[r3nd0]

@fish1050 It might help to recognize NAD is a longstanding manufacturer of audio goods on quite the opposite spectrum from these headphones. You don't just email expecting service direct on actual hi-fi products. This is the sole domain of the retailer who effectively placed a large markup between distributor and customer. As suggested, try an importer or someone who can operate in a professional capacity on your behalf.

Also if you bought the last of any good in the warehouse at discount pricing it stands to reason some element there within was B stock held back in reserve for warranty or demo or corporate donation or... purposes.

@oldmate NIB or new to you? If the latter they were, ahem, reconditioned to a less striking aesthetic by a sympathetic party. I like to think by making them so easy to drive they moved at least one extraneous box away from the outlet and onto your head. <<< Had to be made with the HP50 in mind.

 

[fish1050]

@fish1050 It might help to recognize NAD is a longstanding manufacturer of audio goods on quite the opposite spectrum from these headphones. You don't just email expecting service direct on actual hi-fi products. This is the sole domain of the retailer who effectively placed a large markup between distributor and customer. As suggested, try an importer or someone who can operate in a professional capacity on your behalf.

Also if you bought the last of any good in the warehouse at discount pricing it stands to reason some element there within was B stock held back in reserve for warranty or demo or corporate donation or... purposes.

@oldmate NIB or new to you? If the latter they were, ahem, reconditioned to a less striking aesthetic by a sympathetic party. I like to think by making them so easy to drive they moved at least one extraneous box away from the outlet and onto your head. <<< Had to be made with the HP50 in mind.

Well it took me all of 5 minutes to find out I could get replacement earpads for by B&W P5S2's from B&W.

I sold high end audio gear for 15 years so I understand the market very well. B Stock can't be sold in retail packaging and it must be identified on the box as well and it should be listed as such on the website. B Stock will typically come in a plain box. I have purchased alot of B Stock audio gear over the years, receivers, CD players etc.., got some great deals and they come with a full warranty usually, they all shipped in plain white boxes. The stuff you get off of online auction sites is typically B or even C stock

Both my pairs came in sealed retail packaging with all the accessories also sealed and unopen. So they were most definitely a full retail purchase. I sold alot of headphones and have owned many. If the earpads are replaceable which the HP50's are then this information should be readily available on how to get new ones, cables as well. Many electronics manufacturers will partner with parts suppliers to carry parts replacements for them.

If I was trying to make a warranty claim because of defective earpads then I can understand the 20 questions. But I simply want to know if I can purchase!! not receive free replacement earpads. Many headphone manufactures make after sales revenue on things like replacement earpads and cables like Bowers and Wilkins and Audio Technica do for their headphones. Kind of a no brainer if you ask me if you sell products with parts that wear out. B&W charges $54 CDN for the P5S2 replacement earpads and $17 for replacement cables.

 

[Blackmore]

Well it took me all of 5 minutes to find out I could get replacement earpads for by B&W P5S2's from B&W.

I sold high end audio gear for 15 years so I understand the market very well. B Stock can't be sold in retail packaging and it must be identified on the box as well and it should be listed as such on the website. B Stock will typically come in a plain box. I have purchased alot of B Stock audio gear over the years, receivers, CD players etc.., got some great deals and they come with a full warranty usually, they all shipped in plain white boxes. The stuff you get off of online auction sites is typically B or even C stock

Both my pairs came in sealed retail packaging with all the accessories also sealed and unopen. So they were most definitely a full retail purchase. I sold alot of headphones and have owned many. If the earpads are replaceable which the HP50's are then this information should be readily available on how to get new ones, cables as well. Many electronics manufacturers will partner with parts suppliers to carry parts replacements for them.

If I was trying to make a warranty claim because of defective earpads then I can understand the 20 questions. But I simply want to know if I can purchase!! not receive free replacement earpads. Many headphone manufactures make after sales revenue on things like replacement earpads and cables like Bowers and Wilkins and Audio Technica do for their headphones. Kind of a no brainer if you ask me if you sell products with parts that wear out. B&W charges $54 CDN for the P5S2 replacement earpads and $17 for replacement cables.

I sent an e-mail to our local NAD importer with request that I need assistance to fix my HP50 and after 2 business days I got reply from local dealer/shop with all need it forms and description what to do. Next day, I sent the package to their service center and next day they fixed and sent back, so, whats the issue? Later, I visit same shop and order original pads and while it took a bit longer than fixing HP50, but thats because they dont sell such article/item that often and they were out of stock, can happened, so all good. I dont think Canada will be that far from Holland regarding same service, but I dont know, so, why dont you try to do same and tell us later?

