I'm in progress of building my first music/HT system. I've purchased my DVD player which is a budget Yamaha player (DVD-S540). However, I'm sure I'll need a dedicated CD player since my CD player is always at work!
The rest of system will be Yamaha RX-V1400 receiver with B&W 600's S3 speakers and probably a JBL sub.
My search has been narrowed down to NAD C521BEE, which I heard very good reviews. Meanwhile I have an eye on Denon DCD-685.
Could anyone comment on these two CD players?
Also suggestions on other models from NAD, Yamaha, Denon, Onkyo, marantz will be appreciated (no DVD-A/SACD player please!). My budget is up to 400$.
Thanks a lot.
Gary Whyte
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I just recently went through the same process of buying a dedicated music system. After a lot of listening, comparing, reading reviews, etc. I settled on the following system and I'm very happy with it.
- NAD C542 CD player - NAD C352 integrated amp - Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3 tower speakers - I've also bought Harmonic Technology audio interconnect and speaker cables, and it's amazing the difference high quality cables make to the sound when you start with high-quality components.
I had listened to the Denon, Onkyo and Marantz amps, etc, but they all seemed to be lacking something in sound quality. When I heard the NAD and Acoustic Energy combination I was completely convinced - especially given the affordable price.
I really like NADs stated philosophy of devoting their design and production costs to producing the best sound quality, rather than having a lot of money put into expensive production tooling for looks and unnecessary features.
When I switched from the DVD player I had been using to play music to the NAD CD player, the improvement in sound quality was amazing and exciting.