build, sound, independent record/listen controls

display lights burnt out

I have had this receiver since Jan '93. The overall sound is quite good, but it could use a little more treble. It sound's very warm and neutral. The FM tuner is also quite good, picking up most stations. I also like the fact that you can listen to one source while recording from another. Very few receivers at the time I bought it had this feature.

Compared to the competition at the time, this was the best sounding receiver for the price ($500CDN)

I agree that the display is poorly designed, but my lights only burnt out once in 7 years, and I guess I can live with that. Besides this problem, I never had any trouble with this unit, it has performed very well over the last 7 years.

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi, Denon

Warm, laid back sound with adequate soundstaging for the price.

Too laid back, many many bugs.

Well the NAD is adequate for HiFi entry level components in terms of sound. It was able to drive my Thiel CS 2 2 speakers without too much strain.

I, too, have encountered the same problems mentioned in other reviews, however. Displays burn out and power-up failures occur all too frequently. I also found the speaker ourputs to be rather problematic. I have since retired the receiver and I do not plan on purchasing other NAD products. Although the price seemed reasonable for the sound, there are similarly priced, similar sounding, more durable components out there.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Arcam

Good tuner

Bulbs,Bulbs,Bulbs.

replacing the bulbs is easy,its the cost for the bulbs thats hard,when I owned one I was spent about 100.00 for bulbs.thats insane,I would get rid of it like I did.

I have had the 705 since 1993. The AM never worked properly. The panel buttons are patheticaly unusable and, of course, the display has dimmed and often gone off. A tip for owners, when the light goes off don't spend $60 bucks repairing. Give your machine a bang and it will go back on. Did it by accident once and I've repeated the process with success many times, and with my NAD 502 also.

It has a full, warm sound. Better than many similar leading brand name products. It Works perfectly with my Marantz CD-63 mkII and Infinity Reference series speakers. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I am glad to say that reliability a strong side of this product. This receiver is great value for its price.

None so far.

I must admit that I was very surprised to see how low this product was graded. The price-performance ratio of this product is quite high, and reliability, as far as my receiver is concerned, is very good.

Similar Products Used:

This is my first NAD product. However, a friend of mine, an NAD "enthusiast" (whom I did not meet yet at the time of my purchase) has only good things to say about NAD products.

Warm sound. Very flexible. I was suprised to find out that the other reviewers had the problems they have had with their receivers, because I have not had one problems what so ever with mine. It has worked flawlessly since the day I bought it. It drives my Definitive Technology BP8's and BP2's with no problems and louder than I care to listen to it.

None that I have encountered so far and it has been almost exactly 4 years since I purchased it.

I owned a NAD 7240 (I believe, if memory serves me correctly) single CD player which had great sound, so I sold it to my brother and bought a NAD 515 5 Disk CD Player, which I have had for a few years and has worked with absolutely no problems. The NAD CD players have sounded better than the Technics, Yamaha, Sony and Pioneer CD players that I once had in my system. It sounds as though I must have been the exception to the rule, when it comes to NAD reliability, but I will just thank my lucky stars, keep my fingers crossed and keep on enjoying NAD incredible sound. When I bought my receivers, I considered Adcom, but it was too bright and harsh sounding and Rotel was too antiseptic and sterile sounding. The NAD simply sounded the best to me.

Similar Products Used:

I had a late 1980's NAD 7225PE Receiver which I was so happy with that I bought the NAD 705. I gave the 7225PE to my parents and it worked flawlessly until a transistor burnt up, but this was after a lightning storm and about 13 years of reliable service.

Great sound for the money

display burns out

Shortly before the warranty expired the display on this unit burnt out. I wasn't paying attention and as I thought the warranty had already expired I didn't take it in right away to get fixed. By the time I did the warranty had expired. I contacted NAD who said that this was a common problem with this unit (as attested by other reviewers here). I was told the unit could be modified to use a more durable bulb for $100. Was almost tempted to have it done until the display on my CD player (NAD 513) also went out! Come on guys. I own several NAD products (2 power amps, the receiver and the CD player) and have always been happy with the quality and value. These two units still sound great but my wife won't even use them anymore because it's hard to know how things are set. I'll have to think long and hard before buying another NAD product. I used to recommend this company to lots of friends but I feel if they have a known problem like these displays they should offer a cheaper fix. Problems like this can crop up from time to time and most customers understand this. It is how the company handles these issues that determines if customers will stay with them. I'm so far not encouraged. I'd love to hear from anyone who has replaced bulbs on these units themselves. Is it easy enough or should I retire them to the garage? 4 on value for sound, overall 2 due to reliabilty and customer service

Similar Products Used:

Rotel

sound

Unreliable!

Love the sound BUT it keeps blowing the tuner IC (LM7000 if you ever need to change it) It has done it three times now- first under warranty, second cost me $180 to fix, and third $25 (part & freight) to fix myself. Same IC goes each time rendering the tuner useless. Dial lamps blow constantly too. Poor effort for a less than cheap receiver. I'm pretty cheesed off with NAD because my cd player (seven years old admittedly) stopped working recently- the cause was ATROCIOUS soldering which had failed. I fixed at least fifty rubbish joints (I used to be an electronic assembler) including the ones causing the unit not to work. I simply cannot believe that the quality control is so poor or how the player kept working for so long without problems considering its sloppy assembly. Rega products for me next time!

when it comes to hi-fi stero sounds using a 705 receiver and a 505 cd changer the sounds are great it is also cheap.

Great sound. Especially great phono section.(used with NAD turntable)Love that NAD sound- if it didn't have it wouldn't bother...My unit has been used/abused daily for five years.....

Have blown microprocessor twice- from speaker shorting accidentally admittedly.....but protection circuit should protect here... dial lights frequently burn out- replace them myself so no drama. crosstalk between program sources. useless AM reception....

I love NAD products- fantastic sound for the price- if anyone thinks build quality is low for the 705 - wait till you look at the 533 turntable- atrocious!!! BUT THE SOUND IS UNREAL!!!! Guess it comes down to what is most important to you...for me it is the sound- for this reason couldn't be happier!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Sony/Sherwood/Akai amps....none come close on sound quality- Sony more powerful and has blown my tweeters twice- NAD has never blown drivers at all- but can hear clipping even when soft clipping selected....