I just received this combo a little over a week ago and so far I really like the sound I'm getting. It is a big improvement over my old YAMAHA RXV-992 receiver that was 80 watts by 5 and didn't even have DTS. Anyway, the biggest concern I will address first. The dreaded humm. There is no issue at all in this regard. I believe this combo is much quieter than the 773 I heard. I could hear the 773 humming over top of the rather loud projector fan at the dealer's place. With this combo the only thing I hear is SLIGHT noise when my ear is pressed right up to the speaker. From my listening position it is nice and quiet. IN fact AIRFORCEONE, I know that you own the T973 amp and really for me the amp's fans are louder than any hum or hiss I get from the combo. So it is my thinking that if you can live with the amp's fans, that the humming will also be a non issue for you as well. The sound is very nice from this combo as well. I am running Paradigm Reference Studio speakers throughout my system and I am very pleased with the results. The only thing I can compare this to was the one time I brought home a BIG Rotel amp and Rotel pre-pro home to audition last summer. The sound at that time seemed to be harsh when I turned it up and I recall that my girlfriend would leave the room whenever I turned it up because it hurt her ears. With the NAD she stays in the room now and she too loves the sound. There is a few things I would like to note about the 163. I would have liked to have the On Screen Display shown through the component video outs instead of having to switch back and forth through TV inputs to change something in the menu. Also, I listen to my cd's through my DVD player via a coax connection. The 163 won't allow me to set my mode to STEREO and set the speakers to LARGE and have the sub work as well. I have to set my studio 100's to SMALL in order for the sub to come on. I have to now have an analog connection made from the DVD player in order to get stereo,large speakers,and sub on. Oh well I guess that is not such a big deal. The only issue I do have is that I am experiencing a snapping or popping sound coming from my speakers sometimes when my furnace kicks on and when I turn off the amp. I spoke to NAD about this and they said it is because of a low humidity level in my house. With a low moisture level static electricity builds up in the home and any big current draw will set it off. Turn up the humidity level on your humidifier and all should be okay. I have an HRV unit installed in my home and it does keep it on the dry side of normal so I have turned off the HRV unit. The humidity is starting to come up to normal now so I will keep you posted if this does get rid of the snapping sound. To sum up I am very pleased with my purchase. I have great sound, lots of power, I am finally running all of my seven speakers, and the 163 has pretty much all of the ins and outs that I was looking for. Now I just have to find a nice sounding universal DVD player to go with my setup!
Thanks Darren. Great review. The 163 is back in my consideration. I won't have to worry about not having enough humidity, living in Oklahoma,USA. How would you compare the sound with what you heard from the 773 receiver. Better or the same?
Thanks again for your time.
Darren
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Its a bit of an unfair comparison. When I listened to the T773 at the first dealer I went to it was hooked up to Klipsh speakers and I have Paradigm Studio speakers. All they had left in stock of the V.2 series ( which mine are ) were the Paradigm Studio 60 V.2 and I have the Studio 100's at home. I did remember that the 773 sounded fantastic through the 60's and after a month and a half of waiting for my 773 to come in from dealer #2 I finally cancelled my order from that dealer and went back to the first dealer and took the T163/T973 combo. I couldn't be happier with the sound I am getting now. So actually I now have more power and larger speakers from what I heard in the store. I didn't even listen to the combo before I bought them as I was so impressed with the sound out of the 773 receiver, I knew the combo would sound as good or better......without the humm. I was right and I am now very happy!
By the way, sorry it took so long for me to reply but I had forgotten all about this thread.
AF1 if you are experiencing no problems with your amp I wouldn't hesitate to buy the T163.
Thanks Darren. I'm only hesitating at this point because of money. Like you, I fell in love with the NAD "sound". I was going to go another direction but at this point, the 163 sounds good to go. Plus, with the money I'll save getting the 163 over the ref50, I hope to get a SVS subwoofer. I think this would be "more bang for the buck" than going with the ref50 alone. I've had no problem from the amp so far. Sure weighs a ton, huh? I've needed to move it for a week but have been putting it off. Everytime I look at it, I get real lazy. Thanks again for the update. Take it easy Darren....and keep coming back.
navyseals1
Unregistered guest
Posted on
AF1, with your T973, I need your experience as well as other forum enthusiast to help me decide whether to go separates(Iwhich I'm a novice) or to choose which of the T7*** series is good for the bang and bucks but I'm now hesitant to buy after you have discovered their 'humms' were due to NAD's own flaw. I have been used to owning two receivers -- stereo Pioneer SX1280 and 5.1 Carver 985 which has pro-logic and holographic decoder only. After audioning name brand receivers I noticed this Carver is not separating 5 channels that good and has less dynamics and headroom. It doesn't satisfy me anymore because maybe, it's been behind in features in the multiple decoders arena. I need all the pros/cons to decide, and of course kidding aside, expect the ladies (e.g my wife), roll their eyes to another adventure of big spending. After all, aren't men wily of explanation when 'caught in the act' or being an 'audiophile'.
To go separates or all-in-one, please bear with me if my questions are very elementary.
1. If I utilize the Carver and get the T973 -- does this connection means the Carver is the pre-amp/tuner and the T973 the power amp. What will I gain here. Does the T973 improve the channel separation or just amplify the poor separation signal coming from the Carver. Is my gain here to go ahead get the T973 and temporarily integrate with Carver until the Moore's law take over T163 and becomes affordable to my budget. Is the theory 'separates' ultimately produces pure clean sounds and now way will it be beatable by high-end receivers e.g. Sunfires, Nad, Rotel, H/K, Denon, Marantz etc. BTW my dealer here provide free auditioning with certain restrictions, so there is no annoying restocking fees.
2. If I dump the Carver and get another all-in-one. - I 'm eying for the new HK 7300 which has all the bells and whistle, but again with it's price, am I better off doing question 1.
Honestly, I can't really give an answer yet since I haven't used the amp the way it was intended nor have I used a true pre/pro. Just from my research, I think at this price point the seperates(973/163) will be similar in performance to receivers at this price. I'm sure there's some improvement like noise floor. Maybe Darren could give us his opinion, since he has the combo and used to use a receiver. One thing I will say is if your worried about the hum or buzzing and have the money, go with seperates.
Yes, if you use the Carver hooked to the amp then you'd be using the Carver as a pre/pro(preamp/processor).
Let me give this some more thought and I'll post back tomorrow. Hopefully, some who have used seperates and receivers will post here and help out with what they noticed the differences were/are.