 

[fish1050]

I sent an e-mail to our local NAD importer with request that I need assistance to fix my HP50 and after 2 business days I got reply from local dealer/shop with all need it forms and description what to do. Next day, I sent the package to their service center and next day they fixed and sent back, so, whats the issue? Later, I visit same shop and order original pads and while it took a bit longer than fixing HP50, but thats because they dont sell such article/item that often and they were out of stock, can happened, so all good. I dont think Canada will be that far from Holland regarding same service, but I dont know, so, why dont you try to do same and tell us later?

Well I live in Canada and NAD is a Canadian company so I tried to contact them directly. Again you had a repair issue so you went through the steps for a repair. I just want to BUY some extra earpads so it is different. The dealer I bought the headphones from does not stock replacement parts for NAD headphones, hence the need to contact NAD directly.

So it only took 5 emails back and forth before they finally figured out what I am asking.

I don't understand though why a Canadian company requires me to call to the US to request parts?

The response if anyone else is interested was:

Hello Fish1050,

Sorry for the confusion. If you didn't want to make a warranty claim, you can contact our parts team in North America for replacement ear pads.

Please call our parts team at 1 (800) 263-4641 ext. 4201. Their office hours are Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

You can also e-mail the Parts Department at parts-usa@lenbrook.com who will be happy to assist you with availability and pricing of your parts request.

When placing your parts order, please be sure to include your model number, address and daytime phone number for accurate pricing.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Best regards,

Janaghan‍, NAD Support

 

[Blackmore]

Well I live in Canada and NAD is a Canadian company so I tried to contact them directly. Again you had a repair issue so you went through the steps for a repair. I just want to BUY some extra earpads so it is different. The dealer I bought the headphones from does not stock replacement parts for NAD headphones, hence the need to contact NAD directly.

So it only took 5 emails back and forth before they finally figured out what I am asking.

I don't understand though why a Canadian company requires me to call to the US to request parts?

The response if anyone else is interested was:

Hello Fish1050,

Sorry for the confusion. If you didn't want to make a warranty claim, you can contact our parts team in North America for replacement ear pads.

Please call our parts team at 1 (800) 263-4641 ext. 4201. Their office hours are Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

You can also e-mail the Parts Department at parts-usa@lenbrook.com who will be happy to assist you with availability and pricing of your parts request.

When placing your parts order, please be sure to include your model number, address and daytime phone number for accurate pricing.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Best regards,

Janaghan‍, NAD Support

Not sure, but seems you missed the point. I ordered pads from local shop where they sell NAD headphones. My repair request went through service center of that shop directly. So, if you have any local shop you can step in and order pads, just do so, done. And like I wrote, it took a while, think 2 weeks, before they called me to pick up the pads, but still you can order them and no need to ask NAD directly.

 

[r3nd0]

OK, I get it that you aren't a budding enthusiast with a lack of real world experience. Normally these types of frustrations are the domain of European and Asian companies with very ingrained business practices that don't mesh with the expectations of consumers in a world economy. I'm struggling to think of another NAD product with a similar amount of units sold or call for infrastructure to deal with after sales needs. Obviously at least one of their competitors is better at this side of the business.

The term B stock was used loosely. Not expecting it was being used in reply to someone who once existed within the industry. Again, and you are being a bit feisty about this, without doubt you are aware of hard realities pursuant to running manufacturing changes, raw material quality, training, etc. and so on. That known slightly inferior product was sold at a large discount following product line discontinuation, and sale of all other stock, is not in the least deceptive or otherwise reprehensible. Your earpads obviously passed QC yet there are signs they hadn't perfected the process of construction.

So far as acquiring OEM user serviceable parts at this juncture. High stated demand and low manufacturer stock or interest in continued maintenance are not uncommon. Keep at it with a renewed sense of calm and purpose or put it aside for awhile and then reexamine the situation afresh. What the US "service portal" tells me (So it should have absolutely screamed at someone with a decade and half in high end electronics retail) is they contracted a specialist company in the US to handle an unwanted business segment and moved all requisite physical goods to their warehouse. Sucks, but you should have ordered before last call if you wanted the exquisite service and personal attention normally on offer.

 

[oldmate]

NIB or new to you? If the latter they were, ahem, reconditioned to a less striking aesthetic by a sympathetic party.

They were brand new and you have no idea as I don't think you even own them.

Does anybody else around here know if they have changed the headband for the HP50. Like I said the Frankenstein look has gone and it now closely resembles the headband of the HP70 in shape.

 

[fish1050]

Not sure, but seems you missed the point. I ordered pads from local shop where they sell NAD headphones. My repair request went through service center of that shop directly. So, if you have any local shop you can step in and order pads, just do so, done. And like I wrote, it took a while, think 2 weeks, before they called me to pick up the pads, but still you can order them and no need to ask NAD directly.

