two and a half years ago my NAD C350 (purchased new in 1996) shut itself down. I was about to junk it but found a gentleman in Florida who said he could repair it to a better than new state. He explained exactly my options and I chose the full Monty, all new high quality caps, a thorough evaluation of the entire system and new components where necessary and a complete resolder job...ended up costing about $450 -- a lot of labor. I listen to a lot of music and the integrated amp sounds better than it did when new now almost three years later. He gave me a two year warranty on his work...unheard of.
@@marcvdfv8431 Warranty only on full restore. It's completely unfair to expect insurance on remaining 40 year old electronic components if the customer isn't willing to pay to have them replaced.
Folks criticize NAD for the cheap build and component quality - which was true - but forget that these were budget end of the HiFi market when new. So, yes, they were built to a low price. The NAD 3020 was just about the cheapest amp that could ever make the cover of a HiFi magazine in the early 1980's - but did! because they were also very good. Many a HiFi enthusiast started out with a NAD because they were affordable to teenage kids and students. No surprise many are tired and baked by now but good restoration can bring them back to life.
Yes that's a fair point, NAD jumped into the spotlight because they were affordable and sounded so much better than the other affordable options at the time, getting good reviews in Hi-Fi magazines lead to them becoming very popular. During the 1970's almost every British household had some kind of all in one record player, cassette player, tuner and amp which was designed to compliment the furniture and room styles of the time, they were built to last but also to a price and that meant sound quality was not a priority. We had brands such as Ferguson, Bush and Phillips which were household names and pretty much all sounded the same with similar 20W maximum output with very high distortion levels but people just expected distortion when the volume went past the mid point ! NAD amps had a lot more headroom and far less distortion which was a revelation to many people, the design and colour of the face was never mentioned by most people, it was just something they accepted ! The face design always seemed a little half hearted like they just got so far and ran out of ideas and time so they just settled on a black and minimal design approach hoping nobody would complain.
Yes, it speaks to how loved they were/are by the sheer number of them still around and being refurbished. Had a few NAD's, I recapped my C352 last year, not because it needed it really, just that I'm keeping it permanently as I love how it sounds. I've other amps, but none are as easy to live with as the NAD.
Don't hate too much on those NADs. They were built to be affordable. Any thing else on the market that sounded this good, was 3 times the price. Then, this thing is almost half a century old. Show me a piece of modern electronics with that life span.
Nice job Trevor, never heard you so surely, I like it. Owned a NAD for about 3 hours, then returned to Seller for refund. I believe low level is "Mute". I hate light purple Caps. Band aid on finger, cut on thumb, EZ now Trevor. Upper 60's when you 1st turned on.
I bought my 3150 new and still use it. Had a Pioneer SA 8500II before the sound wasn’t has warm. I use different brands but always came back to NAD love the sound.
In the UK NAD was the entry level budget 'serious' hi-fi amp back in the 80s. They were significantly cheaper than anything else around at the time. Not surprised that the insides are less than optimal.
My second piece of audio equipment was a NAD 3140 back in the early 80's. Still have it. I replaced all the trim pots with Bourne 10 turn VRs. Also the power switch crapped out. I use a power bar to turn it ON/OFF.
I was always in 2 minds about NAD equipment, they were impressively loud and had a certain level of quality when new but they didn't have a long lifespan, also the face design seemed a little odd with odd colour choices. A few of my friends had them but I always thought you could hear the quality fading every time they were used until they were changed for something more expensive which was usually Marantz or even Sony because they lasted longer.
Those two mains transformers are NOT for dual supplies, well not as in one for left and one for right channel. No, not in NAD land. One is for the negative supply, and the other for the positive supply to both channels. Guess it was cheaper to use two small independent transformers instead of one large as all the others do. I just replace those old trim pots with new multiturn pots, just as you replace all caps...
