NAD Quality?


I have considered upgrading my vintage NAD receiver with a newer NAD unit. What concerns me is the amount of "refurbished" NAD gear that is being sold by various outlets.

Were these units returned simply because the owners were not happy with the sound, etc?

Or, were they returned because they were defective? With the amount of refurbed NAD gear that is available I have to wonder about the overall quality of the brand.
group3e11
If you do enough homework, you will find that all huge companies have a lot of refurb and that many times, they are simply returns or overstock. Don't worry and be happy you get a price break on it. I have bought two refurb NAD pieces and never had a problem with either of them.
My experience. I bought a NAD referb product about 25 years ago (at least!) and it proved to be defective. I returned it and bought a NEW piece of NAD gear in exchange(the venerable 3020 integrated) which I still have and STILL WORKS FINE!

Even though NAD's philosophy is to use cheap parts but utilize good design doesn't mean they can't put out good sounding gear that will last.

Rotel's build quality is far better, FWIW.
I would rather suggest that you aviod the above-mentioned brand. They used to be very good but I doubt them these days! Construction is rather poor...

Have a look at DENON...

Best regards,
Dewald Visser
Hammer -Still have a 3020?! That was my first amp and a friend is still using it! I loved that amp, chose it over many more expensive amps I tried.
That being said, I would recommend looking at Cambridge stuff. I bought a Cambridge integrated for second system and was pleasantly surprised by both build and sound quality. I cant say that I have heard the recent Rotels or NADs, but I'm very happy with the Cambridge.
While looking for a gear I was considering NAD. Several retailers told me that they had some issues with NAD CD players but amplifiers were fine.
I didn't end up buying one so I can't comment on it from my personal experience.
Refurbished could mean many things. It applies to all manufacturers, not just NAD. It could be overstock, demo, or even defective equipment that has been returned and repaired. The defect could be electronic, or it may only have been cosmetic, a new faceplate for example. If it has been manufacturer repaired, then it has been repaired to new condition, and it's at a discount price. I think it's a great deal, although I would want a warranty to back that up.

If you look inside a NAD and compare it with its competitors, Rotel for example, it does look a little cheaply made. However, there are many happy NAD owners who have had years of enjoyment from their equipment. If you're concerned, just buy warrantied products from reputable dealers.
I've gone through three high-priced NAD products in the last 12 months. The quality has shifted - yeah that's the word for it.

That said, I've had no problems taking my questions directly to the helpful NAD techies by phone or email.

I've also had great experiences with a certain authorized B-stock reseller in New England and highly recommend contacting them vs. buying new.

Need another reason to buy B-stock? Sadly NAD's resale value has shifted as well.

M55 (Honeymoon ended super fast - I'm considering other partners)
T763 (Mutual break up and still on speaking terms)
T973 (Bad break up)
3 x 2150 as mutli-zone power amps(can't get them out of the house)
Ok..I used to work at a high end store a couple of years ago..for a couple of years. We sold NAD. Here is what I know. NAD home theater recievers had an issue with failing, not all of them, some were just lemons. When we took back the lemon..we sent it to NAD and they would fix it and send it back to us with a "refurbished by NAD" sticker on it. About half of these refurbs would fail again. The other half worked great.
However, all of the 2 channel stuff worked fine, we never had any problems. Except 712 reciever display burning out.
Generally the old NAD stuff (80's) was made to a higher quality control level than the newer stuff (90's-00's). NAD production of 80's units came from Japan. Most newer stuff is from China, with the disc players coming from Singapore.
I have an 1155 preamp (Japan), this is a great piece. I had a 2200PE and 2600A 2ch amps..these were great amps but the circuit boards were thin..meaning they warp after 20 years and traces break.
Anyway..you should be ok with newer 2ch stuff and CD players. In fact the C372 and C320bee are outstanding. DVD players and Home theater recievers, watch out. In fact, go with Denon on those.
I still have a NAD 1600 preamp/tuner I purchased as a "blemished" unit in 1991. Still works great. Recently added a NAD CD/DVD changer; verdict is still out.
Oh yeah..the NAD T753 was a lemon..all of them came back, almost. To add the above post by me: the C272 is excellent as well. The first generation NAD DVD players T550? had issues ..wouldn't play certain DVD's or cd-r's. Not surprising really, Marantz's 1st gen dvd player had the same problems.
NAD service is excellent/quick though...they are familiar with how to fix things. I am sorry to sound like I am bashing their products..I just happened to work at an authorized dealer..so of course I saw all of the broken units..jaded I suppose.
At least they stand behind their product.

The warranty replacement for my 4-month old M55 Universal Disc Player is currently on backorder.