I have owned the NAD S-500 for the past 2 years and I will tell you now that it is not the same animal as the past NAD products. Just open it up and you will see a very highend product.( not all the esoteric namey parts but more than suffucient for the price ) I have listened to this CD player with extreme concentration over long periods of time ( I was on disability for a very long time ) and I am always amazed, still. It has that quality where everything sounds great. ( except when it is a rotten recording ) When it needed some minor service this year I nearly had a breakdown. I tried supporting with a Pioneer DVD player and a Pioneer Elite CD player ( I even got desperate and hooked up an X10-D to try to help ). I almost died because I didn't listen to my stereo for 6 weeks. But this is one of those special products that just shines. I like the Arcam, Cal, and Adcom too, but the NAD Silverline was just exceptional. I have not tired of it. It is going to cost me a lot to upgrade from this point. I am also running the S-100 preamp also. I do not know if that has something to do with my satisfaction level but I think that it does. For the $1,500 that this CD player cost, I am certain that I have gotten my money's worth 2 or 3 times over. Dale
Superior sound from newer CD players?
I have a 12 year old Luxman DZ-111 CD player(dual 16-bit DAC's, 4x oversampling, 3-beam laser). It still sounds good but I've been putting togeather a new system and want to upgrade my player also. Will most of the newer players give me an upgrade in sound? I'm considering used players like:
Rega Planet 2000
Cal Labs Icon Mk11/HDCD
Creek 43Mk11
Adcom GCD 750
NAD S500
Arcam CD-72
Also considering a new Cambridge D500se(is it in the same league as the others?) One concern I have is that the older Luxman sounds much better(to me) than my new DVD player with
96 kHz 24-bit DAC. The DVD player is a Denon 1500 and when playing CD's it sounds cold, shrill and harsh compared to the Luxman although it has greater detail(or maybe just brighter detail). So now I'm worried that maybe these other player's I've mentioned won't really be an improvement after all. Also I plan on getting a pre/proc like a used Lexicon DC-1 or 2. Won't the dac's in a good unit like this be as good or better than most DACs in the players I've mentioned? I guess you can tell I'm new at this and still confused
Rega Planet 2000
Cal Labs Icon Mk11/HDCD
Creek 43Mk11
Adcom GCD 750
NAD S500
Arcam CD-72
Also considering a new Cambridge D500se(is it in the same league as the others?) One concern I have is that the older Luxman sounds much better(to me) than my new DVD player with
96 kHz 24-bit DAC. The DVD player is a Denon 1500 and when playing CD's it sounds cold, shrill and harsh compared to the Luxman although it has greater detail(or maybe just brighter detail). So now I'm worried that maybe these other player's I've mentioned won't really be an improvement after all. Also I plan on getting a pre/proc like a used Lexicon DC-1 or 2. Won't the dac's in a good unit like this be as good or better than most DACs in the players I've mentioned? I guess you can tell I'm new at this and still confused