[b]NAD C521BEE First Impressions[/b] As those of you who frequent the HFC forum will know, I was looking to replace my Sony RCD-W3 twin-deck recorder with a dedicated player. I was looking for a more lively player, with a more detailed, open and warmer sound. The Sony sounded decidedly compressed and tinny with harsh treble on a number of recordings and was hampering my enjoyment. I came up with a shortlist of players in the £150 - £270 range: Marantz CD5400 - £150 NAD C521BEE - £200 NAD C542 - £240 Arcam CD62T (Ex-dem) - £269 The Arcam and the NAD C542 were really a little more than I wanted to pay and I wasn't overly keen on the idea of ex-dem. A number of dudes on the HFC forum suggest a used Rega Planet, but I decided to purchase new. So, I auditioned the Marantz and the NAD C521BEE, as they were within the price I wished to pay and could be bought from new. I managed to arrange a demo using some Mission m71i spekaers and a Yamaha RX-V440RDS receiver - a similar setup to my Yammy HTR-5540RDS and Mission m70 speakers. The Marantz had a great sound - very lively and detailed, but a little too bright and harsh for my taste and I feel it could get tiring to listen to. That's not to say it's a bad player - far from it. Just that it didn't offer the sound I was looking for, with the combination of kit. The NAD won the day, with it's smooth, warm, detailed sound. Spin anything from Fourplay, Steely Dan, Phil Collins. right through to A Flock Of Seagulls and this player seems to handle it with gusto. Excellent timing and rhythm, deep, punchy bass, superb detail and a sound you can listen to for hours. Build quality is excellent - the player weighs a good 6 kg, so it feels like a solid product when you unpack it from it's box. Unlike other budget players that seem feather-light. A nice touch to keep the player in good shape during transit is the transport clamper that you unscrew clockwise during setup. The finish (in the new titanium colour) is of excellent quality and the feature set is functional. No gadgets or gizmos and it shows NAD's dedication to getting the sound right, over features that most people don't use. Glad to see NAD have updated the remote - it's much bigger and of better quality than those that shipped with the earlier models such as the C520. A nice touch is the inclusion of batteries - not a biggie, but useful all the same. The only downside is the fact that there is only a coaxial digital out and my Sony MDS-JE480 only has an optical in. No big problem - Maplin's saved the day with a Coax - Optical converter for £15. So is the player worth £200 quid and all the rave reviews and rewards it's been getting? I certainly think so and would not hesitate to recommend this as a budget player to anyone!
