NAD 6040A Cassette Deck

[Master Tasuke]

Steven (ORANGE) just gifted me this deck. it seems to have belt issues, since it randomly throws itself into AUTO STOP.

it really does WANT to work though, and, when it does, it has a nice, warm sound character that reminds me of the old mixtapes
my dad made throughout the early/mid-80's on his SANKYO STD-1700 before it gave out on him,
and he replaced it with the PIONEER CT-980W dual-well that eventually became my own first component cassette deck.

anyhow, i saw that the main flywheel belt was a little loose and sloppy. i replaced that, and, while it does work slightly better now,
it still likes to trip into STOP. i guess i'll have to see if i can remove the transport, and see if there are other sloppy belts in there mucking up the works.

in any case, it cleaned up O.K. and it seems an unusual design, as there is this 1970's-mechanical TUNER-style thread-and-pulley system
linking a lever on the transport block with a pair of tact levers on the MAIN PCB.

i've NEVER seen ANYTHING remotely like that before, at least on a cassette deck. i wonder what it is all about?

also, captive RCA ICs are usually only to be found on complete system packages of the day, so perhaps this deck was originally part of one?

 

[orange]

John, I believe there are a few threads on this deck on Tapeheads and probably Audiokarma...the service manual is on ebay for about $15 but I have to look at Njord Noatun's site to see if there is a free download available, I didn't see one on hifiengine or Elektrotanya. Now my problem is that Carve It and Dr. Strangelove's files seem to have disappeared from the links on his site? No NAD there.

As you can see, this is a c.1981 deck with Dolby B and HX Pro, a very early model for that. It has piano keys and look fairly straightforward to an old dude like me, and I figured that with your skills it was up your alley and hopefully you could have it finished in time to use for Christmas...maybe to play holiday music for the family.

At the time I talked to my friend to get this deck for you I wasn't sure what my November budget would end up like or I would have asked him to order the manual as well. This is the ebay hit I get for that https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-NAD-6040A-Stereo-Cassette-Deck-Service-Manual-/332803338199

I think I might ask Nakdoc if he has one to share.

Anyway, a small cassette CARE package should follow next month as well, but not as gonzo as the last time, I went nuts with the chromes and especially metals and there were also no name Korean blanks etc, over 50 some, took some time to build up again.

Looking at this closely I had forgotten that NAD stood for New Audio Directions.

Is it possible that the drive might be a Sankyo? Those were a popular choice for some makes back then I think.

 

[Master Tasuke]

what little of NAD i've heard of,
-mostly from 80's issues of STEREO REVIEW i have, as well as a KENWOOD OEM NAD 1986 CD player i saw at a thrift once long ago-
indicates that they never really seemed to be clear about what their brand acronym stood for beyond the early-80's there.

in all, all i know about them is that i believe they were/are a Canadian firm,
and that stark minimalism in overall cosmetics and "Quality-Of-Life" features,
- ostensibly for the sake of bringing maximum basic quality and performance to the consumer at minimum possible price -
has been NAD's coda of business since day one.

though i personally do not care at all for how they like to style their products,
i've got to respect them for their overall mission, and fully well understand why they did things in the way that they did.

it was a noble cause, and one very seldom seen today in any real capacity...

 

[Elite-ist]

NAD stands for New Acoustic Dimension and was founded in London, England in 1972. The company changed hands in 1991 and again in 1999. I have a few older NAD components remaining, and sold a few others. Yup - you have to like the style, but performance-wise they are/were good products in the 70's to 80's.

Nando.

 

[62vauxhall]

I like NAD amplification and CD players. But, in the early/mid 1990’s while employed at a&b Sound, it was an acronym for Nearly Always Defective.

 

[orange]

I got an email today from Tasuke saying that it also helped him to get into the Pioneer CT-S800 he has and HE FIXED IT.

DOUBLE PRESENT.

I knew he had it in him! He's got the skills.

 

[nakdoc]

The 6040 uses a reed switch to detect auto stop, so the solution should be as simple as replacing the counter belt.