The best CDP that NAD has ever produced, way way better than C565 or such. In fact they are totally different class. It's a pity that NAD has dropped the Sliver series, the new M series never had a true CDP.

It has an very obvious "vinyl warmth", but not the veiled "Marantz warmth", I'm comparing with the CD playback of SA17S1, partly because S500i has the comparable micro dynamic and speed of NAIM CD5 I also have. All in all, this player is clean, dynamic and also warm like real instruments.

For the price that could be easily found in the 2nd hand market, one can never go wrong with it. I had my one for less than USD 500, a much easier price than a used Naim CD5.

i have the nad s500i and its the best cd player i have ever had it is by far better than the musical fidelity nu vista 3d and better than the rega jupiter and better than marantz cd94 and madrigal cd players
meridian 508/24

sound is litening fast very very fast an very very musical
pin point instrument location !!
very musical !!
it has the talent to give you te feeling thats vaya con dios is on your lap you hear her breathe !!
alrounde but at his best with focal female music and drum music



yes this is value for the money !!

only thing what is importend is get a good match with your amp

un modified its very good modified its better than wadia audio research better than the whole sony es series swoboda included

when you see this cd player for sale just buy it !!! you cant get wrong but buy the s500 i the i from improvement!!

I once went to a shop to compare this cd player with an opera consonance 2.2 cd player. The shop provided a NAD s300 integrated amp and dynaudio audience monitors (of course cables were absolutely mean). I felt Consonance was way better: more musical, detailed and realistic. But I didn't buy. This silver Nad remained unsold in the shop for more than 4 years. And one day I realized that this player has RCA and XLR outputs as well as a pretty AES/EBU digital output, fitting with my Electrocompaniet ECD-1 DAC. Then It was an outlet. I paid 550 euros (more or less, half the original price). At home I discoveerd that its transport is awful and erratic. it refuses to read some cd's from time to time. The handset is painful too. However the sound is faboulous via good siltech cables , gryphon callisto 2200 amp and dynaudio confidence 5 or proac response 1sc loudspeakers. So I got good sound at a not-so-cheap but still reasonable price. Build is impressive. View gorgeous. There is no SP/DIF digital output

Live performance quality. Amazing detail and soundstage. Much improved bass versus my other S500 even with similar modification. Transparent and lightning quick on transients. Great separation on instruments and vocals.

Why can NAD make a product this good out of the box?

Cost of modification.

This is actually an S500i which had limited distribution in the USA. It has a different transport than the S500. You can see my review of my modified S500. This unit has also been modified by Reference Audio Mods East. The total modification is around $2000. This brings the total cost to a liitle less than $3000. What did I get for this money?
Well this is probably the best $3000 player in the world. The modification is too extensive to list but includes buffer silver wire transformers on the output. Listened to this unit last night with Triangle Celius and Musical Fidelity 308 integrated. This is not my system but it's a quality set-up. It competition was a MF308CR with their X10-V3 buffer stage.
Not even close to the NAD S500i. We discovered details on CD's that we not there on the MF308CR.
It's a 5 of 5 even though it's not even broken in yet. Jaw-dropping good.
Don't sell your S500 units, modifiy them.

This a reference quailty unit at a bargain price.

Similar Products Used:

Krell SACD Standard
Levinson 390s
ARCAM FMJ32
Musical Fidelity 308CR/X-10V3
MF A5

Plays great. Beautiful. Solid.

Kinda picky with some CDs (see review). Ugly remote. To go back to the begining of the track, you have to go back to previous track and then foward...strange!

I can only agree with most of the reviewers here. The sound this machine makes is really enjoyable. This CD Player replaced a NAD 512. I couldn't say I heard a BIG improvement though...Of course, the S500 is a lot more pretty! The only thing I wanted to add that I don't seem to have found in previous reviews is this: this CD is kinda picky. I mean it won't play some Copy Controled CDs (some remastered Brian Eno's for instance). It won't play double-sided CDs like the latest Franz Ferdinand CD (CD on one side, DVD on the other). But I do have to mention this CD player CAN play scratched CDs without any difficulty. Something all NAD CD Players can NOT be proud of! (BTW, I did pay this S500 $135 CDN! That made my day!)

Similar Products Used:

NAD 512 I guess...

Cool Running Live performance sound Super detail

Limited chassis size prevented extended power supply modifications such a new transformer. May use a external PS mod as next step.

I purchased this Cd player on Audiogon and had the unit modified by Reference Audio East. You can see the total modification and review on their web site. In short, this is best CD player I have ever heard. Have had shootouts with some of the best CD Players available, this unit tops them all. To be honest the modifications cost me around $1700 bringing the cost to around $2400 total. Even at that cost ,there is nothing short of at least $10k that is even in it's league. Live performance quality is the key word here. You can't listen to other Red Book players after you hear this unit. Inner detail is amazing. The soundstage is both big and life-like. This is no way like the standard S500product since the entire output stage as been replaced by a xformer output buffer stage. The digital output has been disconnected entirely. The power supply has been upgraded and there is silver wire everywhere. The unit has high end RCA's installed. The best decription of the sound of this player is "live performance". Details sound better on this machine than anything I've heard. Also you hear things you don't hear on any other player. The bass is excellent and detailed. The string and percussion instruments are life-like. Everytime I listen, it's like a live performance. You can hear the hall or studio like no other player I've ever heard. The unit runs cool since many circuits are disconnected. A Class A component. I would recommend this modification to anyone who owns this product. Other equipment NAD S100 Preamp (Also modified by RAMEast) NAD S200 Amp NAD S400 Tuner Dynaudio 1.3MK2 (will be modified by RAM East) Ultima Stands Monster Power HS500 conditioner.

