NAD Offers M56 Blu-ray Player and New Home Theater Receivers
By Rachel Cericola
NAD announced a slew of new products at CEDIA Expo a few weeks back. Now that the smoke has cleared, we can take a closer look at a few of the many new offerings.
First up is the company's flagship Blu-ray player, the M56. As part of the Masters Series, the component promises support for the latest HD audio and video formats, as well as your good old CD and DVD collections. Aside from a 1080p picture, the M56 also plays BD Live content and can also give a 1080p boost (via HDMI) to standard-def DVD. Other features include a 7.1 analog output, a USB 2.0 port and a thick steel chassis and die-cast aluminum front panels.
One nifty feature we want to call out: The M56 also supports Multi-media Home Platform (MHP) for interactive video, which can simultaneously play HD and SD video and includes picture-in-picture capabilities. Snag the M56 now from your favorite NAD dealer for $1,999.
The Masters Series M56 Blu-ray Player is the flagship of NAD's Blu-ray offerings.
To help crank out that video, as well as your favorite audio, NAD has also announced tweaks to three A/V receivers. The big deal about the upgraded HD versions of the T 785, T 775 and T 765 is that each one now has NAD's High-Definition Modular Design Construction (MDC) architecture, which puts all input circuitry on plug-in cards. That means they are easier to upgrade, easier to service, and promise even better performance.
The T 785 has the AM 200 and VM 200 Modules. That translates into 32-bit Aureus 7.1 high-speed digital signal processors (DSPs) by Texas Instruments, Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume by Audyssey, decoding for several advanced audio formats, and Sigma Designs' VXP broadcast studio quality image processor. It's also got Audyssey MultEQ XT room correction technologies. With support for HD up to 2048 x 2048 pixels, the T 785 is available now for $3,999.
In the middle is the T 775, which includes AM 200 and VM 100 MDC Modules. It also has the two 32-bit Aureus 7.1 high-speed DSPs, Audyssey's MultEQ XT, Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume, and decoding for Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD Master Audio. With the latest version HDMI 1.3 Repeater from Analog Devices, the T 775 is also out now for $2,999.
Last, but certainly not least, is the T 765, receiver. With the AM 100 and VM 100 Modules, this one includes HDMI 1.3 repeaters for three digital sources, an on-screen display via HDMI, eight-channel pulse code modulated (PCM) audio (decoded or LPCM), two-channel PCM audio (encoded), and plenty of audio decoding. It's also out now, for $2,499.
Designed to serve as the "brains" of any surround sound system, the M15HD offers NAD's exclusive MDC.
One more product NAD recently showed off was its new and improved HD edition of the M15HD preamp. With NAD's own MDC design, the unit includes the two 32-bit Aureus 7.1 high-speed DSPs, Audyssey's Dynamic EQ, Dynamic Volume, and MultEQ Pro room correction technologies, Sigma Designs' VXP broadcast-quality image processor, and decoding for today's latest audio formats.
It also has four HDMI inputs and NAD's special Masters Series Home Theater Remote. With support for SD and HD formats up to 2048 x 2048 pixels, the M15HD can convert Component, and Composite and S-Video inputs from analog to digital HDMI using high-performance video decoders. The M15HD will come sometime this month for $4,499.
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