music quality

quality control issues

I bought this unit on nad rep for building quality receivers,I have gone thru 2 of these units, both defective, the first receiver had problems with the surrond channels, the second unit not only had a problem with surround channels, while listening to a cd, I heard a loud pop, the unit shut down and sparks and smoke were coming out of receiver. I am done with nad after 2 receivers being defective I do not fell like going thru the hassle of getting another defective nad receiver, nad has gone down hill as far as building quality products

Similar Products Used:

previous nad owner

Great sound

Remote

Great product.

Similar Products Used:

DVD-NadT550
cd- Nad541

looks, sound......when it's working

was unable to receive digital input. remote. mediocre sound.

I bought this unit in march; by june it was or wasn't picking up a digital signal. brought it back in Nov. and am going to pick it up next week, along with broken and hopefully repaired nad dvd player. I don't have much faith in the product after experiencing it and reading about it in these reviews. "customer service" sounds to me like some guy in a storage unit somewhere with a 12 year old answering machine. I'm not exited about picking up my nad's next week.

Similar Products Used:

nad dvd player

Beautiful powerful clean sound

Unreliable

I purcheased The NAD T761 in June of this year and upon hooking up, got only a black and white picture with the DVD. I called the dealer who suggested that my cable may be faulty, even though it was a brand new one. I tried another cable and got the same B & W picture. The OSD also disappeared after a while and could not get the surround, the subwoofer and the center channel to come on. I took the unit back to the dealer and as soon as he connected it, everything worked perfectly. I was so bad embarrased that I did not know how to set up the unit.
Later on, there wre other problems, like the surround speakers not coming on for no reason. Each time the problem would clear up.

I got the upgraded remote and when I was playing around with it, the remote became non functional. The NAD would not respond to the remote and also the green light on the face of it has gone off. I tried the old remote and the reaction was the same. Now I have a unit that does not work with either remote and I have to use the buttons on the panel to change the modes etc. I called the dealer who offered to exchange the unit for another new unit. I thought that my case was isolated until I read the reviews here and realized that others are having problems too. As much as I like the sound of the NAD, I am concerned about the quality control issues. I am considering upgrading to the new Arcam AV receiver.

Similar Products Used:

None

clean soundstage, vibrant musicality, robust bass control, natural reproduction, punchy yet smooth. Great 2 in one amp that caters to music lovers who watch movies occasionally.

Gets quite hot! This is now my second unit due to faults in the first one. Not that I care too much, but to add to the others, the remote is pretty basic.

Well it has been an interesting road followed with NAD, and the dealer Great Met Sound. I have to really give highest marks and gratitude to Great Met and Gary Parm who delt with me with utter patience and tremendous service. I bought the 761 back in july and 6 months later I started noticing an electronic hum coming through all of the speakers for the first5 -10 minutes of turning the thing on. After trying all the trouble shooting we could both think of I finally had it brought in to be serviced. After 2 weeks I got it back, hooked it up only to find the right channel was not responding at all. I began to worry. This is my third NAD amp I've owned. All others have had to have service but they were cheaper models and I can understand those falling out due to cheaper parts. But when spending this kind of money on a piece like this and expecting some quality it is not long before hopes are smashed when things go wrong. Nonetheless, Gary went to bat for me with NAD to have it replaced. NAD wouldn't budge. But Gary in his own benevolence displayed the utmost kindness and offered me the paid price minus $100 canadian for a trade in on another brand if I so wanted to. Toying with this opportunity I decided to give the ARcam avr 100 a whirl. It brought disappointment. Under powered and tinny compared to the NAD. It was nice at lower volumes but it you pushed it loud it would distort. So I ventured into looking at the much revered Arcam A85 integrated amp. I thought indeed I would be blown away having read all the reviews. I was not. Comparing it to my old NAD av 316 I found, for the music I listen to (Indie rock, punk, trip hop, Cure, etc..), I indeed liked the 316 more and i know I like the sound of the T761 better than the 316. The A85 was indeed nice and clean and musical but the vocals were very laid back, and the sound wasn't quite as "attacky" as I like. Great for jazz or classical, but the NAD was more rockn'roll. Perhaps the NAD pairs better with my NAD cd player...maybe i'm just too used to NAD sound. And I would be paying another 800 canadian for the ARcam and lose dts, dd. tuner, etc. So Gary, without question or hesitation simply gave me a brand new NAD t761, much to me delight. Now let me just say this. You pay for what you get. In the real world, no matter what things are made of things will always break. When you are dealing with wanting the best bang for your buck and sound quality, presentation, functionality, and music are your prime concerns, then the T761 is a sure winner. When I saw that the NAD sound was nicer than an Arcam integrated amp I realised just what kind of musicality I was getting for a dolby digital reciever for 2/3 of the price of the arcam. NAD sound definately compares nicely to higher level pieces. Just make sure you make a good repore with a good dealer to back up any issues you may have with NAD. And as Gary said to me, he has sold a couple hundered 761's and I was the only one who has expressed difficulties. No matter what there is always a lemon. But if you can definately check out NAD t761 and even better, go to Great Met Sound and talk to Garry.

my gear:
NAD T 761
NAD 523 multidisc
TaraLab prism i interconnects
B&W 602 mains- B&W lcr 3 centre, B&W 302 rear
Monster Cable biwire
Sony s360 dvd
Thorens turntable

Similar Products Used:

reviewed: marantz 5200, 6200, Arcam avr 100, Arcam A85, NAD T551, previously owned NAD AV 316 int. amp.

Looks, simplicity, sound

Quality control, remote, static pop and delay switching digital modes, lacking some basic features

I know perhaps it isn't "fair" to post a second review, but after having lived with this unit a year now I feel I have to give a 2 star review to balance out to 3 & 3 (having given 4 in my previous review - the first one below). To be honest, I am not sure NAD deserves even the three star rating. This review is somewhat of an overall NAD review based on my expereinces with more than just the receiver.

