NAD C389

The NAD C389 is a full-size integrated amplifier from NAD’s Classic series, with substantially more power than the compact streaming models in the range.

It is modular. Streaming is not built in as standard: NAD sells the BluOS-D module that slots into the back to add BluOS and AirPlay 2. That is a deliberate design decision, and a sensible one, because it lets the digital section be replaced without replacing the amplifier.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 device rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It appears in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can put it in a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

Power, input selection and volume stay with the unit, its remote and its own app. The Home app does not control those.

Before you buy

Check whether the unit you are buying has the streaming module fitted. Without it the C389 is an excellent amplifier with no network audio at all, which is a very different product.

NAD’s power ratings are conservative and measured across the full frequency range, so a NAD figure and a rival’s headline figure are not comparable.

The C 700 V2 is the compact all-in-one alternative.

Specifications