Crisp detailed sound..

This a great cd-player for a great price.This player produces music with great detail. At this price you can't by anything better.

I used this player in the following setup :

NAD C320 AMP
NAD 522 cd-player
B&W DM602 speakers

user-friendly and very natural sound

lack of a headphone jack - must turn on preamp to listen through headphone

This NAD 522 is the first single-play CD player I bought in almost fifteen years and I have two Sony ES line CD changers in my main and secondary stereo systems. The NAD player stacks up quite well against the Sony players. I have my NAD 522 hooked up to the tape-out jack of my Tandberg TR2030 in my study. The TR2030 is a twenty-year old receiver but was very well-made that it sports a 97db at its tape output. I played program materials ranging from Beatles' Abbey Road to Mary Chapin Carpenter's A Place in the World to Handel's Concerti Grossi by English Concert to Bach's Concerti for multiple harpsichords by English Chamber Orchestra to Rachmaninoff works by Bella Davidovich. The bass is tight,the strings and piano are always crisp and the vocals are clear. Music just sounds natural on this CD player. NAD has done it again in that it has offered tremendous value for the money. For a secondary or a tertiary stereo system at any house, this has to be a very good choice.

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Marantz single-play CD player made in mid 80's
whose model number I forgot

Clear and smooth sound. Good stereo soundstage, and details with low level signals.

LCD panel Backlight.

I have had and old audio system with: Technics receiver, Sony CDP-397, and Bose AM3. The sound was good, but not for long listening. The first change was the amp, I bought the NAD-312. The second step was the NAD-522. The diference is big. Now I can hear a complete CD without to be tyred, and I discover a lot of things missed inside the same CDs. Great detail for the price. I like the minimalist desing.

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Sony CDP-397

Because of good publicity and reviews, I was pretty much committed to buying the 522 and went to purchase recently. Luckily I bothered to do some comparison shopping and did not make the mistake. NAD presented the 522 as THE low-budget high-end CD player, but it doesn't stand up to others in its price range, especially the Harmon/Kardon HD710 (which I did purchase), or even the Denon and Onkyo products around the same price or cheaper (sorry, don't remember the exact models). Another reviewer had it right that the general sound is quite flat or "laidback" as he put it. This is especially noticable with percussion. And the detail leaves a lot to be desired. Orchestral wind passages sounded blurred and synthetic. The tray mechanism is noisy and flimsy, and the thing takes forever to read a disc (literally about 10 seconds!!). I don't think anone should pay more than $150 for this (about half of retial!). I really think that if you're ready for a CD player better than the ones at Best Buy or such, than you should skip this one entirely.

I am really impressed with the N522. It is miles better than the 510. At first listening, it came across as NOT an entry level player but one at least two or three notches up the ladder. The bass was strong and top end clear without shrillness, sibilence well controlled. Poor and cheap recordings came out that way but good jazz CDs sounded spacious with good imaging. I would recommend it to anyone with bigger demands than the size and depth of their pockets. Enjoy it!

An update on my initial review: I'm chowing down on a snack of crow right now--online, no less! After posting my comments, I decided to do more A/B listening between the two players (the 522 and the old Denon), and now I've decided that the Denon's shortcomings outweigh the NAD's. For all the shallowness of its soundstage and the "laid-back" effect (which varies widely from CD to CD), the NAD still boasts a more sophisticated, and up to date, sound than the Denon--especially for the beer-budget price--and I guess I'll be hanging onto it for at least a little while. I've gotten a lot of helpful input from reading other reviewers on this site (thanks, folks), so I'll know what brands to audition when my own budget is compatible with my audiophile pretensions (LOL). Incidentally, NAD has apparently come out with an upgraded entry-level player, the 520, although as far as the U.S. market is concerned, it's not available yet and the 522 evidently is still the current model as of late '99.

Reproduction of instruments is natural; good on detail; low distortion

Soundstage pretty shallow, no programming capabilities

I bought the NAD 522 last summer as a replacement for the old Denon DCD 900 (which I bought used, so I'm not even sure what model year the Denon represents--1993, maybe?). Never actually got rid of the Denon, though, and I'm kinda glad I didn't, because I've "retired" the NAD in favor of the older player. For $299, it's pretty hard to find a better-quality piece--but for a classical fan, the lack of soundstage depth is a deal-breaker. Admittedly, I initially focused on the NAD's positive qualities and didn't notice the lack of depth in the soundstage (more noticeable with headphones, which is how I listen) until I had occasion to break out the Denon recently; then the difference became all too apparent. Yes, the NAD actually comes off far less "digital" than the old Denon when it comes to reproducing instrumental (and vocal) timbres, but a puddle-deep "concert hall" acoustic is a major distraction. (Arguably, rock CDs shouldn't be affected as much by this shortcoming, but I did an A/B with the remastered "Physical Graffiti" set and found that Jimmy Page's production sounded laid-back and one-dimensional--and less cohesive--on the NAD, as compared to the Denon.) So the Denon will suffice until I'm inclined and able to spring for something a few rungs up the price and quality ladder.

Similar Products Used:

Denon DCD 900; Rotel 971 amp; Grado SR125 headphones; XLO Signature half-meter cables

I auditioned the 522 with great anticipation after reading many good reviews on it. Initial impressions seem to corroborate this fact, with the vocals being impressively smooth and refined. However, upon further listening, a very serious flaw struck me : the music is ridiculously laidback! I was almost wondering why I was not excited by some of the songs that would normally have me tapping my feet along with the music. The characteristic may be beneficial to jazz or classical, but certainly kills off pop and rock music.
The depth and width of the soundstage certainly cannot be faulted, so are the treble and bass. But, in my opinion, the excessively lackback nature offsets most of its merits.

Good mid-range, tight bass, clean sound

no digital-out, not programmable, no headphones jack

This is a no-frills player for the very budget conscious. Intially buying it as a second player but didn't realise that it outperforms the more expensive Denon unit in terms of sound. The NAD unit is able to produce so much more detail that the Denon unit. If you have a chance audit it, you should. You'll find out what I'm saying. This is a best bang for buck player.

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Denon DCD 1015G

Natural voices; well-balanced overall sound; good natural soundstage; strong rhythmic abilities; Functional design

No headphone jack, no digital output

Extremely audiophile player. The Soundstage compared to other players in this class is quite elaborate. Compared with the Arcam, the NAD doesn't quite cope in respect to the bass work and sounds a little less natural in the highs - but consider the price difference, and you'll be able to make a decision. The design is a matter of taste, but who needs sophisticated state-of-the-art programming functions? The NAD just comes as a CD player, and it does a very good job.
Obviously, there has been some improvement concerning CD-Rs which don't make any trouble anymore (maybe because the player uses an invisible laser now which uses a different light spectrum).
Sure, the Arcam is a better sounding player, but for this price, the 522 is certainly a bargain.

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Arcam Alpha 8 SE, Technics SL-PS7