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
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.