GordonT

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Online

Summary:
NAD 533 really opens my eyes to analog playback. Ever since I tried the 533, I sold all my cds and began collecting LPs instead. The 533 sounds so smooth and warm, something cd players don't offer. I could notice improvement to the rest of my audio equipments, power amp & preamp through the music. The 533 comes full manual operation, simple sleek design, Rega’s RB250 tonarm, Goldring Electra cartridge, MDF platter. This combination is perfect for overall sonic reproduction. I would definitely recommend this turntable to anyone who wants to try or get back to vinyl.

Strengths:
Simple design, good image, full manual operation, Rega's RB250 tonearm with Goldring Elektra cartridge, sounds very good.

Weaknesses:
interconnect should be upgraded

Similar Products Used:
NONE

johnie

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.33 of 5, 9.00 votes

Price Paid:  $400.00 from yawaonline.com

Summary:
The first thing i noticed about this deck is that it is small,skinny and light. to me it seemed that it was bigger when viewing it online at NAD. i would prefer a little more weight. also the look of the deck is drab grey formica covered partical board. Now for the money one could agree that these observations are right on course but given that other budget turntable companies like project's "debut" give you the option of several colors to choose from NAD could try a little harder in the design department, however, the NAD 533 is not actually made by NAD. it is actually made by REGA and sourced out to NAD who just puts their badge on it. The second thing i noticed is how light the platter is. it is MDF and just sits on the spindle shelf below it. this is another area i would like to see some extra weight but any heavier a platter or adding a record weight may affect the motors ability to keep consistent speed. the platter is covered by a piece of felt that is not attached and becomes stuck to every record by way of static. The third thing is the relation of the tonearm and the platter. perhaps with a larger/taller cartridge the tonearm may sit more level across the platter ,but, with the goldring elektra cartridge the arm sits to low on the platter causing the Vertical Tracking Angle to be way off. you have to add something extra to the top of the platter to correct this until you reach a level plane. the arm is already high enough the platter seems to low. THE tonearm is an OEM RB250 with nothing fancy about it other than there are several items on the market to buy in the upgrade department. the one thing i would suggest,besides adjusting/correcting the VTA,is to replace the counter weight and arm stubb. go online and enter into the search engine "rega modifications" and check out what comes back. beware.....the more you upgrade the arm the more the table shows its limitations. Earlier i mentioned the motors ability to to maintain correct speed. to check this i have not done anything more scientific than put the NAD up against my classic PIONEER wich uses a rock solid DC motor. the album i used is Book of Dreams by Steve Miller on the second side track two there is a sustained introduction for about 30 seconds and on the NAD it very audibly wavers up and down instead of one continuous steady sound. i found this to be true of other albums where the notes are sustained or decay. i find this very distracting and a disapointment. I know that because we are talking about a budget deck that you end up with a cheap AC motor but i still expect something that relays the music without such obvious problems. the same can be said about the rest of this turntable. With all the uprades and there are MANY available,including a better motor offered by rega,it is real easy to get yourself into debt(read:money pit) over this deck and money being hard to come by you could do better. Some of the smaller things i noticed are cheesy feet that are non adjustable.plastic bendy type hinges for the lid which by the way will cost you 20-25.00 to replace and an on/off switch that causes a harsh clicking sound thru the system when used.watch out for your speakers! I would suggest the consumer look to some other companies like: 1.PRO-JECT by SUMIKO - range/400-1000+ 2.MUSIC HALL - same as above 3.CLAERAUDIO starting at 1000.00 with arm 4.VPI SCOUT about 1500.00 with arm 5.an older table with an s-shaped tonearm , a heavy plater,belt or direct drive and an arm thats adjustable. one thats been well cared for will have many features that at the time were and still are better than the NAD 533 and many other budget turntables. One last word on the OEM RB250 TONEARM. You can see this arm being used by many companies where the deck can cost upwards of a 1000.00 easy. it still needs the modifications to bring it up to speed with those decks. the companies i suggested have given some good thought into the design of the turntable as a WHOLE UNIT working together to bring out the best in your vinyl. A SINGLE TONEARM ALONE DOES NOT MAKE A GOOD DECK. LONG LIVE VINYL!!!!!!!!!!

Strengths:
the OEM RB250 tonearm,it comes with a GOLDRING ELEKTRA cartridge.

esobeso

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $340.00 from HiFix Coventry Engla

Summary:
This is just an amazing deal. I don't know how to describe the pleasure of using this turntable. All I know is my feet were tapping and I REALLY enjoyed playing my old vinyl.After hearing this baby I wondered if my CD player was broken. My wife said that the sound that was once compressed in a ball was now completely expanded.I chose the NAD for its upgrade potential but I have to say I will enjoy it as is for quite some time.

Strengths:
Rega arm. Lots of upgrade potential

Weaknesses:
At this price none at all.

Similar Products Used:
Dual 505

Price Paid:  $369.00 from Saturday Audio Excha

Summary:
This is my 2nd 'table, it replaced a Garrard that was tweaked to it's limits. The most impressive thing about the 533 is the complete silence. No rumble or motor noise at all. The bass response is deep and clean with the overall tone very pleasing. I did replace the stock cartridge with an Ortofon X-3 based on the store's advice. I'm an novice when it comes to analog gear but I can certainly appreciate the 533 low noise floor and excellent sound.

Strengths:
Clean, understated look. LOW noise floor, and $369 for a real turntable? Unbeatable. A Rega 250 arm for less $. Think Acura at a Honda price.

Weaknesses:
No auto-return, awkward to change speeds-(but who really listens to 45s anyway?)

Similar Products Used:
Only a Garrard.

Price Paid:  $349.00 from DMC Electronics, Gar

Summary:
It's the same old story: The allure of vinyl called...a siren song. I had nothing more than a not-much-played cheapie Technics, then bought two vintage Duals off ePray. Finally decided to get a good entry-level table. Settled on the MMF-5 but couldn't find one in town. Scouring turned up a "factory refurbished" NAD 533 (there seem to be lots of these). The guy at the store, bless him, knew from nothing about turntables due to his age (he was honest enough to admit it), but as we were unpacking it he did remark that there appeared to be nothing refurbished about it. It seemed all new. After the very minimal setup I started spinning licorice pizzas. The first two things you notice are the profound simplicity of the machine itself, no frills, no bells, no whistles, it's a REAL TURNTABLE. And the utter silence of the motor. Not even a whisper. The supplied Goldring Elektra cartridge isn't the greatest in the world, or so they say, but it opened up new vistas for me, even on albums I had played many, many times. The little guy also seems like a good tracker on the few warped records I threw at it. Overall, the 533 seems highly musical to me (whatever that means, ha ha), and does exactly what it's supposed to to. Plus, it just looks cool, very understated. I am currently awaiting an acrylic platter that will add a touch of white to the picture and perhaps improve the sound. We shall see. Hope to run into you at the thrift stores.

Strengths:
Simplicity, build, silence except for the music.

Weaknesses:
No VTA adjustment. If you upgrade the cart to something deeper, you'll either have to get a VTA adjustor or add shims.

Similar Products Used:
cheapie technics, Dual 1245, numerous others over lo these many years.