NAD C 300 AMP + Smoke = :(

DesignerPaul

DesignerPaul

Audiophyte
Hello all, first up I have to say I know very little about audio equipment so please go easy on me!

I have recently been given an amp (NAD C 300) and some (what I'm told are) nice speakers, that had both been working but kept in a loft for maybe 4 years. The plan was to run the audio from my computer through the amp.

I connected the computer (Intel 2 Core Duo iMac) to the AUX input of the amp from its "Headphone Out" socket. I was careful to turn the volume right down on the computer before slowly going to about 50%. All worked great and sounded superb for about 30mins. I turned the volume down on the amp walked away, came back about an hour later and the amp seemed to have turned itself off. On trying the power button the LED next to the power button flashed red but then died. I tried once more and a whisp of smoke came from the amp and died completely, no LED.

So my questions are. Is this my fault? Someone now tells me that I should only use a lineout to connect to the amp as the headphone output will be too strong? I don't think my Mac has a lineout however? What should I have done?

Also is there anything I can do to diagnose the problem? I'd preferably like to have some kind of idea before I take it to repair. Are these things cheap to repair and is it even worth it?

Any help would be much appreciated, sorry for all the novice questions!..
 
H

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Hello all, first up I have to say I know very little about audio equipment so please go easy on me!

I have recently been given an amp (NAD C 300) and some (what I'm told are) nice speakers, that had both been working but kept in a loft for maybe 4 years. The plan was to run the audio from my computer through the amp.

I connected the computer (Intel 2 Core Duo iMac) to the AUX input of the amp from its "Headphone Out" socket. I was careful to turn the volume right down on the computer before slowly going to about 50%. All worked great and sounded superb for about 30mins. I turned the volume down on the amp walked away, came back about an hour later and the amp seemed to have turned itself off. On trying the power button the LED next to the power button flashed red but then died. I tried once more and a whisp of smoke came from the amp and died completely, no LED.

So my questions are. Is this my fault? Someone now tells me that I should only use a lineout to connect to the amp as the headphone output will be too strong? I don't think my Mac has a lineout however? What should I have done?

Also is there anything I can do to diagnose the problem? I'd preferably like to have some kind of idea before I take it to repair. Are these things cheap to repair and is it even worth it?

Any help would be much appreciated, sorry for all the novice questions!..
What did you smell when the wisp of smoke came out?

Any time a piece of electronic equipment sits for any length of time, it should be opened and cleaned, with any dust or spider webs removed (if any).

Connecting the computer had nothing to do with it dying unless it sent DC voltage to the input and that's unlikely. It's possible that a capacitor or resistor went away and it may be in the power supply. If you know of a repair shop, it shouldn't be too expensive to fix.
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
What might these speakers that you are told are nice be?
 
DesignerPaul

DesignerPaul

Audiophyte
What did you smell when the wisp of smoke came out?
Quite hard to describe just had that distinctive smell of something electrical burning.

Maybe more helpful are a couple of photos, not very good I'm afraid taken with a camera on a phone, but shows a big black burnt mark around a small capacitor (it is marked "c 718"):

dl.dropbox.com/u/3454522/NAD1.jpg
dl.dropbox.com/u/3454522/NAD2.jpg


What might these speakers that you are told are nice be?
They are apparently a vintage pair of "Leak Sandwich Speakers" from sometime in the 70's. They have obviously have been very well looked after and look beautiful condition. I'm not sure what thoughts are of such retro equipment but to me they sound impressively clear and true.
 
Rickster71

Rickster71

Audioholic Spartan
From Wikipedia,


The LEAK Sandwich was an innovative loudspeaker design introduced by the English hi-fi company H. J. Leak & Co. in 1961. Harold Leak engaged Don Barlow, who had devised a way of making the cone of the loudspeaker from expanded polystyrene foam sandwiched between two sheets of aluminium foil. This made it both very light and extremely stiff, and correspondingly accurate in sound.

Contemporary publicity photographs show Harold standing calmly on top of one of his sandwich cones to demonstrate its exceptional rigidity. The speaker was innovative in other ways as well and was produced, relatively unchanged, for about 10 years.

The original Leak 'Sandwich' hi-fi speaker was a large two-way system employing a 400 mm (13") low frequency element, with the sandwich cone, cambric roll suspension, and cast aluminium chassis. As was common at the time, the 75mm (3") high frequency unit was a miniature version of the woofer, and was mounted onto the grille assembly, so fitted neatly into its own foam lined cavity on the face of the 60 litre bass enclosure. A large wood block was bolted between the back of the woofer magnet and the back panel of the enclosure, as a structural brace. The crossover network components were attached onto three sides of this block. Since it was designed for use with tube amplifiers, the system was rated at 15 Ohms.

The 'Sandwich 200' model had a 200 mm (8") version of Barlow's foam-and-foil sandwich driver, together with two 60mm (2.3") purple Mylar coned elements, one employed as a midrange, and the other as a tweeter. This smaller model was a great commercial and critical success for Leak, and was produced for some years, and since transitorized amplifiers had become more common by this time, it was rated at a more contemporary 4~8 Ohms.

The Sandwich cone woofer was also used in the later 2060, as the low frequency element of a three-way system.
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Those are some pretty old speakers. I wonder if a crossover problem within the speaker could cause a significant enough impedance dip to throttle the little NAD.

Edit: Reading that most Leak speakers were 16 ohm, unusually high for a home speaker.
 
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top