NAD 5320 Single Disk CD Player REPAIR

This time a NAD CD player goes up on the bench.

[@AJComputerServicesUK]

NAD was founded in London / UK in 1972, I only own a Nad Stereo Amplifier 3020i which has cosmetic damage on the front panel but still works fine, I’ve tried finding a replacement front panel but they’re like Hen’s Teeth, I may find one one day! 🇬🇧

[@tonyperek7292]

You are right. The only way cd’s go bad is through your own neglect. The cd is an excellent format for the car, boat, home, or wherever you roam. I personally love the format,especially for recording vinyl onto. I love vinyl also the vinyl may have the warmer sound; however, the cd has everything else one would want; convenience, compactness, record ability with no noise of its own,portability, etc. I find sometimes when they remaster the recording, it many instances they don’t sound right.(cd’s). I like NAD. I’m like you. I like CD players in the car. I like your videos.

[@tacofortgens3471]

I rather use a usb stick with Flac Files

[@manueldi_77]

Thats true with cars and CD players nowadays.. My VW Tiguan from 2015 still has it all. CD Player, Aux in, USB, SD-Card or Bluetooth. Mostly I use the bluetooth with my phone. As always very interesting repair video.

[@12voltvids]

My older volt 2012 has USB, aux, and cd player that supports audio, mp3, .wave, .flac. the new one has no cd. Just usb, sd, aux and of course bluetooth. I don't steam music as my data on my phone is only 3 gigs. I also don't have much music on my phone. A couple thousand tracks is all as they were on the micro sd card when I plugged it into the phone. I do have pretty much the entire library I have on the 128 gig sd card in the car. It's great for road trips. I just leave it in random all the time.

[@jeremiefaucher-goulet3365]

I'm dumbfounded an AM transmitter @ 400mW can cause such issues... wow. I would never thought this possible enough to make the connection. Love the cameo at 13:39. Had me laughing ;-) Cool new intro with the cat too!

[@12voltvids]

That's actually an old intro. It was from part 4 of my 6L6 amp build. So this is only the second video with the alternate take. Radio transmitters cause much interference. This would not be an issue with the metal top on as that would shield it, but the rf coming off the laser pickup and being transported by wires to the main board. With the top open act as an antenna and 400mW from the antenna pretty much directly over head is enough to upset everything. You should see my scope display. The test leads pick up lots of interference from it as well. And to think my radio won't pick it up more than about 400 feet away. That same power on fm would cover the town nicely but I don't need any visits from the guys in the green truck with the antenna farm on the roof.

[@jeremiefaucher-goulet3365]

@@12voltvids Yeah, that would definitely show on an oscilloscope. I guess I never knew the laser pick up would be so sensitive to it prior amplification. Thanks for the clarification!

[@12voltvids]

@@jeremiefaucher-goulet3365 the signal coming off the disk is not that strong. It also happens to be in the same frequency range.

[@mgm5457]

In the world of copier and printers, I used to clean contacts with a drop or two of alcohol on a piece of paper and slide it between the contacts while holding them closed. The paper was just abrasive enough and it was good for wicking up all the contaminants as well, If I'd known about De-Oxit I would have used that ... also use the same trick for Plate type magnetic clutches.

[@tenmillionvolts]

I saw that chassis and immediately said Sanyo, haha. Fixed many in the 90s. Massive rebranding of Japanese gear with different outer casing. Denon were all Kenwood chassis. Anything European just had an old runout model Philips chassis with some back shed design line output board which made it sound amaaaazzzing. Well that's what the customer would say. My lowly ears couldn't tell the difference

[@natanpierce495]

Not true entirely. NAD ALWAYS had other component manufacturers to help keep cost down. Even the new 2020 NAD turntable 588, is made up of Project parts and components. The reasoning again, is NAD has always made lower priced components with a higher end attraction to have some awesome no frills audiophile equipment for budget conscious basement prices (sort of). I have a full rack of NAD from the late 80's through the 90's...still works, still kicks ass. My power envelope kicks the walls in with 300 watts. No way could I get that in any other system (Carver, Macintosh) without paying thousands.

[@ElectoneGuy]

I like to put a drop of light machine oil on all the motors. Had a Sony once that wouldn't track, turned out to be a stiff motor.

[@12voltvids]

I have had that fault, but this one spins up fine.

[@stevengray5970]

These are great information video's I've fixed two technics CD players one being a five disc unit and completed a belt change on my technics double cassette deck just an old 1970's Trio tape deck to finish so thanks so much 👍👍

[@AJComputerServicesUK]

Can’t believe I didn’t see the Cat at the beginning! 😂

[@ramilobernardo8203]

Nice new intro of the cat I love it Mr. 12voltvids

[@CrashPilot1000]

Thank you for the Video! BTW: Still love the cat-intro....

