5 year old Receiver worth fixing? (1 Viewer)

[JerryMa]

My NAD T762 inexplicably stopped outputting Dolby and DTS audio a couple of weeks ago. I've played DVDs and HD DVDs on two different players (digital optical) and an X-box 360 (analog connection), and the receiver isn't able to output proper sound anymore. Stereo music is fine, however.

I contacted them about the issue and long story short, am looking at spending nearly 30% of the purchase price just on shipping costs (to an authorized service center) and evaluation fees. This is before I even find out what's wrong with it and decide if the repair is worthwhile. (I'm assuming I'll get hit for return shipping from the service center.)

Even if the service center pays for return shipping, the cost of getting it repaired could still keep the overall cost at 30% of what I paid for the receiver 5 years ago. My other option to get it fixed is taking it somewhere locally, but not an unauthorized service center, and hoping I find someone who can solve the problem. But in either case, how much more usage can I expect to get out of the repaired unit?

I wonder if I should just cut my losses and get a new receiver (not sure if I'm going to trust NAD again, though).

 

[Yee-Ming]

My view is at 30%, definitely get a new one.

Another consideration: do you need the new hi def formats decoded, and/or HDMI inputs? If so that really seals the deal, doesn't it? And even if not, at least you'll know when you finally get a BD player, your audio side is ready.

Recently, my 6-yr old Marantz SR8200 was dropping its front left channel. The sub input didn't seem to work either. Since I recently got a PS3, I figured it was time to bite the bullet and I bought a new SR8002. Although ironically the front left of the old Marantz got working again later, so now I have an otherwise perfectly usable receiver lying idle...

 

[JerryMa]

Since my initial post, I e-mailed NAD about the issue again and they gave me the location of a repair center that I can actually get to. Why they didn't do this the first time is beyond me, but at least they gave me a reasonable answer this time. I'm thinking of bringing it in anyway, to see what's wrong with it. But even though my layout will be less, I'm still leaning toward a replacement.

I own an HD DVD player (bought at a big discount post-format war), so yes, I would like to take advantage of the new sound formats. At 5 years old, and with the flaws the 762's left the factory with, I'm definitely concerned about reliability (above and beyond past typical NAD issues) and the remaining useful life of the receiver. And just because I don't have to spend over $200 on shipping, doesn't mean a potential fix won't cost a bundle. Of course, like you, I might also find myself with an inexplicably resucitated receiver at some point!

But yes, I agree that I might as well go with a new unit. Especially since there are some interesting models to choose from that have nice features for much less than brands like NAD.