Integrated + Power Amp Bridged - Logical?


I just ordered a pair of Dali Oberon 5’s and was scanning the internet reading buzz about them when I stumbled onto this snip-it from The Absolute Sound. Although it obviously works, this seems like a very strange setup...


"Driven by suitably priced NAD electronics, a C 368 integrated amplifier with DAC ($899) and a C 268 amp ($799), both operating in bridged mode to output 300 watts per channel, “Dance of the Tumblers” was tonally balanced with plenty of dynamic headroom."

Link - http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/rmaf-2018-loudspeakers-under-20k/

From what I gather Dali showed off their new Oberons with two amps at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. One integrated and one dedicated power amp, both of which were running in bridged mono mode. I actually downloaded the manual for these amps to make sure I had this right because the C 368 Integrated has two sets of binding posts and would appear to still be a stereo amp if bridged, but upon reading it looks like bridge mode turns the C 368 integrated into a Mono amplifier and disables the Right channel inputs. Being that the Oberon’s have single binding posts it appears that this is the only way to make this work;

One speaker would be hooked up to the integrated and one to the dedicated power amp. The integrated would serve as the amp for left channel and the power amp would serve as the right channel via the pre-out from the integrated.

Both amps apparently put out 300w in bridged mode and may very well be the same exact amplifiers inside for all I know, but it still seems very strange setup, especially at a show. Or maybe it’s not, but I’ve never heard of it being done before.

I doubt I will try this when my pair shows up, but I may have to try the C 368 on it's own.  Can't wait to get my Dali's!



Thoughts??
10000_hz_legend
Sure you can - bridging ability has been a frequent feature on NAD gear for many years.  I've even done it with a 7155 receiver and 2155 amp.  I would assume that the 368 and 268 essentially have the same power amp circuit.