That's a tough question because we're talking vintage units here. They all have their range of problems, esp caps, pots, switches and relays. Once you look past those faults the choice gets a little easier. I've seen some good build quality from early Sansui, Yamaha, Pioneer, JVC and HH Scott. Those brands impress me the most. I'm sure there's more like Technics and Sony. I'm not a fan of Marantz although they were built very well I don't think it justifies the Marantz tax people pay to own one Harman Kardon is one of my favorite brands but they have had periods of garbage build quality. They usually need a lot of work to make them shine
@@TrevorsBench I had a Tandberg TR2060 back in the late seventies that I regret having gotten rid of because it was just beautiful to look at and the tuner was excellent. Have you seen enough of them to have an opinion on their build quality etc. I've always wondered if they were engineered as well as they looked good.
I think the initial design had a relay coil of 48v. Since 48V relays are becoming difficult to obtain, it seems like the design has changed. Written with Google Translator
Had a NAD 3240PE in the early 90s. Pretty decent amp. One day a friend brought in a Creek 4140 & the Creek killed the NAD in every aspect of sound quality. Fast forward a few yrs later & yet again i was in a shop where they were comparing a NAD integrated amp with an Arcam alpha amp which was also a budget amp & again the NAD got killed by the Arcam. If u don’t compare, the NAD amps are decent sounding.
Anyone ever put an improvised heatsink or heat shield around capacitors near heat sources? Or would that just help transfer more heat into the capacitors? (Obviously it would have to be done in such a way that the capacitor can still vent.) Also you might want to pick up some gaffer tape to apply to bitey heatsinks like that to protect your fingers while you work.
Just a few weeks ago I changed the relays in my Technics amp. Since the new relays had a higher coil resistance than the originals - and the relays are in series with an LED - I added a parallel 5.7k resistor, giving me the correct current through both the new relays and the LED. That being said, I don’t know why one would add a low resistor in here. Weird.
I think it was put in the wrong place by mistake, it would be more useful between the coil and the resistor which was out of tolerance or even to replace that resistor.
Love NAD equipment, don't love the parts used within. The Japanese made stuff is good; Taiwanese stuff not bad; but the mainland Chinese stuff has the worst parts. I know you hate TK caps, but JH brand caps are even worse!
I have 3 nad receivers, all made in Japan units. They all needed a bit of resto, mainly control cleaning. One had some trim pots that had oxidized and were way out of spec. Almost all the caps I have pulled on these while troubleshooting measure in spec. Can't speak for the Taiwanese and Malaysian units, as I won't buy those.
I have been repairing domestic and professional electronics for many years and in that time I have seen my share of NAD gear. Mostly the Taiwanese stuff, some of the China stuff and a few pieces of the early Japan-produced units. The Taiwanese and Chinese gear is pretty janky. Bad design, low-quality components, cheap caps, cheap construction. Everything runs hot, and as seen in this video the board is scorched from the heat in multiple places. Many NAD amps and receivers have no protection circuitry for the speakers or the output stage and when they decide to let go, they do it royally and take out many parts. People have lost expensive speakers as well due to the lack of protection. Usually when I am tasked with repairing one of these it takes me several hours to go through and replace all the destroyed components and rebuild the unit. Rarely do I have to invest so much time and effort with any other brand of amplifier. NAD just seems to be the cup winner in this regard. Why people rave over them I don't know. There are other brands (Technics being one) which can be had for similar money and are of far higher quality and construction, perform and sound just as well if not better.
When they first appeared on the market they were so much better than other affordable options that everybody wanted one, that gave them a very solid reputation which they have been making a living off ever since. It's not because they are good now, it's because at one time they sounded good, had very low distortion and put out a lot of power. When NAD first appeared there were basically two options for audio equipment, standard run of the mill all in one systems which were more like a decorative piece of household furniture than audio gear or high end multi piece technical gear which you needed an electronics degree to understand and a bank managers salary to purchase !
