11 month old NAD c315 BEE croaked...

[j beede]

They sound good and punch above their weight but every NAD integrated amp I have ever owned has failed... Luckily I have only owned a couple. This time I am really disappointed because this little c315 BEE integrated was really doing a nice job in a modest media system--which was a new thing for us.

I had been leaving the NAD in "standby" so it could be turned on/off via remote since the mechanical on/off switch is on the back of the amp and is not convenient to reach in my rack. The amp is less than a year old. Today, instead of turning on and playing nicely it produced low output with heavy distortion for about 10 seconds then shut down with the red LED glowing. After cool down this sequence is repeatable. This model NAD does not have the external jumpers to allow separate testing of the pre- and power amp sections. During the brief distorted output phase I could hear the tone controls working so I believe the preamp section is okay. The L and R outputs both distort. Power supply? I would be happy to do some probing--if I had a schematic.

Anyone happen to know what usually fails from prolonged standby in this amp? Anyone know where I can get a schematic or service manual? The amp has a 2-year warranty but I am the second owner and per the manual the warranty is not transferable.

[eggontoast]

Common failure on these amplifiers are the 10000uF smoothing cans. Take the top off and see if they have leaked or are bulging.

I have repaired a few of these now with these caps failed, also a couple of the smaller capacitors on the LT rails have a habit of drying out so just check for any bulging/vented caps.