Nakamichi CD-400 OWNERS!!!!!

[cmpx2_15_owner]

I've been a CD-400 owner for about 8 months now and I liked it......keyword "liked." Some things I liked about this HU: Sounded better than my previous HUs, looks ****-near stock, has strong pre-outs, ROTARY volume knob, not very bulky faceplate, simple to program and operate, button locations, contrast of display can be adjusted, SOUNDS NICE. Some things that aren't that great on this HU: CD PLAYER, CD PLAYER, and CD PLAYER. It's weird because it just keeps surprising me with cd playing malfunctions. Cold outside....it won't play consistently (plays-pauses-plays...), hot outside....it skips from one point to another. This occurs during 45 degrees F winter days and about 85 F summer days. This defect is ANNOYING and forces me to listen to the AM/FM radio whenever it acts up. Another thing is that the internal amplifier gets HOT within 30 minutes of moderate 1/3 to 1/2 levels. It still heats up drastically when the "AMP OFF" feature is selected. It heats up so much that my CDs feel like they've been baking under the sun when I take them out.....NOT NORMAL. I've mounted a fan below the HU and it sort of helped out, but I don't feel that a noisy 80mm fan should be required to keep it cool. I don't know if other CD-400 owners can relate, but I've noticed all of these things on my CD-400 within 8 months. Please tell me that my CD-400 is just an unlucky one because this HU has features and a nice sound that I just can't find elsewhere. My CD-400 is still warranted for another 4 months, so I will swap it out and exchange it if other CD-400 owners don't have these problems. If others are experiencing these problems.....I don't know if another Nakamichi HU is going into my car. Please post your responses so that I can make a decision.

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[Shugarra 10+ year member]

The only time my Nak had trouble playing was when it was -30f and I just started the car. I didn't ever have it in warm weather so I can't say anything about that. There was one cd of mine it didn't really like but other than that it worked flawlessly.

 

[cmpx2_15_owner]

Anyone else????

 

[cmpx2_15_owner]

UPDATE!!!! I found out why the CD Player is tripping. After a careful look inside of the unit, I noticed that there is an IC (possibly the 24-Bit D/A converter) that is mounted upside down! This is part of the Nakamichi design but it is a POOR design. Reason being: heat goes up, and in this case....the heat generated by the IC gets trapped inside of itself (NEVER GOOD!)because IT IS UPSIDE DOWN!!! This problem is somewhat of a DESIGN FLAW, not necessarily a DEFECT. Nakamichi tried to cool this hot IC down by adding a heatsink plate to dissapate the heat, but an upside down heat generating IC with a heatplate mounted on it only helps out so much. There is NOTHING that Nakamichi can do about this problem, except to redesign the circuitry so that it is mounted right-side up.......I doubt that this will happen!!! So that answers whether or not I will spend $30+ for shipping to and from the manufacture just to have it returned to me 4-8 weeks later with a note stating that THERE IS NOTHING "WRONG" WITH THIS UNIT. However, there is an easier way that I can keep the hot IC cool: adding a cooling fan. Not one of those noisy and bulky computer case cooling fans, but one that fits snugly underneath the heatsink of the IC. I will try to post pics of this operation so that if other CD-400 owners experience this problem....they will have a place to look for answers. BTW, THE SOUND QUALITY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MY OEM UNIT AND THIS CD-400 IS AMAZING!!! THE OEM JUST DOESN'T COMPARE.

 

[ParkRat 10+ year member]

Wow.. I just installed my CD-400 last week. I am simply amazed of the sound quality of this headunit. Seriously...simply amazing. I haven't had any of the issues you're speaking of, but it doesn't get that cold in Dallas. Although, it does get hotter than hell in the summer time so hopefully it doesn't happen to mine. I will be really upset that such a fine headunit has problems like this. I wonder if the 700 has the same issues? Man.. will I be upset. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif I've never been this happy with a headunit before.

 

[cmpx2_15_owner]

I've never been this happy with a headunit before.

Same here, I installed about 6 HUs before eventually using this one. It sucks listening to my OEM right now, it sounds really dull and crummy. Can't wait to mod the CD-400 and put it back into my car.

 

[kappa546 10+ year member]

how do u guys run multiple amps? i kno the 400 only has one rear preout. do u tap the signal? and does anyone know if this affects SQ at all?

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

It affects the voltage if that's what you mean.

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

how do u guys run multiple amps? i kno the 400 only has one rear preout. do u tap the signal? and does anyone know if this affects SQ at all?

The CD400 doesn't have 3 sets of rcas? I thought(or maybe just assumed)

that it did.

 

[cmpx2_15_owner]

how do u guys run multiple amps? i kno the 400 only has one rear preout. do u tap the signal? and does anyone know if this affects SQ at all?

I am/was running a 4 channel and a 2 channel setup from my Nakamichi. The CD-400 has 3 pairs of preouts. A pair of fronts, a pair of rears, and a pair of level adjustable sub-outs, pair meaning Left and Right. As for running multiple amps with one set of preouts, it can be tapped with a pair of rca y-splitters and the voltage level will drop a tiny bit...but you can adjust the gain of the recieving amps to compensate for the drop. This will lower the signal-to-noise ratio of your amps though, and SNR is just a small slice of the pie when it comes to SQ.

 

[taylor 10+ year member]

or you could buy a multichannel line driver

 

[kappa546 10+ year member]

oh.. well i guess i was wrong... so it does have 3 preouts? i was tlakin to someone and they said it had only one and i foudn that very odd.

 

[ParkRat 10+ year member]

It has 3. Just like stated above. It's a pretty simple deck as far as features go ..which is why I like it so much. It has basic controls like bass, mid, treble, sub, etc. It just sounds so **** good. Last night it got down to 36 degrees and my CD player worked like a champ at 5:30am :thumbsup

 

[paikiah 5,000+ posts]

the nak decks here in Korea all seem to have th same problem: pickup malfunction. PLENTY of nakamichi 700 users here, and most of the second hand ones have already had thiers repaired once or twice.

 

[cmpx2_15_owner]

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!!! I installed an ADDA 30x30x6mm 100mA fan directly under the heatsink and fused it to the remote wire. Sorry, no pics to prove that I actually installed a fan. I performed the fan installation Monday and benched the unit for about 2 hours with no pickup problems. Installed the unit into my car later that night and expected a good musical commute Tuesday morning. 45 minutes into the commute, it acted up again!!! A 15 minute increase in playing time, WOW!!! This unit performs flawlessly on the bench BUT suffers from being installed in an automotive environment. I have NEVER experienced this kind of problem with my previous HUs before! I guess it has a bad chip and I will be without it for 4-8 weeks. I will post another update when I receive my repaired unit. 4-8 weeks of listening to my OEM, oh well.