@@ianc4901 I always saw them in the audio magazines back in the day. Reviewers always mentioned that NAD had cut costs in some areas in order to deliver above average sound quality at a more affordable price. But those reviews always said it was the exterior chassis and buttons. I didn't realize the internal components were suspect. As Trevor mentions in the video, the circuitry was well designed. So if these NAD's are rebuilt with good components are they great?
@@rjonzun5828 They can be made better for sure but Trevor points out some of the main issues in this video. Their wave soldering seems to have been rushed which leads to poor solder joints and issues with continuity, when you add on poor component quality and bad bodges you will get early failures ! Many of my friends bought NAD amps in the early 80's and I was able to hear them developing faults over time, I thought it was my imagination at first but the distortion levels would gradually increase and the power output would decrease slightly.
@@rjonzun5828 There's a famous saying - "You can't polish a turd". Yes you can change out components, but it's still a piece of junk. The build quality doesn't change, the plastic front panel is still plastic and the design is still poor. For the money and time, why would you bother? I don't understand people's attraction to these units when there are far better options out there for less money.
![Delco High Performance Radio Receiver! [Repair]](/img/n.gif)
two and a half years ago my NAD C350 (purchased new in 1996) shut itself down. I was about to junk it but found a gentleman in Florida who said he could repair it to a better than new state. He explained exactly my options and I chose the full Monty, all new high quality caps, a thorough evaluation of the entire system and new components where necessary and a complete resolder job...ended up costing about $450 -- a lot of labor. I listen to a lot of music and the integrated amp sounds better than it did when new now almost three years later. He gave me a two year warranty on his work...unheard of.
A good repairman who uses good quality parts and is proud of his work will give a good service AND warranty!
@@marcvdfv8431 Warranty only on full restore. It's completely unfair to expect insurance on remaining 40 year old electronic components if the customer isn't willing to pay to have them replaced.
0:12 - "I got a love/hate relationship with these nads." lol.
Folks criticize NAD for the cheap build and component quality - which was true - but forget that these were budget end of the HiFi market when new. So, yes, they were built to a low price.
The NAD 3020 was just about the cheapest amp that could ever make the cover of a HiFi magazine in the early 1980's - but did! because they were also very good. Many a HiFi enthusiast started out with a NAD because they were affordable to teenage kids and students. No surprise many are tired and baked by now but good restoration can bring them back to life.
Yes that's a fair point, NAD jumped into the spotlight because they were affordable and sounded so much better than the other affordable options at the time, getting good reviews in Hi-Fi magazines lead to them becoming very popular. During the 1970's almost every British household had some kind of all in one record player, cassette player, tuner and amp which was designed to compliment the furniture and room styles of the time, they were built to last but also to a price and that meant sound quality was not a priority. We had brands such as Ferguson, Bush and Phillips which were household names and pretty much all sounded the same with similar 20W maximum output with very high distortion levels but people just expected distortion when the volume went past the mid point ! NAD amps had a lot more headroom and far less distortion which was a revelation to many people, the design and colour of the face was never mentioned by most people, it was just something they accepted ! The face design always seemed a little half hearted like they just got so far and ran out of ideas and time so they just settled on a black and minimal design approach hoping nobody would complain.
Yes, it speaks to how loved they were/are by the sheer number of them still around and being refurbished. Had a few NAD's, I recapped my C352 last year, not because it needed it really, just that I'm keeping it permanently as I love how it sounds. I've other amps, but none are as easy to live with as the NAD.
BAKED! Shango would be proud of you😅
Don't hate too much on those NADs. They were built to be affordable. Any thing else on the market that sounded this good, was 3 times the price.
Then, this thing is almost half a century old.
Show me a piece of modern electronics with that life span.
I have a 1974 Marantz and a 1976 Sansui. They are all original and sound great.
PICK any Yamaha
Nice job Trevor, never heard you so surely, I like it. Owned a NAD for about 3 hours, then returned to Seller for refund. I believe low level is "Mute". I hate light purple Caps. Band aid on finger, cut on thumb, EZ now Trevor. Upper 60's when you 1st turned on.
Worked on a 3150 recently and 80% of the caps were out of spec.
