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Strange NAD turntable...

My friend had a flat arm NAD.

It was ok but nothing more.
Many years later, I bought the same deck but with the revised "normal" tonearm. It was only a little bit better.

I replaced it quite quickly with a Revolver. Massively better and the same price I sold the NAD for.

@gerlando if it was me, avoid and find a nice Revolver or AR EB101. Not expensive and better tactile feel than some plasticky Duals.
 
Mr Pig said:
No, after the disappointment of this turntable they approached Rega, who put a NAD badge on a Rega turntable for them. And you have a deck which sounds genuinely good.
Click to expand...

Yup, a mate has one of those. From memory they fitted a composite platter in place of the glass one but it was still a great value deck.
 
IIRC that 5120 featured strongly on the "grid" Sevenoaks (or maybe AudioT) had in all the magazines in the 80's - turntable/amp/speaker combos starting around £249 or so w/Rotel Amp and Goodmans Maxims I think.
 
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Mr Pig said:
No, after the disappointment of this turntable they approached Rega, who put a NAD badge on a Rega turntable for them. And you have a deck which sounds genuinely good.
Click to expand...

And yet now NAD offer the C558 and C588 which are made by Pro-Ject.

Funny how things come full circle!
 
wow&flutter said:
From memory they fitted a composite platter in place of the glass one but it was still a great value deck.
Click to expand...

Yes, the platter was MDF, which did kill the sound a bit, but the rest was pure Rega. The arm was an RB250 and the plinth was thick like the Planar3. There was a time when you could pick them up very cheaply but too many people know what they are now.
 
Mr Pig said:
Yes, the platter was MDF, which did kill the sound a bit, but the rest was pure Rega. The arm was an RB250 and the plinth was thick like the Planar3. There was a time when you could pick them up very cheaply but too many people know what they are now.
Click to expand...
Was the plinth laminated? The platter would be easy to replace.
 
of that lil' NAD 5120> I'm from the other side of the iron curtain, and at the time this TT was the only 'audiophile' (by design) one available. there were, however, some dealers who imported e.g. Rega, thus, the Planar 2 and 3 were the reference TTs to compare anything to. and what happened was that if you had removed the plastic case with the lid and used the 'skeleton NAD' this way - i.e. the bottom plate with only the suspension, motor, platter, (tubular) arm - it wiped the floor with the Planar 2, and the 3 was really just marginally 'better'. my cart at that time was a Roksan Chorus Black, but those who also tried (it was a common trick then) reached the same result... go figure ;)

there was a more extreme tweak, too, that is, to remove even the bottom plate and sit all the mechanical parts on a plywood slab instead. this TT did better the Planar 3 all the way at a fraction of its price :)
 
coltrane said:
of that lil' NAD 5120> I'm from the other side of the iron curtain, and at the time this TT was the only 'audiophile' (by design) one available. there were, however, some dealers who imported e.g. Rega, thus, the Planar 2 and 3 were the reference TTs to compare anything to. and what happened was that if you had removed the plastic case with the lid and used the 'skeleton NAD' this way - i.e. the bottom plate with only the suspension, motor, platter, (tubular) arm - it wiped the floor with the Planar 2, and the 3 was really just marginally 'better'. my cart at that time was a Roksan Chorus Black, but those who also tried (it was a common trick then) reached the same result... go figure ;)

there was a more extreme tweak, too, that is, to remove even the bottom plate and sit all the mechanical parts on a plywood slab instead. this TT did better the Planar 3 all the way at a fraction of its price :)
Click to expand...
Must have been that substantial main bearing, employing NAD's patented JFAQ* technology.

NAD-5120-TT-2.jpg


* Just Fits a Q-Tip.
 
coltrane said:
of that lil' NAD 5120> I'm from the other side of the iron curtain, and at the time this TT was the only 'audiophile' (by design) one available. there were, however, some dealers who imported e.g. Rega, thus, the Planar 2 and 3 were the reference TTs to compare anything to. and what happened was that if you had removed the plastic case with the lid and used the 'skeleton NAD' this way - i.e. the bottom plate with only the suspension, motor, platter, (tubular) arm - it wiped the floor with the Planar 2, and the 3 was really just marginally 'better'. my cart at that time was a Roksan Chorus Black, but those who also tried (it was a common trick then) reached the same result... go figure ;)

there was a more extreme tweak, too, that is, to remove even the bottom plate and sit all the mechanical parts on a plywood slab instead. this TT did better the Planar 3 all the way at a fraction of its price :)
Click to expand...
That reads like a review from The Flat Response!
 
coltrane said:
..If you had removed the plastic case with the lid and used the 'skeleton NAD' this way - i.e. the bottom plate with only the suspension, motor, platter, (tubular) arm - it wiped the floor with the Planar 2, and the 3 was really just marginally 'better'.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I'm not believing this. Any of it.
 
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