[@cubinn149]

This cd player has very nice clean sound

[@BoB4jjjjs]

Yes, CD players are now gone from cars, it really annoyed me as I used to buy discs of my own so I always had the music I wanted. Now I have to put it to MP3 and onto a stick just to play music in the car. I used to put it onto MP3 on a CD for the car, it was simpler just grabbing a disc from the holder and pushing it in, plus it went into the dash out of the way instead of sticking out where it is at risk of getting broken. I also find it easier if I want a change of music, ok, the memory stick holds a lot more music, but I still like a CD so I can change the disc instead of searching to try to find what I want from a stick. Manufacturers don't listen to customers. We want our CD players back in our cars. A copied CD can sit in the heat and if it gets screwed up we just burn another. I never take original CDs with me in the car, so I can just copy it again. However, it is not a problem now as they didn't give me a player, just MP3. Not everyone wants to play from their phone or a memory stick. They very nearly lost the sale as there was no CD player. All I can say is "Thankfully cassettes is a thing of the past" 8 tracks were ok, but they always changed track in the middle of a song, couldn't they have rearranged it so it didn't do that, or left a quiet bit on each track? Anyway, biggest problem with them was the players were to big and so were the tapes, I suppose the life of the tapes were not to good either. It is a shame Mini Disc didn't take off and make it into cars, they were a nice size to store in out ever shrinking storage space in out modern cars!

[@davidpinfold852]

Minidisc didn't take off in the US but it did quite well in the UK until the ipod trashed everything else in its sight. I had a Sony unit in my car and it was far better for mobile use than CD. But for convienience loading my Samsung Galaxy with evrything in flac & linking Bluetooth Audio is pretty unbeatable.

[@BoB4jjjjs]

@@davidpinfold852 Interesting you should say that, I only knew of one person that had one! But yeah, I can see how MP3 would have impacted on them. They were very big in Japan though.

[@grass519]

nice bell on that diode.

[@cortessarge5399]

Good job sir

[@sreetips]

Told to check with you about getting my Sony RX100 VI camera repaired, any suggestions? Or should I scrap ? Thank you,

[@12voltvids]

I know NOTHING about digital cameras and it is going to stay that way.

[@BURTBROWN]

I have a NAD 5340 - very similar to this one. Skipping tracks and within tracks themselves. I'll change the belt and that might help!!! Now the one thing you didn't tell us was what was the greasy lube you put on the gears - I'd like to do that while I have this thing open!!! Also, I live in a very small town far from any place that would have belts. No more Radio Shack... How should I measure and then find online the proper belt size - there are few numbers on the laser unit? I do have a slide micrometer - I suppose I could use that and order a slightly smaller belt - Any good places you know to get belts? GREAT VIDEO - VERY HELPFUL!!!! MANY THANKS!!!!

[@sand0077]

I've a NAD 521i cd player that needed the laser replaced and now functions as it should except there was a squealing noise coming from the chucking clamping mechanism. Trying various attempts at resolving the issue, I found it was coming from the top cap where the magnet is attached to. By sanding smooth with 320 down to 600 grit the internal area of the plastic where cap and magnet spins, it corrected the problem and spins without the irritating and intrusive noise. Just thought I'd pass that along should you encounter the same issue.

[@JasonTHutchinson]

It probably would have been a good idea to a timing mark on the cam gear before removing. Then it would have gone back together the same as it was from the factory.

[@12voltvids]

It only goes in one way. No timing mark required.

[@JasonTHutchinson]

@@12voltvids oh that's good. With the position switch, it would have been hell without it.

[@pliedtka]

Deoxit in the bottle... , hmmm. And sometimes spray some into the motors to clean commutator. It may not like the 80min CD-R just like my old Sony, no problem with 74min as it was the pitch standard for the tracks. No, the transmitter, sh.. I would wrap the thing into copper foil.

[@patrickjmorgan]

Yes, good to see the Cat back in action , Dave! How are you doing ?

[@12voltvids]

I'm doing fine. That cat, not so well.

[@patrickjmorgan]

@@12voltvids Fingers crossed :-(

[@THOMMGB]

Hi Dave, Thanks so much for this video. I've got a Goodwill purchased NAD CD changer, model 5170 that still works perfectly. It was part of a whole NAD rack mounted system that had just been put out for sale. When the time eventually comes, I'll be able to watch this video to gain some insight on how to service the CD player. Question - How often is the laser diode the problem? And, how easy are they to replace?

[@12voltvids]

Laser diodes will eventually get weak. The most common fault is not the diode, it is contamination of the optics which occurs when you permit smoking in the area where the cd player (or any optical drive for that matter) is used or stored. The same thing happens to the smokers too. They die younger.

[@THOMMGB]

@@12voltvids Thanks for the information on the laser optics. Is it a simple matter of cleaning the laser lens and the laser diode to make things right again? Or, is it more involved?

