Traditional NAD styling and reproduction of sound.

No remote

Thoroughly enjoy the sound produced by this simple player. I've heard worse from more expensive units. I use it in my bedroom so a remote would be nice, but I can get by without it. Used with 1979 Sony TA-F3A and B&W 302's to produce a detailed but not harsh sound.

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NAD 521i, other Marantz and Sony players.

Sound quality; design

Basic functionality

Great player; looks good and has a warm sound.

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Yamaha, Denon

good sound, never skips, reliable

sometimes you get a click at the beginning of a track, non-programmable, no remote control

The only real disadvantage is the loud click that you hear at the beginning of a track sometimes. The overall sound-improvement over my Pioneer cd-player (which was more expensive than the NAD and broke down after 4 years) is stunning. The fact that it's non-programmable was a bit of a bummer but now I finally play my cd's from the first till the last track instead of zappping like crazy :)

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Denon, Pioneer, JVC

Good detail, very balanced sound though a bit lacking in the bass department.

reliability, CD skips sometimes, very sensitive to movement around it.

For the price there are very few otehr players out there which can match the NAD when it comes to good tonal balance and a taste of the high end. Though it does have its good points the NAD also suffers from reliability problems. I managed to get rid of the CD skips by placing it where there is no breeze and also on a good rigid stand. It's been 4 years now and the NAD is starting to give a few problems like skipping tracks and not reading the CD. This can be caused by a worn laser which is normal. Another bad thing about the NAD is its limitations when it comes to upgrading. There is no digital output so you can't do much. I've trued to do a few mods under the cover such as replacing the power supply caps with Philips caps and adding bypass caps to the ned of these. I've also replaced the output jacks with gold-plated ones. I';ve changed the power cord and added an IEC connector. I've changed the feet and added car wheel bearings to each foot. So far all these mods have brought significant improvements to the sound and I hope to upgrade the transport soon.

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Marantz CD-63

Loud click through the speakers at the beginning of tracks on some CD's, not onothers. Anybody else get this? Very listeneable otherwise.

I bought a 510 as part of my first foray into Hi-Fi. I'm a happy guy. I haven't had any of the problems I've heard about with 510s or 512s, and have been pleased with the sound, which, like the NAD 310 I bought, seems very neutral. Good recordings sound better than I've heard them sound before, but poor recordings have little room to hide. I recommend the 510 to anybody on a budget. It's clean, simple, and sounds fine. Now, since it's being phased out by the 522, you can find one cheap.
Give it a listen.

I heard good reviews from NAD CD players so I decided to get one. I saw that the NAD 510 CD players were on sale at a bargain so I immediately bought one.
When I went home, I listened to it with my Rotel integrated amp and Tannoy M2 loudspeakers and was quite satisfied until after about 35 minutes, the sound quality degraded. I could hear hissing on my speakers. I checked my speakers and amps and found out that my new CD player was defective. I confirmed the problem and it seems that when the CD player is playing after 35 minutes, the problem comes back. When you turn it off and let it cool down, the problem goes away. I immediately returned it to the dealer for a prompt replacement. I was not able to test the replacement since I was in a hurry, but when I tried to turn it on and played my fave CD, I was horrified to hear that it gave a very poor sound and when I touch the CD player case, it gave a humming sound...poor grounding.

I had enough of NAD, I returned it and had it replaced with a Pioneer CD player. The Pioneer CD player never gave me a problem.

I like the *look* of NAD gear. Fashion hath burned me once again. Since purchasing my NAD 510 in 1996, it's been in the shop 5 times with the same problem. It mutes for a split second at random intervals. The unit is now out of warranty and the only help NAD is offering me is replacement with a b-stock refurbished unit. Needless to say, when the *new* unit arrives at my doorstep it will be on eBay faster than you can say Not Another Defect! (NAD)
It still looks cool and simple, too bad it doesn't play the same.

I will be test driving Rega, Marantz, and Audio Research this spring.

In the beginning of this year, I decided to buy my very first hi-fi equipment. My old good-for-nothing philips midi stuff broke down, so I thought: I might as well do it good.
The store I went to did not have a lot of choise in my price class. He had a Rotel 930 and a NAD510. I listened to them both on a Rotel amp (RA931). When he removed the Rotel and hooked up the NAD, half of the sound disappeared. The sound is very flat, almost dead compared to the Rotel (that I bougt, together with the amp.) I know half an hour is not enough to be able to judge a cd player, but the difference was there. It is still better than your average sony cd player, so I rate it with....

Price Performance

None

This is the best CD player for the money. I bought this player about four years ago and never had a problem with it. Simple to use and great sounding.

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