NAD C 272 Stereo Power Amplifier 150 WPC, 300 Watts Bridged

NAD C 272 — 150 Watts a Channel, Bridgeable to 300, and Built to Be Reconfigured

A NAD C 272 stereo power amplifier, 150 watts per channel, available singly or as a pair, and one of the few amplifiers at any price that lets you decide later what shape your system takes.

Power and Current

Start with the number that matters, because it is not the one on the front. The C 272 is rated at 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 150 watts per channel into 4 ohms. Most amplifiers quote a comfortable 8 ohm figure and quietly hope you never connect anything harder. This one holds its full rating into half the impedance, which is the difference between a specification and a promise, and it is why the C 272 stays composed on speakers that make lesser amplifiers sound thin and strained at volume. Power comes from a high-current Holmgren toroidal transformer feeding all-discrete circuitry, with NAD’s PowerDrive supply topology behind it.

Bridge Mode

The C 272 is built to be reconfigured, and that is the real reason to buy one. A BRIDGE MODE switch on the rear panel turns the amplifier into a single mono channel of approximately 300 watts into 8 ohms, so the same amplifier that runs your main pair today becomes a monoblock for a bigger speaker tomorrow, or the amplifier for a passive subwoofer. The front panel carries a lit BRIDGE MODE indicator, so the configuration is visible from your seat rather than something you go around the back to check. One note that matters: bridged, the amplifier sees the load as halved, so NAD specifies 8 ohms minimum in bridge and does not recommend lower-impedance speakers there.

The Input Level Control

Then there is the feature almost nothing else in this class has. The C 272 offers both fixed and variable inputs, switch-selectable, with a level control that sets the amplifier’s own gain. Three things this solves. It lets you match levels when the C 272 drives speakers of different efficiency to the rest of a surround system. It rescues a preamplifier whose gain is so high that everything happens between nine and twelve o’clock on the volume knob, where the steps are coarse and channel balance is at its worst, by letting you turn the input down and use the whole range of the control instead. And it makes bi-amping work properly: when two different amplifiers drive the woofer and the tweeter of the same speaker, one always has more gain than the other, and this is the control that brings them back into balance. A useful side effect NAD notes in the manual is that reducing the input level also pushes down any residual hiss or hum the preamplifier’s high-level stage contributes.

A Second Amplifier: Bi-Amping or Monoblocks

A second C 272 opens something a single amplifier cannot do. Vertical bi-amping puts one amplifier on each loudspeaker, one channel driving the low-frequency section and the other the high-frequency section, so each speaker gets its own transformer and its own supply and the bass demands of one channel stop modulating the supply feeding the other. The obstacle that normally spoils bi-amping is gain: any two amplifiers differ slightly, and a woofer and tweeter running at mismatched levels sound worse than they did before you started. The input level control is the fix, in hardware, at the amplifier, in about a minute. NAD’s manual names bi-amping as one of the three reasons that control exists, and it is the strongest argument for taking both. The alternative is a pair of bridged 300 watt monoblocks, one per speaker, each with its own supply and its own AC feed — a great deal of monoblock for the money if your speakers are a comfortable 8 ohm load, and the reason to bi-amp instead if they dip lower. The same two amplifiers do either job, so the choice costs nothing.

The Rest of the Specification

The rest is the sort of specification NAD has always quietly over-delivered on. Two full sets of speaker binding posts wired in parallel, so bi-wiring or a second pair in another room needs no adapters. Switchable Soft Clipping, NAD’s long-standing circuit that rounds off peaks instead of hard-clipping them, with its own front-panel indicator. Gold-plated RCA inputs, a detachable IEC power cord, and an output relay that mutes switch-on and switch-off and stands guard against short circuits and overheating.

Integration

It will also fit into an automated system without a controller. NAD’s ATO Logic gives the amplifier three independent ways to wake up: the front-panel button, a 12V trigger from a preamplifier or processor, or its own signal-sensing circuit, which brings it out of standby the moment audio appears at any input and returns it to standby after roughly five minutes of silence. A rear VACATION switch is the true master cut-off for when the house is empty.

Condition

Cosmetically this amplifier is graded Very Good.

A serious, genuinely flexible power amplifier that does not lose its footing on a difficult load and can be reconfigured as your system changes rather than replaced — and a rare chance to take two that were designed to work together. Available for pickup in Kanata, or shipped across Canada and internationally — we have sent equipment to fifteen countries in the past year, each piece packed in-house in 275 lb test double-wall boxes. Live shipping rates for your address are calculated at checkout. Backed by Radique Audio’s Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and our Perpetual Trade-Back Program. Available for audition by appointment in Kanata.

NAD C 272 Specifications

• Type: Two-channel stereo power amplifier, all-discrete circuitry, bridgeable to mono
• Continuous power: 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 150 watts per channel into 4 ohms, 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz, both channels driven
• Bridged mono power: Approximately 300 watts into 8 ohms
• Rated total harmonic distortion: 0.03%
• Frequency response: -3 dB at 3 Hz and 70,000 Hz
• Signal to noise ratio: Better than 100 dB referenced to 1 watt, better than 120 dB referenced to rated power
• Damping factor: Greater than 150
• Input sensitivity: 1.2 V, plus or minus 0.1 V
• Input impedance: 20 kilohms, 470 pF
• Voltage gain: 29 dB
• Inputs: Fixed and Variable line inputs on gold-plated RCA, switch-selectable, with input level control
• Outputs: Two sets of loudspeaker binding posts wired in parallel for bi-wiring or a second pair
• Minimum load impedance: 4 ohms in stereo, 8 ohms in bridged mono
• Power supply: High-current Holmgren toroidal transformer, PowerDrive topology
• Features: Switchable Soft Clipping, Bridge Mode switch with front-panel indicator, 12V trigger input, signal-sensing auto turn-on, ATO Logic, rear Vacation master switch, detachable IEC power cord
• Dimensions: (Width x Height x Depth) 17.1 x 5.2 x 13.8 inches (435 x 133 x 350 mm)
• Weight: 27.5 lbs (12.5 kg)

⚠️ Important Information for International Buyers

This unit is configured for North American 110/120V power. Buyers outside North America will require a step-down transformer and appropriate plug adapter.

✅ Buy With Confidence — The Radique Promise

Backed by Radique Audio’s Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and our Perpetual Trade-Back Program. When you’re ready to move on, we’ll take it back. That’s the Radique difference.

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