NAD 5120

It was something of a surprise, to be frank. When NAD introduced its 5120 turntable in 1981, the brand’s stock was very high – the 3020 amplifier was unassailable and they couldn’t make enough of them. Typically, it would find itself partnered with a Dual CS-505 turntable and a pair of KEF Codas, and used this way it made a very nice noise indeed. NAD however, naturally wanted a piece of that market and for this precise reason the new 5120 turntable was born…

Selling for £109.95 in the UK on launch, it stunned everyone – albeit not for the right reason. Whereas the 3020 amplifier had been a little innovative but not too wide of the mark, the 5120 really was far out. Not only was it engineered it quite an unusual way, with obvious cost-cutting, it was clearly the ugliest turntable on sale at the time. A sea of plastic, it sported an ugly grey plinth of odd proportions that half-enclosed the deck and made using it a far less pleasurable experience than a Dual.

In hindsight though, the 5120 wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it was at the time. For starters, it had an independently sprung subchassis – which for a cheap, light turntable can only be a good thing. Indeed, it was unheard of at the price – and more expensive to make than a non-sprung Rega, for example. Its suspension used leaf springs as opposed to the more conventional coil springs, so needed no set-up. The fact that it was made behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, gave it the ‘bouncing Czech’ soubriquet…

The platter was a wafer-thin 1.5kg alloy affair with a thick rubber mat. It was driven by slow speed synchronous motor via the plastic subplatter , with 33 and 45RPM speeds. All this seemed pretty conventional though compared to the tonearm which was basically a piece of veroboard (or circuitboard), with four contact pins at the bearing end which meant you could interchange the arm assembly (rather than the headshell)! The floppy arm went against the orthodoxy of the day but was very interesting and NAD designers had obviously thought hard about how best to do it given the price constraints. The counterweight was underslung below the arm end stub, in line with the cartridge, and the weight itself was isolated to reduce resonance. An Ortofon OM10 was fitted as standard, which was a perfectly decent budget cartridge.

The deck has aged surprisingly well. The suspension can get stiff , and those plastic side panels are easily scratched, but otherwise little goes wrong – and belts are still available. It sounds unexpectedly good too – not quite Rega Planar 2 territory but not far off. Indeed, it’s fair to say that it sounds way better than you’d expect it sound given its plug-ugly looks! It’s smooth, reasonably speed-stable and has a surprisingly large and spacious soundstage. It certainly doesn’t disgrace itself next to a Dual CS505.

It finished its life in 1986 selling for £129, with a different and more conventional tonearm [pictured]. It was changed because the original was putting customers off – for aesthetic reasons rather than sonic. These days, used NAD 5120 turntables sell for pennies – £30 should get you a minter. They are unloveable, yet seriously under rated as a record playing device. They’re ideal for a second (or third) turntable however, and will really make that bedroom system sing!