No I got the point, the only dealer with stock on NAD HP50's in Toronto where I live is the store I bought from and they don't deal with replacement parts for NAD headphones. That was in fact the first thing I tried before going direct to NAD which is also what the dealer told me I had to do. As you can see from my last post I finally got a response from NAD but it took 5 emails back and forth to get the proper answer. So I actually did exactly what I was suppose to do it just took way to long to get a proper answer.

Not sure when you bought yours but the HP50's have been discontinued by NAD for awhile now at least in Canada. That's why the deal I got was so good they want to rid themselves of the HP50 inventory. When something is discontinued I like to get my hands on spare parts simply because you have no idea how long parts will be available.

 

[Blackmore]

No I got the point, the only dealer with stock on NAD HP50's in Toronto where I live is the store I bought from and they don't deal with replacement parts for NAD headphones. That was in fact the first thing I tried before going direct to NAD which is also what the dealer told me I had to do. As you can see from my last post I finally got a response from NAD but it took 5 emails back and forth to get the proper answer. So I actually did exactly what I was suppose to do it just took way to long to get a proper answer.

Not sure when you bought yours but the HP50's have been discontinued by NAD for awhile now at least in Canada. That's why the deal I got was so good they want to rid themselves of the HP50 inventory. When something is discontinued I like to get my hands on spare parts simply because you have no idea how long parts will be available.

O.K. fair enough. I got my years ago and to be honest, had no idea that HP50 are discontinued already, so, I just checked online at that shop I wrote about it and indeed, they do have HP70 only.

 

[fish1050]

O.K. fair enough. I got my years ago and to be honest, had no idea that HP50 are discontinued already, so, I just checked online at that shop I wrote about it and indeed, they do have HP70 only.

Yeah I was quite disappointed when I found they were discontinued. I was really hoping NAD would refine the design over time and release a newer version. I thought about the HP30 at one point but never got a chance to try them and most reviews said it was not nearly as good as the HP50.

 

[sov73811]

I found these pads on Amazon while on a quest to find less sweat-inducing pads for the Takstar Pro 82 and these pads are probably the closest to stock sound for the HP50. Not perfectly stock, but the closest to the dozen or so hybrid fabric pads I tried:

https://www.amazon.com/Krone-Kalpas...nt/dp/B07N6GL2PG?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_19071835011

 

[r3nd0]

They were brand new and you have no idea as I don't think you even own them.

Of course not. One simply makes an account solely to post in a single thread years past prime interest. My location is in fact so remote I've never even heard music.

Or I happen to be well placed to comment and reasonably knowledgeable on these headphones. Which scenario is always at issue with certain well established types on the internet.

With fairly strong assurity let me reiterate that after being discontinued all the oddball stuff goes out the door. That very well may include someone at the factory delivering the wrong box of parts to the line (HP70) and a few with non-standard headbands snuck through. On the upside you are probably old enough to appreciate not being called a square in public.

As they say, pics or it didn't happen ; )

 

[oldmate]

I've emailed my local distributor about the headband but as you can see it is different.

 

[fish1050]

I've emailed my local distributor about the headband but as you can see it is different.

Interesting because the headbands on the 2 pairs I bought seem more rounded to me compared to pictures of the early model first released. Though not as curved as yours but, somewhere between the original and the one in your post . I noticed the HP70 has a traditional curved headband so perhaps in the last HP50's NAD released they decided to go more to the HP70 style headband. How do you find the comfort and seal with the curved headband?

On another note I have found that although it looks strange or stranger at least if I push the headband back to the flat crest on the back of my head the flat part of the headband sits very comfortably in place. There is no longer a pressure point on the top of my head which is the case when I sit them further forward. It also seems that this position gives the best seal and best long term comfort overall especially when wearing my glasses.

 

[oldmate]

How do you find the comfort and seal with the curved headband?

I'm finding that it's harder to get a seal this time around as the pads/cups sit at an angle with more pressure at the top of the ears than than the bottom. I don't recall having this issue with the Frankenstein headband. I'm thinking they may have used the same upper headband frame as the HP70 which makes sense from a manufacturing point of view.

I'm still waiting for an answer from the local distributor and NAD re this change.

No mention of this headphone being discontinued on the aussie NAD website.

https://nadelectronics.com.au/product-category/headphones/over-ear-headphones/

As for the sound well, it's pretty bloody good.

Oh yeah, if anyone needs new drivers for these you can get them here;

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ori...acement-Repair-Part-for-HP50/32847944151.html