karlson

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
For previous "quality" CD players, I have owned from the Sony ES line, Cambridge Audio, and for NAD, the 513 and the 517.

On to the review...The physical appearance of the player is quite attractive. I like the simplicity of NAD design. I also really like the feel of the buttons. The drawer operates smoothly and with reasonable authority. It has some nice programming features and the remote is decent. My unit has no issues playing CDRs but I have not yet tried any CDRWs. Upon initial installation of this player I found it to be less fatiguing than any other cd player I've owned. I can listen to my system at much higher volumes with the NAD than I could with the previous players due to the laid back nature. I would describe the sound of the C524 as laid back in the higher freq. Not grating in any way. I have always hoped I would be able to find a cd player that would "deliver" on Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. I have never found that cd listenable on any cd player, though I love the lp version. "Blue" sounds almost as good as the lp on the c542. Another reference CD is Dire Strait's Brothers in Arms. The 524 plays it with authority and a level of musicality I've never had in a cd player. Wow!

allannoe

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
In a major upgrade round I've hooked this baby up to a Pioneer 906RDS and NAD302 amplifiers and QLN shelf speakers and Jamo Classic 8 floor speakers with biwiring. Both setups with VERY safisfying results. I didn't believe my ears. Details I never heard before opened in the music. Leaving me to re-hear all my cd's. The sound is very open and it is required to hook up to high-end amplifier/speakers or to keep up with this brilliant player. In conjunction with NAD 302 the amplifier was clear the bottleneck in the system as it distorts at louder volumes. With Pioneer 906RDS i can hear very loud and yet so clear music with superbass with no distortions. My highest recommendations on this one!

Strengths:
Almost perfect dynamics Highest resoltion I've heard on a CD-player. Superb treble. Crystal clear without distorting in any way! Harmonic and well-balanced bass and midtones.

Weaknesses:
Bit too sensitive to scratches No CD-text Weak time left function No power on function via remote

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Pioneer, Aiwa, Denon

Price Paid:  $200.00

Summary:
"The mutts nuts"

Strengths:
all

Weaknesses:
none what so ever

Similar Products Used:
rega

Summary:
There are several comments claiming that all kinds of NAD-Players could not handle CD-Rs well. I had to decide wether to take home the C540 or the previous model 524. There is clearly not much different in the sound quality - simply the best in their price-range.
Finally I took the 524. Since then I have played even the modest and cheap CDRs - no problems. I also never had any problems with random skipping etc.
Later NAD told me that the new generation like C520 and C540 actually have more tracking-problems because of the "improved error correction" which might now be too sensitive.
So audition it first with several of your own CDRs...
...if the playback is o.k. their will be definitly NOTHING preventing you from buying these two great players.

Strengths:
very dynamic, clear and laid-back presentation, superb detail

Weaknesses:
display nice but not very readable in direct sunlight

Similar Products Used:
Marantz CD-48, NAD C540, some Denon stuff

Summary:
This is a very good CD-player. You get really much for the money. There's one thing I do not like, though. The Time function on this Compact Disc Player is worse than anything I've ever seen before. You can just see the elapsed time for the current track, or how many minutes/seconds there are left on the record. You can't see how much is left of the track you play. I think it's really stupid that they didn't include that function as well.