NAD C520 CD Players
NAD C520 CD Players
[Sep 28, 2001]
Jon Arenson
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Sharply defined musical passages, great S/N ratio providing clear bass and very clear highs without shrillness or that irritating digitalized white-out sound of highs on most CD players found at this price range.
Weakness:
Won't play some CDR's but who gives a sh*t? The factory made CD's sound the best anyway. The NAD C520 replaced a 7 year old Sony changer that needed to be put down. Immediately after installing the C520 I was impressed with the clarity of the sound reproduced on all of my CD's. The rich, full sound coming out of my Bang and Olufsen Beovox S35 loudspeakers reminded me of how good my LP's sounded some 15 years earlier with a new Audio Technica AT130E cartridge on my late Sony direct drive turntable, now replaced by a 1980 vintage Technics SL-D2. The muddiness and distortion plaguing so many of my CD's using my Sony changer disappeared, and I heard passages on songs I'd never heard before and so clear, and also so well-defined. Nick Drake's remastered LP's are so life-like as are Paul Weller's solo albums. My early Beatles CD's are really sharp now and so are my Zombies' remasters. Even trashy 1980's era synthpop (New Order, Human League, Gang of Four) sounds great even though the music is still pretty awful. I really enjoy listening to CD's now with the C520. Previously, I preferred LP's but the warmness and the precise reproduction of the C520 has given my ears a new treat. I even have no more need for my Audio Control Equalizer as the C520 needs no help there. My receiver is a vintage 1980 model year Yamaha Natural Sound CR220 at 18 watts/channel @ 4 ohms. The NAD C520 paired with the Bang and Olufsen speakers and my Yamaha receiver made my great, low-budget, high- end sounding, but aging stereo system Leap Greatly Forward into the 21st Century (the British NAD player is made in the People's Republic of China folks). And after installing just basic (goal here is great sound without a Bill Gates pocketbook) Monster Interlink Junior cables to all the components and Monster XPHP speaker wire with gold-end cables, the sound REALLY got cleaned up for less than a $100.00 hit for the new cables and wire. The end result of the cabling upgrade was no hiss, pops, buzzes or any loss of signal when playing the NAD C520 even at very high volume. Budget stereo owners take note. It really does help the sound to get rid of those cheap cables and speaker wires and just replace them with Monster Cable, even the 100 series and XP speaker wire. At least those frayed wires and bent RCA connectors won't be there anymore to detract from your expensive gear's potential sound you're probably not getting, but can easily get. What an awfully good buy this NAD player is! I got another C520 for $129.00 on a close out special and a friend absolutely loves how it sounds, replacing his crummy Sony player also from the mid-90's. Overall, the C520 just sounds so clear, rich in all frequencies, and paired with my components that are vintage 1980, the C520 provided the greatest upgrade I could buy without trashing any of my present components or dropping $1000.00 for another receiver that I thought was the culprit. Wrong! My CD player was the weakest link. Not with the C520. As with your LP's the heart of the sound is the stylus and the bit/laser is now with your CD player. The NAD C520 is a rare find indeed. I've since bought a 2nd C520 and I'm looking to get another. What an awesome sounding player and a really cool, almost Bauhaus design and so wickedly simplistic, hiding behind that dull looking cover and funky blue output meters is a very high-end player with the latest in sound reproduction for your CD's for under $200.00. Deservedly a Best Buy and probably the best player for under $300.00 you will ever get to hear. NAD, not found at Best Buy, WalMart, Circuit City or at Sears. Similar Products Used: Sony CDP -C225 CD Changer (1993 era dinosaur). |
[Aug 18, 2001]
Grant
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Crisp and clear sound, minimalist looks
Weakness:
Random skipping After reading the reviews on this website and in magazines, I decided to buy a NAD C521 CD player (which has replaced the older C520) to partner my NAD C350 amp. I did have some reservations after reading some of the above reviews, but I was assured that the NAD C521 had some significant improvements on its predecessor, in that it had a sturdier transport and was more tolerant of damaged CD's. |
[Jan 27, 2001]
Mike
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
