NAD OWNERS THREAD

[heliumflight]

I am currently using Nad D3020 with Vintage Sony Apm 717, simply brilliant combability, but with Totem Rainmaker not good.

 

[heliumflight]

Came across this great example of NAD's "neutral" sound signature the Yamaha's "dynamic" sound signature. It will give one a good example of how NAD measures up against most other amplifiers. Use headphones for a more accurate experience.

This is what I have.

 

[SiR]

Can someone share the number of Mr Harsh Merchant or his office?

Harsh - +91 98210 45573

 

[reubensm]

Thank you for posting this.

Being a NADC320BEE owner, I had been meaning to watch this for a while. Only got down down to it today!

I have one HUGE problem with this documentary though. There is person, who distinctively looks of South Asian origin, who speaks at 5 different instances in the documentary - at time stamps of 9:53, 25:32, 25:51, 26:11 and 39:51. The documentary also shows photos of his younger self with senior figures of the company, including BEE. Some of the video footage used in the documentary leaves no doubt in my mind that he is a senior and longstanding part of NADs senior design and engineering teams. But to my UTTER SHOCK the documentary does not introduce him in any manner or mention his name. If I am not badly mistaken, his is the only 'speaker' / narrator in the entire documentary, whose name and role is not mentioned either orally or in writing. All the other 'speakers' / narrators and their roles / designations are described in writing. For some reason, I am very disturbed by this. I can imagine this happened only because of the subconscious (I sincerely hope it is not conscious) racist attitudes (of the media agency responsible and hopefully not of the NAD team) towards the competence and contributions of people of South Asian origin.

I just needed to rant about this. Thanks for listening.

Not sure if I mentioned this previously but the South Asian gentleman featured in the video is none other than Taresh Vadgama, Vice President - Development & Manufacturing at Lenbrook. He is an old timer from Canada, and has been with Lenbrook for around 40 years. It is Lenbrook that owns the NAD, Bluesound and PSB brands.

 

[reubensm]

Sometimes folks who are no way connected to us, make a difference to our lives. This gentleman's work has made a significant contribution to my life by giving me hours and hours of happiness. An often forgotten name amoung the legends of the world of HiFi, Mr. BEE himself.

Talk about end-games, final frontiers and 'the end' - that's NAD for me!

 

[PCA]

Not sure if I mentioned this previously but the South Asian gentleman featured in the video is none other than Taresh Vadgama, Vice President - Development & Manufacturing at Lenbrook. He is an old timer from Canada, and has been with Lenbrook for around 40 years. It is Lenbrook that owns the NAD, Bluesound and PSB brands.

Thank you very much for this information. Cheers!

 

[utkarsh]

Thought I'll share a fix with all.

Recently a NAD S200 Silverline series power amplifier came to me for repairs with a unique problem. At low volumes, the right channel kept cutting out intermittently. However, the amplifier functioned normally the moment the volume control on its S100 preamp was turned up, past the 9 o'clock position. When the amp was playing with volume below 9 o'clock position, music kept crackling on and off, and whenever the sound came up, the volume was lower than the left channel causing channel imbalance. The amp had been to a couple of technicians before coming to me, input sockets (both RCA and XLRs) had been cleaned and the input selector (balanced vs unbalanced), the soft clipping and bridged mode switches had been cleaned and lubricated. All these had been resoldered on the input section PCB as well, thereby eliminating dry solder. Some electrolytics in the input circuit and on the right channel power amplifier board had been changed. Both techs had diagnosed it as a electrolytic problem and professed - when played at high volume, the capacitors charge up and the problem disappears

Ran some basic checks and isolated the fault. It was the right channel speaker relay (this model has separate relays for each channel). It was switching properly but the switching contacts were apparently not making good enough contact inside, causing the issue. Added a long wire jumper across the speaker switching pins of the relay for testing purposes, switched on the amp allowing the relay to turn on and then by closing and opening the jumper, was able to demonstrate that the relay switching, was with intermittent contact. Removed the testing jumper and replaced the old relay with a new 48volt 16amp SPST relay. The amp started working perfectly after that.

Caution: Never attempt to add jumpers or mods to the protection relays in amplifiers unless one has a complete understanding of the circuit design, relay types and relay pinouts. Never attempt to bypass a relay as this piece of electronics is an essential part of the amplifier's self-protection system. Replace the faulty relay with an identical replacement type. If using a substitute or an alternate relay type, pay attention to the relay pinout.

Many things went over my head. I will sent you a PM as my NAD356 is having some issue

 

[greendream]

This is a wonderful thread. I am looking to purchase an used Nad c320. The dual advantage of using as a stereo amplifier and power amplifier for home theatre, interests me.

Has anyone been using their Nad amplifier as power amplifier in home theatre? Please state your experience.

Special thanks to @reubensm for passionate posts regarding Nad.

Anyone is planning to sell their Nad amplifier, kindly DM me.

 

[hifimaddy]

This is a wonderful thread. I am looking to purchase an used Nad c320. The dual advantage of using as a stereo amplifier and power amplifier for home theatre, interests me.

Has anyone been using their Nad amplifier as power amplifier in home theatre? Please state your experience.

Special thanks to @reubensm for passionate posts regarding Nad.

Anyone is planning to sell their Nad amplifier, kindly DM me.

