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Seeing advice. Purchased a 2nd hand integrated amplifier. First steps before connecting speakers.

Alex Santos

Alex Santos

New Member
Hello

I purchased a used integrated amplifier that I will pick up from the seller come this weekend. I could give you the specific model but I am more interested in learning what you all consider as generic first steps before turning it on and plugging in speakers. In my specific case, the integrated amp is about 15 years old.

What are your suggestions? Thank you!
 
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Alex Santos said:
..I purchased a used integrated amplifier ..I am more interested in learning what you all consider as generic first steps before turning it on and plugging in speakers.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming it's the NAD you mentioned in your thread from last week?

https://www.audiokarma.org/forums/i...tial-vintage-integrated-amp-purchase.1021238/

I assume you purchased a working unit? if so read the owners manual and the instructions prior to turning it on.

https://nadelectronics.com/product/c356bee-stereo-integrated-amplifier/
 
When I buy used equipment intended to power speakers, I always check for dc offset on the speaker outputs before connecting speakers. I use a cheap, Harbor Freight digital multimeter set to the lowest dc voltage scale and measure across each channel at the speaker output terminals. Anything under 50 mV dc is good for me to connect my speakers and a source.
See https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/amplifier-distortion-dc-offset-and-you.5634/

I then turn on the equipment and see if it smokes. If it powers up as I expect, I play music.

If I buy a newer, digital piece of equipment, I do as Dswankey suggests, with a mind to looking for the reset instructions. I like to reset processor controlled equipment to ensure any DSP or other functions are returned to factory defaults.
 
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For solid state amps I just plug it in and turn it on to see if it lights up , or blows up.
If no issues, then i connect a cheap pair of speakers to it and run a signal into the aux input, then the tuner, then the other channels, finally a TT.
 
@RTally, I am intrigued. I will check out the link. @Dswankey, correct, a NAD C236BEE - decision was based on one of the chaps here on the forum who had some favorable things to say about it in terms of the quality of sound. I trusted his review.

Lots of great advice from all of you. I apologize but the title of the post should have been seeking not seeing advice but I found not way to correct it.

Thank you all very much. Great community, proud to be a member.
 
Hi Alex. You can click the "Report" button in the lower left corner of your original post and ask a mod to edit the threat title.

For new old amps, I second RTally's suggestion of testing DC offset at the speaker outputs. Using expendable speakers for a while is also a good idea, before connecting speakers you care about. I have one amp that never stabilizes and will rise beyond 100mv, at which point I shut it off and put it back in the project queue. Another good thing to do would be remove the cover and do a visual inspection. There could be a lot of dust, animal droppings, or about anything really including burned components.

Similarly, although you did not ask, before hooking up new old speakers, check DC resistance across the input jacks to ensure the value is reasonable, i.e. not shorted. I failed to do that once and blew an amp. Those speakers both read 0.3 ohms (I discovered too late) because the woofer voice coils had some weirdness going on.
 
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Don't forget the all important sniff check! Burnt silicone has a unique odor that lasts a long time. I like to put my nose to the grill, especially if the unit has warmed up, and take a long slow sniff over the whole grilled area. If it smells like burnt silicone, it warrants a reject or a closer look. It could be the remnants from a previous repair, but that is extra information that could be useful in negotiations.
 
As a few have mentioned, check dc on speaker terminals. I just finished fixing a Nikko NA-590 amp but not before it put 37V into a cheapie speaker that a multimeter could have saved. From now on it's dim bulb test and multimeter check on anything that is 'new' to me.
 
Hi folks, having a Portuguese background I thought I would play back some Fado as my first album.

The amp sounds very nice. I auditioned at the seller's house and all was well there. It doesn't sounds as good as my Audiolab 8200A but it might not be a fair comparison as the Audiolab 8200CD, which served as a DAC was a real performer. The 8200CD has some short that keeps blowing a fuse. I have to ship the 8200CD to the UK for a repair and firmware upgrade. Anyway, without the 8200CD DAC I am relying on a Macmini 2018, Apple Music lossless and the MP input on the NAD C326BEE, mini jack to mini jack analog. Not the most ideal connection but it still sound is very nice. I don't know if I have aged, well I have but maybe m ears have aging on the accelerator but I remember my 7240PE sounding a tad warmer, somewhat more musical (whatever that might mean). The 7240PE is in pieces right now but that's another story.

I still have to pull out the multimeter and run the test on the speaker output but for now I am pretty content.

Oh, the nice thing I did discover about this NAD is that the warranty stickers are intact which gives me some confidence that it was never touched inside which I guess is some peace of mind. The guy who sold it to me was also very much into audio equipment as he had a fairly well kept collection of gear. He lived in a small apartment so I don't believe the amp ever had a rough party life or neighbors would quickly show disagreement.

Well, with that I will leave another Fado album by António Pinto Basto.

See you around the forum and thank you for your advice and help.
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