Similar Products Used:

MF TriVista CD Mark Levinson 390S Audio Research CR3 Sony 9000SACD

See previous review

See previous review

Follow-up of my former review : - The model I own is the S500i. - The high-medium / low treble became better (softer) after changing the cables, from Monster Cable 400-mkII to M550i. - There is a very small improvement due to "break-in".

Gorgeous look ; XLR and RCA output ; Extremely well build ; Neutral and detailed

No phone output ; No volume control ; high-medium/treble less "clean", more agressive than my beloved Muse Model 2+ DAC

* A pity that Stereophile doesn't review the best NAD components ! * This CD-player is a bargain now (April 2004), being discontinued and sold at 1/2 price. * High-end Philips VAM-1250 transport * Toroidal transformer, discrete class A analog output, superb case, a jewel * Good but not outstanding sound * Better sound : Muse Model 2+ * Globally equivalent to : MSB Link DAC, Marantz CD-17-II * Better than : Musical Fidelity A3.2, Marantz CD-67-IISE, Perreaux ECD2C, Adcom GDA700 * My "Value rating" is for the new price, +-$800

Similar Products Used:

Many DAC and CD-players, see text

Superb built quality, pretty (and very non-NAD!) design.

Does not sound noticeably *better* than players costing half or even a third; Extended mid-range might not work with all speaker/amp combos.

I auditioned this player in competition with about ten others in the US$600-1,800 range, inlcuding players from Arcam, Myryad, Musical Fidelity, Rega, and T+A. Let mew say first that in 1:1 compairons, with players hooked to the same amp/speaker combo (British KEF Reference 203 speakers and a German ASR Emitter amplifier) with the same cables, and with an adjustment of output level (possible with the Emitter), the differences between ALL of the players were very slight indeed. I keep reading the posts here about players that redefined their owners' musical expericene. But I must say, and I'm sorry to say it: unless you're replacing a 20 year old Philips player with a brand new one, or a $100 performer with one priced at $5,0000 - the talk about VAST differences is just crap. If you don't believe me, compare the players in the manner I did. After that, you'll find that all the junk you read in audiophile magazines is just that: junk. Now, on to the NAD. Its most oustanding feature is its built quality. Don't be fooled by the slim cabinet - this baby weighs in at about 8 kilos and comes with massive aluminum front and sides. It does need a sturdy cabinet - cause it gets really hot during operation, hotter than any other CD player I have ever known. Its aesthetics are very pleasing indeed, right down to the buttons and the cool blue display (for ONCE, a British player that doesn't use the very same display that all the others (Arcam, Myryad, Rega) use!). The weird thing about it is the position of the "OPEN" button. It's second from left, combined with the "STOP" function. Very strange indeed. On the back, you'll find a good seat of connectors, including symmetrical (XLR) ones. But HIFI is not aesthetics, but about sound. And how does the pricy NAD distinguish itself in this most important discipline? Not a lot, I'm afraid. The ONE noticeable difference between this and all the other units (right down to the Arcam CD 73T, which costs about 1/3 of the NAD, and was just as good) is an EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY extended midrange. Other than that, the sound was just as warm, transparent, even-keeled, or whatever, like that of all the other players. That midrange was the reason that I did not like the NAD very much - it didn't work with my KEF speakers, which themselves have an extendend midrange (Be British!). For overly "analytical" sounding systems (like Dynaudio or JM Lab speakers e.g.), this NAD might just tip the balance a little bit towards warmth. And please mind: Just a little bit. Owners of Toshiba TV sets might also take note that your TV remote will also control the NAD, but in unexpected and unwanted ways ;-) All in all, this is a sturdy and pretty player that will perform reliably. Is it worth the extra 1,200 in comparison to the Arcam (or the extra 800 against the Rega, or the 400 over the Myryad 200)? Not really, no.

Similar Products Used:

Arcam CD 73T, Myryad MCD 200, T+A 1230, Rega "Planet", Musical Fidelity A3.2, Shanling S-100, Denon DCD 685, Marantz CD 67 SE, Harman Kardon HD 7400.

Overall sound

The real benefit of this player lays in the overall sound it produces. Some people call it warm, but I strongly object. Such a statement only shows that other players are cold. The S500 has a realistic sound that, for a change, is very powerful in the lower regions. There are some players that are (even) more detailed, but if you prefer to listen to the music instead of the cd player, this one is certainly worth auditing (the style Audio Enthousiast should be changed to Music Enthousiast).
I've never heard such a great piano sound from a CD player, and on top of all of that, this is one of the very few players that sound very good if the (o so honest) Siltech interconnects are attached.
My system: Synthesis Ensemble amplifier, Siltech cables and DIY Scanspeak Reference Monitor Speakers.