I used the 320 as a power amplifier before; they are pretty nice for bookshelves. But currently, I am using it as a preamp in my stereo setup. I have observed that it is not good at preamplifying, but as an amplifier, it is very good. If you are using tower speakers, it may struggle.

 

[reubensm]

when a legend meets another - AR XA and NAD 3020

 

[reubensm]

50 years of PSB Speakers from Lenbrook, also the home of NAD and Bluesound

 

[isacoyd]

Thought I'll share a fix with all.

Recently a NAD S200 Silverline series power amplifier came to me for repairs with a unique problem. At low volumes, the right channel kept cutting out intermittently. However, the amplifier functioned normally the moment the volume control on its S100 preamp was turned up, past the 9 o'clock position. When the amp was playing with volume below 9 o'clock position, music kept crackling on and off, and whenever the sound came up, the volume was lower than the left channel causing channel imbalance. The amp had been to a couple of technicians before coming to me, input sockets (both RCA and XLRs) had been cleaned and the input selector (balanced vs unbalanced), the soft clipping and bridged mode switches had been cleaned and lubricated. All these had been resoldered on the input section PCB as well, thereby eliminating dry solder. Some electrolytics in the input circuit and on the right channel power amplifier board had been changed. Both techs had diagnosed it as a electrolytic problem and professed - when played at high volume, the capacitors charge up and the problem disappears

Ran some basic checks and isolated the fault. It was the right channel speaker relay (this model has separate relays for each channel). It was switching properly but the switching contacts were apparently not making good enough contact inside, causing the issue. Added a long wire jumper across the speaker switching pins of the relay for testing purposes, switched on the amp allowing the relay to turn on and then by closing and opening the jumper, was able to demonstrate that the relay switching, was with intermittent contact. Removed the testing jumper and replaced the old relay with a new 48volt 16amp SPST relay. The amp started working perfectly after that.

Caution: Never attempt to add jumpers or mods to the protection relays in amplifiers unless one has a complete understanding of the circuit design, relay types and relay pinouts. Never attempt to bypass a relay as this piece of electronics is an essential part of the amplifier's self-protection system. Replace the faulty relay with an identical replacement type. If using a substitute or an alternate relay type, pay attention to the relay pinout.

Greetings. I have recently joined this forum and looking for some advice. I have a NAD C 356BEE Integrated Amplifier. Recently it has started acting up. It powers on and then switches to standby. I first thought that one of the connected speakers had shorted. But same problem is there with the speakers disconnected. Could you help with some suggestions. There seems to be no NAD service centre in India.

 

[availlyrics]

Lakozy ,
La Kozy Mansion
Address: Showroom No:3, 21, Chowpatty Seaface, Sea Face, Gamdevi, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400007
I had purchased C352 from them , back in 2004. Some dry solder and bad balance pot issues had cropped up after 5y . At that time they quoted 350 inspection charges + parts. Ended up doing DIY repairs myself, with the help of service manual ( not the user manual). If you are comfortable , you too can attempt its repairs. Usually the burnt out resistors, capacitors and voltage regulation transistors are the culprits due to overheating. PCB tracks peel off with heatsink getting unsoldered, in case of worst case heat buildup (stacked rack system). Probably, in your case, its in protection mode due to exccesive DC in signal path.

 

[reignofchaos]

Lakozy ,
La Kozy Mansion
Address: Showroom No:3, 21, Chowpatty Seaface, Sea Face, Gamdevi, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400007
I had purchased C352 from them , back in 2004. Some dry solder and bad balance pot issues had cropped up after 5y . At that time they quoted 350 inspection charges + parts. Ended up doing DIY repairs myself, with the help of service manual ( not the user manual). If you are comfortable , you too can attempt its repairs. Usually the burnt out resistors, capacitors and voltage regulation transistors are the culprits due to overheating. PCB tracks peel off with heatsink getting unsoldered, in case of worst case heat buildup (stacked rack system). Probably, in your case, its in protection mode due to exccesive DC in signal path.

Lakozy doesn't deal with NAD anymore. NAD is represented directly by their representative - Mr Harsh Merchant in India and he has service support sorted. His number is available on the lenbrook/NAD website.

 

[reubensm]

Greetings. I have recently joined this forum and looking for some advice. I have a NAD C 356BEE Integrated Amplifier. Recently it has started acting up. It powers on and then switches to standby. I first thought that one of the connected speakers had shorted. But same problem is there with the speakers disconnected. Could you help with some suggestions. There seems to be no NAD service centre in India.

This issue can be caused by multiple reasons so the amplifier will require a detailed investigation. My personal opinion is that the focus should not just be to fix the fault but the amplifier should be thoroughly checked. After the potential root cause is identified and addressed, the amp will also need a calibration check. All this sounds scary but it is actually not. Someone who is trained for the job should be able to fix it easily. Before giving the amp to anyone, check if they have experience with repairing NAD amplifiers before. The circuit design philosophy in NAD amps is slightly different and someone familiar would not need to spend time looking around.

Common 'internal' causes for NAD amps to go into protection mode:
1) dry solder, solder joint failure
2) faulty filter capacitors or power supply components
3) burnt capacitors, resistors and semiconductors (especially near components that run hot)
4) faulty protection circuit IC
5) bias and dc offset going out of spec
6) speaker relay issues
7) thermal runaway