Great sound

None at the price

I bought the NAD PP-1 to do transcription of vinyl to CD, so it stays in my computer room. It's a gem, both very natural and neutral (judging by the finished product, i. e. the CDs I burn then play back on my main system, boom box, and car stereo). At this price you cannot go wrong.

As far as grounding is concerned, you can simply loosen one of the side screws on the unit itself, and slip your ground wire lug under IT. This works like a charm.

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Phono stages in Integrated Amplifiers (Rotel) and Receivers (Yamaha, Pioneer)

Real smooth sound.

Yes, yes, yes, the price... I have often heard this as I tried to look for a phono stage that makes me happy, and I tell you, it is making me sick. As a student, I cannot pay hundreds of Dollars for a simple phono stage, but I always thought to have the right to get killer sound for little money. So I tried the PP1 with my THORENS TD166.

And it sounds great! Really! Get it! Yes, the PP1 has some weaknesses, maybe a little undefined staging and some humming basses, but this thing is fun!

Inexpensive. Great sound for the money.

No ground.

Here's a classic example of a product designed to do one thing, nothing else, and have no features whatsoever.

You can't use your own cables because they are hard-wired, there's no grounding clip, or even an on/off switch. The power unit is a wall wart (although it doesn't need much power). Of all these, only the lack of a ground bothers me. Most turntable have a grounding lug. NAD recommends you ground it to your amp chassis, which is a great idea but it limits where you can place this component.

At any rate, by removing every feature they've managed to build a very nice phono pre-amp. I was using the phono input of an NAD receiver (7220PE) and expected similar sound. I was wrong. EVerything just sounded better. I was impressed (and very surprised) at what an improvement this little box made. Of course, for a hundred bucks the earth didn't shake, but it was quieter, smoother, more detailed, and less strained than I had been hearing. The highs are a bit more extended as well.

I must admit that the NAD C350 integrated amplifer and the PP-1 make a KILLER integrated amp for vinyl lovers and STILL has six inputs left over for non-vinyl sources (two for tapes).

For $119, this thing was a great surprise and an excellent value. Well done, NAD.

My Equipment:

NAD C350 Integrated Amp
NAD Tuner
Revolver Turntable w/ Grado Cartridge
Cambridge Audio D500SE CD Player
Magnepan MMG speakers
Energy e:XL-8 subwoofer
Kimber and Strait Wire interconnects
Audioquest speaker cable (MMGs)
Monster XP speaker cable (Subwoofer)

Cheap, sounds pretty good

Cheap, unsheilded power supply is prone to RFI

The NAD PP-1 moving-magnet phono preamplifier is a small (1-1/2 inches high by 5-1/4 wide by 2-3/4 deep), black, metal box with a green LED on the faceplate. There is no power switch or ground. She sports a wallwart/DC input, a one foot shielded cable with gold-plated RCA connecters and gold plated RCA inputs. My first impression of this Chinese-made NAD that it is rather plain and cheap looking. Fortunately, it’s so small you can easily hide it.

For 100 greenbacks she does sing a pretty song. The overall sound is clean and balanced: highs are detailed but not too bright, the midrange is warm and the bass is firm but not bloated (at least for the classical and jazz disks I listen to).

The sound stage is reasonably wide and 3D. In terms of sound, the NAD is nearly on a par with the Creek OBH8 for $75 less. However, I prefer the slightly more defined sound of the $200 Creek OBH8 and like having a power switch and ground.

The NAD suffers from the same RFI problem as the Creek OBH8 I tried out. I live in downtown Honolulu, a high-RFI area. There are a half dozen TV and FM transmitters towers within a couple miles of my home. In fact, there is one less than two blocks away! I'll get to the point: the unshielded wallwart power supply of the PP-1 is really an antenna in disguise. As I move the connecting cord around the hum, buzz and classic rock radio station (!) becomes louder or softer, but never goes away. At its worst, the hum is louder than the music.

I have been able to reduce the RFI noise considerably by plugging into a Monster HTS2000 power conditioner, placing four radio shack RFI chokes on the power cord, moving the power cord into the least receptive position and wrapping foil around the power cord. [connecting/disconnecting the turntable ground didn't make much difference] However, I can’t sit too near the speakers or I’ll hear the hum. This preamp worked RFI-free at a friend’s low-RFI neighborhood.

If you live in the sticks or anyplace away from radio/TV transmitters this is a fine preamp for mid-fi systems if you can live without a power switch or ground (got a nearby steam pipe?). However, beware inner city dwellers.

Sound quality & price: 4
Unshielded wallwart power supply: 2
Average score: 3

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Creek OBH8

Size, smoothness

Power cord

Just a quick note to those that are thinking about getting back into analogue (as opposed to digital) and using this unit in their systems to be able to get sound out of their ttables.

I have no complaints about this unit, which I was warned about in this review forum. I reintroduced my turntable to my system recently, and have been pleasantly suprised with what I have been missing since my conversion to digital many years ago. Fortunately I didn't sell my LP collection.

My system consists of the following:

Sim Audio Celeste 4150SE amp
Melos 220 Tube Preamp
Cal Audio Icon MkII CD player
Thiel CS 1.2 loudspeakers
Philips AF-827 (I think) ttable
Signet MM cartridge

In spite of my modest ttable/cartridge, the music coming out of my system through the NAD phono stage was wonderful, with more smoothness and greater depth than the same recording on CD. There are many factors that could be contributing to this difference (in addition to the standard argument between analogue and digital sources), but if there were any problems or deficiencies with the NAD, I would have heard them, and there were none.

Simply put, this seems to be a bargain for $120, and certainly pulls its weight. For those looking for a high-end piece, I cannot comment about how it compares to the more expensive, refined units out there. But as a piece to get back into analogue, it is hard to beat.

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