Here's the thing. I love NAD, have since I first saw their stuff 15 years ago while I was in the AF. Reading reviews here made me certain it was the choice for me. And I just love to look at this stuff - I love the gray color and basic look. BUT, NAD quality is suspect. I have no faith in any NAD products anymore having returned my first 761 (rear channels dead until unit warmed up), and 2 541 CD players (warped chassis out of the box on the first one, second one refused to open after 10 months - intermittent problem before that just kept getting worse).

I was also extremely disappointed with the HTR-1 remote once it finally arrived. What a piece of worthless junk! It's not got enough buttons to be of any use now matter how it's shaped, how it learns, or how it's backlit, etc., etc. Plus, it doesn't support my General Instruments cable box (how can this be - their boxes are everywhere) making it completely useless to me - I want a single remote for all my AV equipment.

I am also disappointed with the sonic boom when switching between digital modes, my GOD that's going to blow a speaker one of these days. I know I referred to it as a static pop, but with the addition of the NAD 571 DVD player it is incredibly loud with volume set at listening level. This is more than a minor annoyance, it's a concern that my speakers may be damaged. Not sure what the DVD player has to do with it, but it is definitely worse now (using optical out) than with my Sony.

Lastly, with all the NAD products I have owned over the past 15 months or so I have been annoyed at some of the lacking features. Simple stuff like decent remotes, ability to power off the 541 CD player via remote, software settings with the receivers, accessing the random mode on the 571 for multiple CDs (3 random modes, but you can only see which you're in by switching the TV on and seeing the onscreen display), and several more that I can't recall at the moment. If none of the real problems were present, I could live with these annoyances.

I am sorely disappointed. I want to own NAD equipment and keep it for years (without multiple trips to the repair shop mind you). I really haven't found anything else in this price range that I am even casually interested in. But I am leery about buying anything else from NAD, and leery about keeping what I've got. I'm considering trading in my receiver and DVD player (the only two pieces I currently own) and buying something else. What else I don't know, but NAD has basically scared me away, and most of the other reviews here only serve to cement that fear.

As I said, I am giving a review of 2 & 2 here to bring my final review to a 3 & 3. I don't think NAD is really even deserving of that. The value is a tough call, but where's the real value in buying unreliable equipment? It doesn't matter how it's priced if chances are good you'll have to return it or have it serviced in the first few months of ownership. Simply put, if someone asked me about NAD, I'd say don't buy it. I, however, am too hung up on the appearance of their equipment (and the sound is excellent as well of course). What can I say? I am big on aesthetics, and just haven't seen anything else I like on my AV stand as much as NAD. Maybe B&K, but at what price? Plus they offer no CD or DVD players and I'd like to keep at least the CD player in the same family.

Maybe I'll just by a backup of every piece of NAD equipment so I always have one on hand while the other is in the shop being repaired.

brillant sound quality, depth, absolute power for money

the remote

i serched around for probably a year before i settled on the t761. it has more than enough inputs and outputs to satisfy any of the disconcerned buyer. any sony, yamaha or of something similar quality you have to spend in the order of $4000 aus to get anything close to this amp, as for morance the other players in the nad quality range you still have to about another five hundred dollars.

as for any criticisms i just cant find one with the amp itself. the build quality of the amp is second to none, if people complaine about deffective units out of the box do a bit more research and realise that over 99% of there products are faultless. there is only one thing to say is that the remote is a bit of a pain to work but it does its job

Similar Products Used:

yamaha, nad dolby surround, techniques

Sound and Looks

The Stupid pop when you go into DTS mode
Both remotes stink

I've had this receiver for over 5 months now and I have to admit that I am quite happy with it. The sound is outstanding especially in the ears mode. I like the minimalist approach to the design and function of the unit.

The two remotes that came with the unit are completely worthless. But its no a big deal because I bought a Pronto a few years ago. The one thing that I truly hate is the popping noise that I get when I switch from Dolby to DTS sound on a DVD. I seriously doubt that it would ever blow my speakers but it is very annoying.

I was really surprised about all of the quality problems that previous posters have had. Again, I’ve had no problem to mention and I’m using most of the receiver’s functions.

Overall I am very pleased

Similar Products Used:

Yahama,

Nad's insufferable attitude towards their customers

I received the following e-mail from a Paul Milder, who purports to speak for NAD, regarding my request for information about how to return this piece of junk receiver that I unfortunately purchased:

"Hello and thanks for your ownership. The receiver is excellent, but Yahoo is your resource on a return. They are not an authorized dealer of ours, and you may have received a unit with known problems obtained by someone at
some point along the line from a "gray market" source.

I'm sorry, but Yahoo is the party who must make this good.

John Milder for NAD"

Note that I purchased the receiver from Reliable Audio, not Yahoo, which Mr. Milder would have realized had he taken the time to read my e-mail and my receipt.

BE FOREWARNED: This is how NAD treats their customers. This is the measure of how much they care about your satisfaction with their product. This is the extent to which NAD stands behind their products.

BOYCOTT NAD, BUY NAKAMICHI: I have cancelled my order of a C370 integrated amplifier and a 5020 CD player. I intend to boycott NAD. Since they could care less about me, as their customer, I could care less about them.

Abysmal quality
Poor audio

After being in light service for 2.5 months, the NAD T761 broke. It will power up, but the front panel display will not come on and it emits a loud screech through my speakers. No word yet on whether the dealer will take this back. I should have known, having read all of the prior reviews, that this was a piece of junk.

PS - while it was working, the audio was garbage. The unit did well on movies, but the quality of CD sound was abysmal.