I bought my 3150 new and still use it. Had a Pioneer SA 8500II before the sound wasn’t has warm. I use different brands but always came back to NAD love the sound.
2k views in 12hours… there must be appetite for NAD repairs!
NAD and Onkyo seems to attract a lot of views for some reason
On the other side, I only use NAD's! Great video, thank you.
In the UK NAD was the entry level budget 'serious' hi-fi amp back in the 80s. They were significantly cheaper than anything else around at the time. Not surprised that the insides are less than optimal.
My second piece of audio equipment was a NAD 3140 back in the early 80's. Still have it. I replaced all the trim pots with Bourne 10 turn VRs. Also the power switch crapped out. I use a power bar to turn it ON/OFF.
I was always in 2 minds about NAD equipment, they were impressively loud and had a certain level of quality when new but they didn't have a long lifespan, also the face design seemed a little odd with odd colour choices. A few of my friends had them but I always thought you could hear the quality fading every time they were used until they were changed for something more expensive which was usually Marantz or even Sony because they lasted longer.
Those two mains transformers are NOT for dual supplies, well not as in one for left and one for right channel.
No, not in NAD land. One is for the negative supply, and the other for the positive supply to both channels.
Guess it was cheaper to use two small independent transformers instead of one large as all the others do.
I just replace those old trim pots with new multiturn pots, just as you replace all caps...
Yeah, I realized that after, it's a odd design
Why don't you replace the vr's if they are that touchy?
To be fair, my nads also don't look that great.
I have read that people like the NAD amps. Never had one.
Trevor, what brands of integrated amp's impress you with build quality, and parts used, etc?
That's a tough question because we're talking vintage units here. They all have their range of problems, esp caps, pots, switches and relays. Once you look past those faults the choice gets a little easier. I've seen some good build quality from early Sansui, Yamaha, Pioneer, JVC and HH Scott. Those brands impress me the most. I'm sure there's more like Technics and Sony.
I'm not a fan of Marantz although they were built very well I don't think it justifies the Marantz tax people pay to own one
Harman Kardon is one of my favorite brands but they have had periods of garbage build quality. They usually need a lot of work to make them shine
@@TrevorsBench I had a Tandberg TR2060 back in the late seventies that I regret having gotten rid of because it was just beautiful to look at and the tuner was excellent. Have you seen enough of them to have an opinion on their build quality etc. I've always wondered if they were engineered as well as they looked good.
Why did it go out of protection with 4VDC?
(Depending on what the customer wants it might be a good idea to just change all the pots.)
I avoid NAD . Ill stick to HK and Yamaha.
Never acquired a NAD for the same reasons......
That baby got HOT! Darn. Nat a fan of that type of heat sink!
It sliced my hand up a few times. Sharp as razor blades! I didn't know I was cut until I started seeing blood and clued into what happened, very sharp
There's still something wrong with that amp. The low frequency square wave response isn't typical, neither is the crooked response at 10khz.
I think the initial design had a relay coil of 48v.
Since 48V relays are becoming difficult to obtain, it seems like the design has changed.
Written with Google Translator
I don’t see why this would justify a 1k parallel resistor though.
Had a NAD 3240PE in the early 90s. Pretty decent amp. One day a friend brought in a Creek 4140 & the Creek killed the NAD in every aspect of sound quality. Fast forward a few yrs later & yet again i was in a shop where they were comparing a NAD integrated amp with an Arcam alpha amp which was also a budget amp & again the NAD got killed by the Arcam. If u don’t compare, the NAD amps are decent sounding.
Anyone ever put an improvised heatsink or heat shield around capacitors near heat sources? Or would that just help transfer more heat into the capacitors? (Obviously it would have to be done in such a way that the capacitor can still vent.)
Also you might want to pick up some gaffer tape to apply to bitey heatsinks like that to protect your fingers while you work.