[@stphinkle]

Never heard of NAD before. Never seen it in stores before. Is it like a boutique brand or some kind of higher end brand for audiophilies, educational, or institutional markets? Is it a white van brand? I am curious.

[@jtfoto1]

Many NAD models were above middle ground and some were very high quality. Definately not white van.

[@davidpinfold852]

NAD are a very well respected brand & still in existence. The 3020 amp is a legendary choice & punched well above its weight despite its modest 20wpc rating.

[@12voltvids]

Higher end than your typical Sony, technics, pioneer, kenwood stuff. British design. They are now part of the lenbrook group that also makes very high end PBS speakers and are headquartered in Canada. I don't know where they manufacture their current equipment. It is designed in canada now. There were a few years in the 90s that the quality dropped when they switched from japan to china for manufacturing, but after lenbrook took over from what I understand they changed factories. Lenbrook took over in the late 90s as far as I remember. Other high end brands are also back now. Dynaco and Haffler are 2 high end brands back in the spotlight and they manufacture these ones here in Canada. Port Moody BC to be exact. A new dynaco ST70 is on my wish list. It may be there for awhile though as my old tube amp just keeps chugging along. (McIntosh 1600)

[@jasejj]

@@12voltvids I wouldn't go that far. I'm not sure what their market position was in North America but in the UK NAD were fairly bargain basement but decent. No worse but no better than Kenwood or Pioneer's mid-range stuff. Tended to sound well but the build, and design was a bit mickey mouse at times. They made their name with the 3020 amplifier, a very cheap Taiwanese-built (Tatung) device that scared a fair few old British manufacturers by demonstrating that good design with cheapo components and build could result in a decent show.

[@hubzcaps]

got a powrr envalope amp made by them. pretty solid amp

[@phd3333]

First of all, I am addicted to your vids. I rarely consider jumping at Patreon but if you have one let me know. In your opinion, do you think there is appreciable audio differences between playing a CD through a desktop computer and playing one with a dedicated CD player like your NAD? My computer is connected to a Rotel integrated amplifier and sometimes it's just easier to pop a CD into the computer CD ROM drive as opposed to dropping it into my Teac five CD player. By the way, my Teac is going through my NAD preamp/power amp combo. I love NAD.

[@12voltvids]

I do have patreon however I don't really promote it. I have a few supporters and they are appreciated but nothing like the promise that patreon tells us we will get. When I release patreon only content and let viewers know I have released exclusive content there I lose subs. www.patreon.com/12voltvids Playing a CD on your computer vs a CD player will depend on how good the D/A converter is on your sound card or main board. Some are very good, comparable to the best CD players.

[@zx8401ztv]

Sanyo lol, there is nothing wrong with there chips, why it was covered is anybodys guess. D to A conversion snobbery maybe :-D I've never been able to get the max writing speed stated on any disk/burner. i also found the slower deeper coloured disks seem to keep the data good for longer.

[@12voltvids]

Yes the dark, lower speed disks are better for longevity. I have some that were done in early 90s that play perfectly. I should do a video on old CDR disks.I have a box of old CD-r disks that I picked up years and years ago and never used. I use them for special projects where I want the data to last a long time. Mostly these days for photo storage. CDR has lasted far longer than USB stick. I have a 128 gig USB stick that was loaded full of music. It was the one I used in my first gen volt. When I got the second gen, rather than use up a USB port that I need to use with my phone for maps to display on the car screen, I put all the music on an SD card. The usb stick was sitting on my desk. I went to do a demo of a media player, and plugged the stick in and nothing there. Plugged it into computer and it can't read it either. Says it needs to be formatted. Have tried multiple ways to get data to read and nothing there. Good thing I have all my music backed up on CDR, DVD-r and even onto a few BD-R disks, as well as multiple hard drives.

[@zx8401ztv]

@@12voltvids the first thing i would have done with that usb stick is run a disk editor and see if the boot record sectors are there, and look later on for data. if all the sectors are unreadable then its likely the controller is dead. I'm sure you did all that and more, I don't give up easy, i can't see you giving up without a fight eather.

[@natanpierce495]

Many people who purchase NAD know this. NAD ALWAYS had other component manufacturers to help keep cost down. Even the new 2020 NAD turntable 588, is made up of Project parts and components. The reasoning again, is NAD has always made lower priced components with a higher end attraction to have some awesome no frills audiophile equipment for budget conscious basement prices (sort of). I have a full rack of NAD from the late 80's through the 90's...still works, still kicks ass. My power envelope kicks the walls in with 300 watts. No way could I get that in any other system (Carver, Macintosh) without paying thousands.

