Digital Drive

Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

Return to Digital Drive

NAD CDP won't play CD's--help please.

69.154.225.117
Posted on October 25, 2009 at 13:02:44
Blooze
Audiophile

Posts: 313
Location: Texas
Joined: August 1, 2005
 I've got a NAD C521BEE CDP that I purchased new several years ago that I like quite well. Within the last month it has had a terrible time trying to play CD's. Many times it will read the number of tracks, but then not be able to play them. Or it will take me 10-12 times of reloading the CD to get it to read the tracks and then maybe play. Once a CD starts playing I have no trouble skipping back and forth. Loading another CD after that starts the process all over again.

Any suggestions on something I might be able to check/fix to possibly eliminate the problem would be most appreciated as I hate to have to replace it.

Seems to work now., posted on October 31, 2009 at 15:27:29
Blooze
Audiophile

Posts: 313
Location: Texas
Joined: August 1, 2005
 Took the cover off and cleaned the laser. That seemed to help quite a bit as far as reading the CD tracks. It still wouldn't play the tracks very consistantly, but I noticed that the back of the transport seemed a little loose. Snugged up two screws at the rear and now it will read the CD's and play the tracks almost every time. I turned the power off, then on, and inserted a CD about 20 times and it read and played every time.

We'll see how long it lasts.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.

If you like it, get it fixed, posted on October 27, 2009 at 09:45:21
4season
Audiophile

Posts: 1680
Location: Colorado, USA
Joined: April 2, 2002
 No, there's probably no easy fixes that you can do at home unless you have the service manual, a suitable oscilloscope and appropriate test CDs for calibration. Getting it serviced may cost a significant chunk of the original purchase price, but depending on how well you like it, it may be worth the bother.

I actually found that NAD USA still carried parts for my 502, which is closer to 15 years old! I've replaced a couple of FETs and lamps over that time, but otherwise, it continues to work fine. I just built a DAC which uses the Wolfson WM8741 chip, so it's never sounded better! Only real complaints about my older mechanism is that it (1) doesn't read CD-RW disks, since those weren't around at the time, and (2) it never was particularly good at reading the beat-up disks from the library.

Forget NAD and other cheap Chinese crap, posted on October 26, 2009 at 08:20:37
Mike K
Audiophile

Posts: 6433
Joined: September 23, 1999
Contributor
  Since: May 7, 2000
 Buy a decent player made in the west (or Japan, or Taiwan) and enjoy.

Mike

RE: Forget NAD and other cheap Chinese crap, posted on October 26, 2009 at 09:18:03
Blooze
Audiophile

Posts: 313
Location: Texas
Joined: August 1, 2005
 I'm definitely not impressed with their CDP's. The BEE amp I have on the other hand has never given me a problem and is a joy to listen to.

Any suggestions of brands/models that are less than $500?

CDPs less than $500, posted on October 26, 2009 at 13:01:57
Mike K
Audiophile

Posts: 6433
Joined: September 23, 1999
Contributor
  Since: May 7, 2000
 I can't think of a single cd player in that price range that I would
purchase as a "serious" player. Currently I use a 10 (?) year old
EAD CDP2000 which I continue to love - even though I realize that
vast improvements have been made. If I had to buy a new cdp, I'd
likely buy a used ayre cx7 or an audio research cd3 mk2, or maybe
a wadia 301 or 302. None of those can be had for $500, though.

Mike

RE: CDPs less than $500, posted on October 26, 2009 at 15:38:24
Frank I
Audiophile

Posts: 745
Joined: December 9, 2001
 Have you tried the Onkyo DX7555. I think you would be surprised as I was when it was better than my 2k Classe CDP.5 whyich would cost 3k in todays dollars. The Onkyop has the Wolfson Dac and is Stereophile Class B rated and yes its a serious player.

RE: CDPs less than $500, posted on October 26, 2009 at 13:17:22
Blooze
Audiophile

Posts: 313
Location: Texas
Joined: August 1, 2005
 Thanks. Yeah, that budget limit really doesn't do much for any kind of serious gear. I mean the NAD was only $250.

This is just a second system in the living room running some small bookshelves. Mainly background music really. Maybe just get an Oppo DVD player or something.

RE: NAD CDP won't play CD's--help please., posted on October 26, 2009 at 05:50:24
Frank I
Audiophile

Posts: 745
Joined: December 9, 2001
 If you do a search all NAD products are crapping out. Tons of B stock floating all over the place. I purchased an Onkyo DX 7555 fro JR Music and added a 5 yr waranty for an extra 60.00

Something similar happened to me, posted on October 25, 2009 at 20:05:33
bartc
Audiophile

Posts: 3516
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: November 25, 2002
 Just before total drive failure. It would cost too much to replace the drive, and I found a newer NAD model for cheap to replace it.

RE: Something similar happened to me, posted on October 26, 2009 at 05:29:21
Blooze
Audiophile

Posts: 313
Location: Texas
Joined: August 1, 2005
 Kinda what I was figuring. I really hate to replace it, but if I'm only gonna get three years out of it I'm reluctant to replace with another NAD. Heck, I've got a couple of 1st gen CDP's that still work perfect. Three years seems a little short, especially as it was in a 2nd system that saw very little use.

Seems this is the weak point in many CDPs pretty much, posted on October 26, 2009 at 06:07:54
bartc
Audiophile

Posts: 3516
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: November 25, 2002
 Mine started with the drawer freezing shut. Seems not just NAD, but most drawer CDPs have this particular weak point. Ended up needing a new laser, which was ridiculously expensive compared to replacing the unit altogether.

But mine was an older model than yours, the 541i. It held up well for 6 years, which is considered pretty good, I'm told.

The story of the older CDPs holding up is common. They were originally built like tanks! Heavy casing, etc., in a lot of them. Then the economists at the companies got into the act and quality suffered.

I like the NADs enough to go for a NAD again, this time the 542. I almost went for a much more expensive top loading unit, but couldn't find the ones I wanted for anywhere near a price that I can afford. And since I use an external DAC I was really only using it for the transport.

YMMV, of course...

RE: NAD CDP won't play CD's--help please., posted on October 25, 2009 at 18:21:17
Postal Grunt
Audiophile

Posts: 1007
Location: KC, KS
Joined: January 18, 2001
 I'm by no means a technician but it sounds like the CD drive is going out. I had similar problems on my Rotel CDP and a new drive, fixed under warranty, straightened things out.

Peace, good beer and barbecue!

Page processed in 0.082 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2009, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ] [ Go Green ] [ Take5 ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]