IN 1972, NAD (originally an acronym for New Acoustic Dimension) set out to create a new kind of audio company. We were a group of audio-industry veterans: manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and above all listeners. We were driven by passion for great sound and by the desire to cut through the marketing hype and over-elaboration that had become pervasive in the audio industry. We wanted to provide what people really wanted instead of what they were being sold. Complexity is the enemy of good performance in audio equipment. Every step up in the elaboration of an electronic circuit is another chance to get it wrong to introduce something that degrades the final accuracy of sound by forcing the signal to go around an extra corner on the way to the listener. In our view, unnecessary elaboration and expense go hand in hand with unnecessary distortion of some aspect of performance. Going for simplicity and high value encourages the kind of thinking that produces excellence. Without skipping any step required for uncompromised performance, we look for and find straight paths where others settle for going the long way around. And the result is sound as clean as that of a fine piano. People consistently notice it in our equipment. They also notice a level of sonic detail from NAD products that is the direct result of our not putting things in the way.