[@cubinn149]

If u wanna reguce electric interference try plug it into a line conditioner should help

[@philipnelson8909]

Sold a ton of these I the day it amazes .me NAD 3O20 Amps still as popular as with lid off looks a bird nest design But tons sold most CD PLAYERS had little aggro They went all out to emulate Yammy gear

[@PAL-MUSIC-1]

Great video.. 🙏 i have a NAD 5220 CD Player, the Audio output is very quiet, and when I turn it off I still hear a light crackle noise?? any ideas thank you 🙏

[@derekhellmann515]

I purchased the exact same player in '89. It has been working great. Only recently sent in to repair as one channel fades out. Would you know why one analog channel fades out?

[@larryjohnson297]

Before watching your videos I unplugged the laser for a CD player I am working. What should I do before reconnecting it? I should have watched first Thanks

[@sreejeshtm1]

I have bad 5235 it's not producing sound output but disc reading properly when I touching the spinning disc I am getting randomly clicking sound from speakers ..it's showing some reading error or somthing ..where I need to check further I already cleaned the lens

[@inamurato]

On some videos like this your voice moves across the right and left channels :)

[@12voltvids]

It is recorded in stereo.

[@jeffrey2xtreme195]

Hey I have a dvd player the plays but randomly skips it can be a brand new dvd and it will skip was wondering if the laser mechanism needs lubricating but what can you use on it? Do you think that is why it's skipping?

[@algray2544]

I picked up a nakamichi mb-10 for $ 20 had to adjust track gain

[@cubinn149]

Kitty agrees it works

[@tonyperek7292]

Do cd’s go bad after awhile.? If so what happens to them.? That NAD CD player is nice.i like a good single play CD player.

[@12voltvids]

If you do dumb things like stick labels on them. Treat them with care and they last forever. Scratch the laquor coating on the top surface and you are asking for trouble.

[@Synthematix]

How hard would it be to add your own coaxial digital output to a player like this that has none? and damn, this has no protection over the mains input, would have thought they would have added at least a plastic cover

[@francescocanora860]

which grease lubricant is it?

[@thomasroseman575]

Are you interested in repairing a receiver for me thanks

[@12voltvids]

What is it?

[@thomasroseman575]

@@12voltvids a denon avr-x 4100 turns on but no sound or video at all

[@thomasroseman575]

Is this something you will fix?

[@brianprager8050]

I have a brand new one... although it sat in a box for a year before I set it up. Doesn't play. The display says "loading" forever. If you put any CD in, it loads for a full minute, then displays "TOC error" on all discs. A complete waste of a machine. Very disappointed.

[@12voltvids]

Brand new? No that would have been 40 years ago. New old stick is old. Old electronics break used or not. It needs service.

[@tacofortgens3471]

The Cat 😂😁👍

[@StillCloser]

Another brand busted with Sanyo parts... Ahaha

[@12voltvids]

Not surprised here at all. Sanyo is one of the major component manufactures. For dac there was basically sony, Philips sanyo and Toshiba. You were buying your parts from one of them.

[@jasejj]

@@12voltvids NAD were always closely related to Sanyo. Most of their gear, tape decks, CD players, receivers all Sanyo, either direct or via Tatung, which used mostly Sanyo solutions. Fact is Sanyo components were no worse than anyone else in terms of reliability, regardless of the guff stated about them on the Internet.

[@natanpierce495]

Not true entirely. NAD ALWAYS had other component manufacturers to help keep cost down. Even the new 2020 NAD turntable 588, is made up of Project parts and components. The reasoning again, is NAD has always made lower priced components with a higher end attraction to have some awesome no frills audiophile equipment for budget conscious basement prices (sort of). I have a full rack of NAD from the late 80's through the 90's...still works, still kicks ass. My power envelope kicks the walls in with 300 watts. No way could I get that in any other system (Carver, Macintosh) without paying thousands.

[@StillCloser]

@@natanpierce495 I know that "300 Watts" - I have one, the NAD 3100PE rated 60 Watts RMS...

[@waynio67]

Supposed to be top of the range NAD unit, made by cheap ass Sanyo! Audiophiles in the u.k. are going to have a fit! 😂😂

[@natanpierce495]

Not true entirely. NAD ALWAYS had other component manufacturers to help keep cost down. Even the new 2020 NAD turntable 588, is made up of Project parts and components. The reasoning again, is NAD has always made lower priced components with a higher end attraction to have some awesome no frills audiophile equipment for budget conscious basement prices (sort of). I have a full rack of NAD from the late 80's through the 90's...still works, still kicks ass. My power envelope kicks the walls in with 300 watts. No way could I get that in any other system (Carver, Macintosh) without paying thousands.

[@helthuismartin]

Very very cheap crab.

[@erikpizzica]

Nicely done ! But working on equipment that's still plugt in is not something someone should do unless it is absolutely necessary !

[@12voltvids]

Why not? It's all low voltage on the secondary of the transformer.