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!

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.

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

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!

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Pioneer, Aiwa, Denon

My system:
NAD 524 CD Player
NAD C320 Integrated Amplifier
Tannoy Revolution R1 Speakers (bi-wired)
Cambridge Audio Pacific Interconnects
Gale (something) cheap speaker wire.

I bought this system two months ago after listening to several different CD players, speakers and amps. The only player that came close to the NAD 524 was the Cambridge Audio CD4SE. A Marantz CD67MkII (same price) and Technics SLPG490 (cheaper) were not in the same league; the Marantz in particular sounded very dead.

The system took about a month to burn in but when it did ... wow! The sound of the NAD is superb with all kinds of music (rock, classical, jazz, blues). It has plenty of detail, good dynamics, and no nasty surprises. It has the sort of sound that you can listen to for hours on end day after day (and I have). The Cambridge CD4SE looks hideous but at £50 cheaper is worth a test, as it also sounds great.

The NAD sports a 24-bit DAC. How that improves 16-bit sound, I'm not sure. Out of the box, the whole system sounded a bit dull (and had me worried), but over time it has really started to sparkle. This could have been any component, probably the speakers, though. The 524 has gold-plated contacts, a coaxial digital output, remote control, and a NAD link connection for use with other NAD gear and a system remote. Other than that the features are sparse, but who uses them anyway?

Matched with the NAD C320 and Tannoy R1s, I'd do it over again. At a recent concert, I was astonished at how close the live performance of Brahms Symphony No. 4 my system came ... and it's only a "budget" system.

If you're interested, I paid IR£250, that's about 317 Euros, US$340. (The NAD C320 was IR£220, and the Tannoy R1s, IR£200.)

all

none what so ever

"The mutts nuts"

Similar Products Used:

rega

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.

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

display nice but not very readable in direct sunlight

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.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz CD-48, NAD C540, some Denon stuff