NAD T531 DVD Players Reviews

Octagon

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.17 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This unit is basically a cheap Malaysian made LG unit with some Burr-Brown D/A convertors and wrapped in NAD grey... Although the sound quality from this unit is ok - solider bass than others in the price range, the picture quality suffers from the dreaded CUE bug & the build quality is low. I emailed NAD numerous times about the CUE bug with the MPEG decoder (C-Cube Ziva 4.1 based I think) but they did not acknowledge the problem. Pause any scene with strong primary colours on a black background and look at the edges/lines produced - uurgghh!

Strengths:
Sound: Solid bass Menu's: simple & easy to naviagate

Weaknesses:
Picture: Chroma Upsampling Error (CUE) Sound: Wierd imaging Build: Poor

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This review is for the T532 which has progressive scan. I have my player 3 weeks now and it is officially broken-in. The sound is dynamic, accurate and fast paced in both DVD and CD modes. There are dedicated CD players that cost $500 and sound about the same as the T532, but I wanted my player to be a DVD/CD single disc unit. For $500 I think NAD gives you great quality DAC's and just enough features to satisfy most. I have a modest set-up for now as it's a work in progress. My receiver is a 12 year old Nakamichi and my only speakers are a pair of Monitor Audio B2's. The first DVD I played was The Lord of The Rings new release "The Two Towers". It's a mainly dark movie with an incredible soundtrack and great special effects. The T532 gave me a clear, defined and precise colored picture. The zoom and other effects worked flawlessly. The blacks were black and the whites were white. As far as ability to give you dynamic theater-like sound, even with my 2 speakers, the T532 was supperb. Deep bass and expanded sounstage with very dynamic mids and detailed highs without being harsh.

Strengths:
Ease of use, Sound quality, Video quality and Burr Brown and Cyrstal internals.

Weaknesses:
None

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Richer Sounds

Summary:
I purchased the NAD on the advice that it was one of the best sounding AV systems for stereo music, as that was going to be its primary use. The machine is especially good for complicated and fast heavy rock, such as System of a Down (Simply has to be played loud!). Having said that, the amp still sounds pretty amazing in its full 5.1 glory, breathing new life into my DVD collection (its nice to reap the benefits of DTS at last!). Action scenes have real impact while softer parts remain subtle. I have coupled it with the equally musical NAD T531 DVD Player. As far as speakers are concerned, the main driving force is a pair of Eltax Liberty 5+, a Gale Centre 10, and some small but loud Panasonic speakers from my old all-in-one DVD system that are to be replaced as soon as my wallet allows.

Strengths:
Excellent for music and movies alike, simply millions of inputs, "no gimmicks" functional design, good remote.

Weaknesses:
Limited features (basic Dolby Digital and DTS only).

Similar Products Used:
None really of my own, except for a Panasonic all-in-one 5.1 system.