Just a few weeks ago I changed the relays in my Technics amp. Since the new relays had a higher coil resistance than the originals - and the relays are in series with an LED - I added a parallel 5.7k resistor, giving me the correct current through both the new relays and the LED. That being said, I don’t know why one would add a low resistor in here. Weird.
I think it was put in the wrong place by mistake, it would be more useful between the coil and the resistor which was out of tolerance or even to replace that resistor.
Love NAD equipment, don't love the parts used within. The Japanese made stuff is good; Taiwanese stuff not bad; but the mainland Chinese stuff has the worst parts. I know you hate TK caps, but JH brand caps are even worse!
I have 3 nad receivers, all made in Japan units. They all needed a bit of resto, mainly control cleaning. One had some trim pots that had oxidized and were way out of spec. Almost all the caps I have pulled on these while troubleshooting measure in spec. Can't speak for the Taiwanese and Malaysian units, as I won't buy those.
@@ctrlzyx2 Taiwanese units are fine. I've had a 3240PE since 1988 and recapped it about 10 years ago. It has been rock solid.
@@TurntableGuycool to see my fave repair TH-camrs on each other’s comments. Your NAD video was good 👍🏼
I've known people with NADs and they liked the sound, but they all broke.
I have been repairing domestic and professional electronics for many years and in that time I have seen my share of NAD gear. Mostly the Taiwanese stuff, some of the China stuff and a few pieces of the early Japan-produced units. The Taiwanese and Chinese gear is pretty janky. Bad design, low-quality components, cheap caps, cheap construction. Everything runs hot, and as seen in this video the board is scorched from the heat in multiple places.
Many NAD amps and receivers have no protection circuitry for the speakers or the output stage and when they decide to let go, they do it royally and take out many parts. People have lost expensive speakers as well due to the lack of protection.
Usually when I am tasked with repairing one of these it takes me several hours to go through and replace all the destroyed components and rebuild the unit. Rarely do I have to invest so much time and effort with any other brand of amplifier. NAD just seems to be the cup winner in this regard.
Why people rave over them I don't know. There are other brands (Technics being one) which can be had for similar money and are of far higher quality and construction, perform and sound just as well if not better.
When they first appeared on the market they were so much better than other affordable options that everybody wanted one, that gave them a very solid reputation which they have been making a living off ever since. It's not because they are good now, it's because at one time they sounded good, had very low distortion and put out a lot of power. When NAD first appeared there were basically two options for audio equipment, standard run of the mill all in one systems which were more like a decorative piece of household furniture than audio gear or high end multi piece technical gear which you needed an electronics degree to understand and a bank managers salary to purchase !
@@ianc4901 I always saw them in the audio magazines back in the day. Reviewers always mentioned that NAD had cut costs in some areas in order to deliver above average sound quality at a more affordable price. But those reviews always said it was the exterior chassis and buttons. I didn't realize the internal components were suspect. As Trevor mentions in the video, the circuitry was well designed. So if these NAD's are rebuilt with good components are they great?
@@rjonzun5828 They can be made better for sure but Trevor points out some of the main issues in this video. Their wave soldering seems to have been rushed which leads to poor solder joints and issues with continuity, when you add on poor component quality and bad bodges you will get early failures ! Many of my friends bought NAD amps in the early 80's and I was able to hear them developing faults over time, I thought it was my imagination at first but the distortion levels would gradually increase and the power output would decrease slightly.
@@rjonzun5828 There's a famous saying - "You can't polish a turd". Yes you can change out components, but it's still a piece of junk. The build quality doesn't change, the plastic front panel is still plastic and the design is still poor. For the money and time, why would you bother?
I don't understand people's attraction to these units when there are far better options out there for less money.
@@sw6188 So the circuitry design is poor or just the overall design? There is obviously a good sound quality when these products are new.
Yet another change all the capacitor video BAKED ! like Dan's ( Shango's ) brain
Does anybody know where I can have my stereo work on that does a great job on stereo's .I have a pioneer stereo 1050
You need to let us know roughly where you are so any nearby techs can respond