The sound quality is good, when the unit is working. The "brain" in my unit went bad after I had owned it for about a year. NAD Service never could fix it. They sent it back to me without correcting the problem. It took several months of correspondence and hassles before I was finally sent a new one. I promptly sold it bought another brand (no more NAD for me!).

This is an aweful CD player. Do not buy under any circumstance. I got mine on sale for 40% off($285 Can) and it's still too much to pay for these things. The stupid drawer design is aweful and I have had all sorts of problems with the player not wanting to play CD's or the display getting all screwed up. I'd give this CD player a -1 if I could. Unless someone gives you one for free I wouldn't even pay 10 bucks for it!

This is an aweful CD player. Do not buy under any circumstance. I got mine on sale for 40% off($285 Can) and it's still too much to pay for these things. The stupid drawer design is aweful and I have had all sorts of problems with the player not wanting to play CD's or the display getting all screwed up. I'd give this CD player a -1 if I could. Unless someone gives you one for free I wouldn't even pay 10 bucks for it!

I have had my NAD 513 CD player for about a year now, and I have never had it break down, or have any problems. I got an additional 6 year warranty on top of the 2 year warranty, so if it does break down, I don't care as long as it gets fixed! The sound is fantastic! Compare any CD player within $400-$900 Canadian price range, and you can't beat it! I even thought the higher versions of the NAD didn't sound as good. Deep, clear bass is excellent, midrange is soft, and very musical, and the treble doesn't pierce the ears like other players! In combination with Bryston, NAD, Nordost, and Paradigm, this CD player sounds beautiful, and should not be in the hall of shame. Those of you who rate it becuase it is slow at changing discs and stuff aren't audio critics! It's the sound that matters, not how many tracks you can program into it! Geez! Get the extended warranty, and this CD player is the best you'll ever hear in the price range. Excellent Product!

I bought my NAD 513 used from an eBay auction, and I've had it hooked up for about 1 month. I had a Technics SL-PD888 5-disc CD changer, but I wanted to try out a player with (hopefully) a more "high-end" sound. It's interesting that both the NAD and Technics players have the MASH 1-bit D/A conversion. Anyway, the NAD 513 sounds GREAT. The bass is noticably more "punchy", and drum snares have more "tingle", for lack of a better word. Some recordings that I previously thought of as "flat" sounding (like 'Huey Lewis/Time Flies...The Best Of' and 'Boston/Boston') now have a more lively, enjoyable sound. I think the disc drawer is handy to operate.
The only negatives (small ones) are that the disc under the laser mechanism always resets to disc #1 when the player is powered on - so you have to open the drawer each time you turn it on to check which discs are where. Also, the 513 does not have a Random-single disc mode, only a Random-all disc mode. Overall, an EXCELLENT player for the money!

The other componments in my system are:
NAD 7240PE receiver
Musical Fidelity X-10D CD upgrade
Monster Cable M550i interconnects
OMC-type speaker cable w/banana plugs
NHT SuperOne Xu speakers
Lovan Affiniti 24" speaker stands

I have to defend this product!There are 2 parts to my review here:
1. This is a fantastic CD Player - in terms of sound.
I bought this CD Player specifically because it sounds so good, and I am in awe of all that I am hearing every time I play a CD on it. I know that my amp (NAD 302) and speakers (AR Classic 5's) play an essential part in this equation too, but I compared the NAD in listening rooms to many other CD players (up to A$1000) and I know without any doubt that (for me) it was clearly the most faithful in its reproduction of the CD contents.
2. It broke down.
Having said all that, I had heard from numerous sources that NAD's are notorious for their breaking down, and I just kept my fingers crossed that it wouldn't happen to me. Well, it did - a few weeks ago (5 months after the two-year warranty expired, actually) my NAD 513 CD Player stopped working. The shop where I bought it (Len Wallis Audio in Lane Cove, Sydney - they are a great shop) say that it needs a new laser and lamps. Apparently this can happen to any CD Player, even the $45,000 ones.
In summary:
Yes, I am very disappointed that this has happened, especially so soon into its life (2.5 years), but I have to say that I would still get the same CD player - the sound quality is so good, and when I listen to music, that's what I want. It's hard to recommend something that may well break down, but give this product a thorough listening to - perhaps you'll be luckier - and your ears will thank you dearly every time you play a CD. So will your heart.

I have had the NAD 513 3 CD carousel model for about 3 years. It delivers smooth sound, regardless of the disc. This even goes for discs which give other players problems in term of tracking.
However...

1) A fuse blew after 1 year
2) The display burnt out after 2 years
3) The player won't display timing info for tracks beyond 20
4) The player won't program tracks beyond 20

In short, although I enjoy the player for simply listening, I simply can't use it for some taping chores which required the timing info. I would not have bought it had I known about its flaws. As many said, a good sounding player when it's working, but...

Well, I'm happy with mine!
The sound is great and interoperability with my NAD receiver is excellent. I'd prefer a simpler and faster mechanism. My guess is that is why NAD discontinued and redesigned this unit. The 5 CD version would be preferable but it was about 200$ more at the time I bought mine. I got it for 220$ from Saturday Afternoon Audio in Chicago as a close out. Overall very good.