simple, uncomplicated design This is the third NAD cd player I've tried over the past two months. A NAD 513 (a 3-disk player) and then a NAD 522 were purchased as refurbished and demo units, respectively, from a dealer. Both were returned (without incident) as defective--the 513 tray mechanism jammed; the 522 would not play at all. The c520 was purchased new. Its sound output is fine, but the unit itself emits an anoying high-pitched tone. This noise does not come throught the lines, but from the box itself. It is not a mechanical sound, and it doesn't matter if a CD is loaded/playing or not. It is an electronic noise of some sort that is present whenever the unit is powered up. While the noise is not very loud, it is discernable when the system volume is low and the listener is close to the CD player. This is not tolerable, and given my experience with the other two CD players, a third strike against NAD. I will seek my money back and look into purchasing another brand. My low scores are influenced by overall disatisfaction with the quality of the other NAD products described above. Similar Products Used: NAD 522, NAD 513, magnavox changer |
[Jul 13, 2001]
Zeeman
Audiophile
Strength:
Price to win, an invitation card to the High-end world. I have to agree with the gentleman 'aks' for his comments posted below. It was really a bias judgement for the quality of this player from the enthusiast 'Mike' since he evaluated those refurbished or demo NAD's units that he purchased. Severe faults of those NADs may seriously disservice to other consumers who are skimming the ratings to get an idea about the sonic performance of this player. It's performance might not up to par. Similar Products Used: Krell Transport + Krell D/A, Pioneer HL-5 Transport + ds/d D/A, Marantz CD-17D, Rotel RC-971/xLC Clock + Muse D/A, Rotel RC951...etc. |
[May 20, 2000]
Mingaud Frederic
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
makes music an enjoyable experience
Weakness:
no programming functions, no remaining track time After buying a DVD player (Toshiba 2109) I needed a CD player who could read CD-R and make a difference with my old Denon 800 (13 years). |
[Jun 05, 2000]
Carlos Villarreal
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Nice sound from the reader, specialy for the price.
Weakness:
Takes a few seconds to register whe you put a cd. Poor transport platoform though no problems so far. A good choice if you are into getting the best sonic performance for less than $300, but i,m afraid of its reialibility. Similar Products Used: Denon cartridge, Sony caroussel |
[Mar 07, 2001]
aks
Audiophile
Strength:
outstanding high-end entry unit
Weakness:
--- This player is an excellent introduction to high-end CD audio. The one-star review below mine is regrettable. The author of that review acknowledged that two of his 3 NAD's were purchased as refurbished or demo units. To severely fault NAD for the performance of such units does a serious disservice to other consumers who are skimming the ratings to get a sense of the overall sound quality of this product. |
[Jan 12, 2001]
Mike Iconis
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Looks, clarity, functionality
Weakness:
CD tray is somewhat flimsy..but who treats their gear rough? I had a full NAD setup being put together, so I went and listened to the NAD players to make a decision since they obviously do not skimp in any area. The C520 was setup at my local hifi shop, being used to demo some Meadowlark Kestrels with a full NAD setup as well. The setup blew me away. Granted these are $1500 speakers, but the source was what was clean too. With $1500 speakers you would most likely hear the difference between a crappy recording and a quality one. This is a nice clean cut component just like the rest of NADs lineup. I don't know what it is about the gray, but I love it. Looks great on my rack. Similar Products Used: Sony 5-Disc Changer from 1990 (AKA:TRASH!) |
[Jun 10, 2000]
Adam
Casual Listener
Strength:
Price, quality, sound
Weakness:
Little slow at loading cds I just got a c520, c740 reciever, and hooked them up to a pair of paradigm mini monitors. So far, the cd player sounds great. Definately much better than the sony and technics stuff I used to have. Similar Products Used: Somy, technics, denon stuff |
[May 26, 2000]
Willis
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Smooth sound, excellent price.
Weakness:
Error correction, no programing ability. I have really enjoyed having this CD player in my system. It replaced a 7 year old Sony unit. Basically I would describe the sound as smooth but detailed. It dredges up a lot of detail without giving you that nasty, grainy, digital sound. My only complaint is that the error correction does not appear to be as strong as on my Sony. The NAD is more likely to skip on a scratched or dirty disc, although this has not been a major problem (just an occasional annoyance). For the price the NAD C520 offers very good sound (as do most NAD components). I don't regret buying this, even with the new formats potentially on the horizon. I enjoy listening to my CDs much more now than I used to. Curiously, I noticed the most improvement on older CDs that I previously thought sounded really nasty. Similar Products Used: Sony, Technics (can't remember model numbers). |