granite Court
Pickering, Ontario L1W 3K1
Canada
Phone: (800) 263-4641

Website: www.nadelectronics.com

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