What would you do?

Right, the S300 is dead.

Right now I'm seriously considering jacking the whole deal in. Sell all the kit off, pay off some debts, etc.

Or I can carry on bashing my head on the S300 to discover, after days more work, that it really is dead.

Or I can pay someone a vast amount of money to fix it for me.

Or I can get what I can for it and spend that on whatever lo-fi I can afford with it and live with that.

What would you do?

 

I know it's easier said than done but:

Don't give up, the S300 is a superb piece of engineering, great sound, save it !

Cheers

 

If I were you I'd give it a few days before doing anything - you don't want to make decisions potentially representing a pretty decent amount of money while (understandably) in a highly p*ssed off state of mind.

I'd be approaching Lenbrook and seeing what the likely prospects are - I suspect I'd probably bite the bullet and cough up the cash for a repair, which would cause me less distress than being parted from my S300 would.

 

isaac,
you'll get a fraction of what it's worth if you sell it. to be honest i'd get something cheap - the emporium has some cheapo technics gear in their cheap grunge section - and keep plugging away at the nad as a background project. you';ve certainly got access to the knowledge and equipment to be able to fix the thing eventually.
the other option is to do a cookie for a while and just enjoy the music and not the hi-fi.
it's tempting as when you're financially better off you'll be able to experience that rush of getting on the ladder again.
cheers


julian.

 

Sell it all if you really need the money, after all, it's only hi-fi. If you don't really need the money it'd be daft to sell it all since you'll only end up buying it all back again when your finances are better.

-- Ian

 

I agree with Ian and Julian, you'll get a fraction of what it's worth if you sell it broken (if you manage to sell it at all) so just get something cheap in the interim until you either have the cash to get someone else to fix it or time to fix it yourself. Unless you really need the money I wouldn't sell.

Why not build yourself a gainclone amp? You're more than up to the job.

Michael.

 

Isaac, as you know, its worth more for the bits [Toroids, case, heatsinks etc] than you will get for it knackered. Off the top of my drunken head, somewhere I've got the bits for:

A Turner studio amp - 100s of watts, in bits during a house move ~ 15 years ago.

Guitar amps - Vox, Hiwatt etc..

A Pioneer A400 in bits during another move

A Sony DAT - only needed a motherboard battery CR2032. In bits due to move from Bristol to Leicestershire

I have a [working!] Audiolab 8000LX somewhere you can borrow long term - as long as I get my easier job soon. Then I can start to use all the damn stuff I've got lying around.

As for the NAD, put it in a cupboard. Is it the bias circuitry thats stuffed, and therefore re-destroying the output stages? Or a DC servo? You need the time to pull all the high current/voltage feeds, or test eqpt like a variac, or maybe just another person to look with you.

 

What £££ are you looking for? PM me if you still want rid.

 

Send it back to Lenbrook for full inspection and quote.

Then you will know what the situation is.

Personally I would persevere but then I'm a Nad fan.

Stick with it and hang on for the long run.

 

As others have said, you'd only get a fraction of the price for a broken amp. Take a look at it in a few days, in a calmer state of mind you might even discover what's wrong with it. Get a cheap s/h amp for the time being, if you can't borrow one for a while from a friend.

 

Bummer.

Buy a Sony S Master

Simplicity!

ATB Isaac

 

Isaac,

I had a NAD S300 in the past... definitely I would try the Rotel RA01...

Better still, buy the cheapest Rotel power amp that you can find and put a pot in it for volume control...

 

I would echo the other post above,( corr if you can't fix it, who can, even so, its the time and hassle....)

...I would send it off to get a quote for repair first, then you will have a much better idea, before doing anything else
I speak from empathy, I have had a few things go wrong and its horrible trying to sort them out. It really kills your enthusiasm totally, and seriously pisses you off.

 

That would get me lynched.

BD - I have owned a rotel power amp with a passive pot on the input in the past (it's called the RA-971mkII). Whilst phenominally good for the money, the S300 is a more capable amp to my ears. Whilst I'm sure you'll not agree, that's fine, but don't turn this thread into yet another bloody argument.

 

Don't worry Isaac... just want to say that Rotel power amps don't have tone controls, pre-outputs, headphones inputs, tape circuits, balance, etc...

Power amp with a pot for volume control is a different thing... and a much better one too.

 

I reckon you should try and get something cheap and cheerful, or borrow something, and carry on playing with your Nad(s!) ooer. I'm sure when you're in your new place, and everything isn't quite so stressful you'll find time to sort it out. I've got a Rotel Receiver from the 70's you're welcome to borrow, you could collect it whenever you're only 20 mins away. It needs phono to din plugs which I could lend you, and f-plugs for the speaker cable, which I'm sure you could get from Maplins. It's been sat in my wardrobe as a little project, I'm putting together a cheap system for the father-in-law but that could easily wait, I'm not going to be able to afford a decent CD until after Christmas. That'll keep you going so you can decide what you're going to do.
No way should you give up, that would be too depressing

 

Well id go with the get something cheap n cheerful to tide you over until you can find out whats wrong with the S300 and be able to make a more informed call. I did this whilst my Quad 77 was out of action. I got a Technics SU A900 MKII for 50 quid. And was stunned at how good it sounded for 50 squid. In fact currently due to circumstances the quad is stored and im using the Technics! (never thought id hear myself say that) A decent power amp with a transformer volume control would be good.

 

NAD amp

Agree with Hifikrazy and others, as long as you're not desperate for cash: get a cheap but good second hand amp as a stop gap. Give yourself time to catch breath and recover some motivation, then allow yourself to sort the NAD out unhurriedly. I'm running a Pioneer A400 on a bedroom system - my GTE version of it has just broken - and the bog standard A400 bought for £75 sounds amazing in my setup IMO.

Good luck with sorting the NAD if you decide to keep it.

 

Build a Gainclone. Cost is less than £100 and when compared to Carpchasser's Rotel we both felt it was better.

 

Denon DM-31 or... if you want to spend a bit extra, Linn Classik?

Are you sure your not just in a bad mood though? I've said things like that before when I've been feeling pissed off - dont do anything you'll regret bud!