Balisarda
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2006
- Posts
- 366
- Likes
- 14
I spent several delightful hours today at Overture Audio in Ann Arbor, MI, listening to CD players. James and Andrew set up four players for me to compare: a NAD C525BEE ($300), a NAD C542 ($500), an Arcam CD73 ($750), and a Rega Apollo ($1000). (Prices are approximate.)
I’d been considering purchasing the NAD C525BEE and wanted to hear whether it offered an improvement over my computer-as-source. I offer my impressions.
Associated Equipment
The downstream equipment is my own: a Meier-Audio Corda HA-2 MkII SE headphone amplifier and a Sennheiser HD 650 with the stock cable and without the foam that covers the drivers.
I began with the NAD 525, then switched back and forth several times between it and the NAD 542.
NAD C525BEE
This least-expensive unit of the four nevertheless tromps anything my computer can produce. Immediately I noticed how tight and authoritative the bass sounded. (I’m not used to tight bass from my HD 650 with my computer as source.) I noticed also a quieter background and more details in the music. Soundstage impressed me both for the superior separation and placement of instruments and for the greater soundstage depth.
My complaint with the 525 is that it sounds hard, not as rich and natural as I like. I noticed this most with acoustic guitar and vocals. Please remember, however, this player costs only $300 new (and $50-100 cheaper used!). It's an excellent value for its price!
NAD C542
The 542 adds significant harmonic structure to the 525’s sound. Voices sound richer; acoustic guitars sound more natural. Bass was less prominent but certainly not lacking compared to the 525. Maybe the 525 was a little bass heavy and the 542 more neutral? I can’t be sure, but I am sure that I missed nothing about the 525’s musical presentation while listening to the 542.
There are probably other differences, but the 525 is already very good, and the 542’s superior harmonics was all that really stood out to me.
Next I compared the NAD 542 to the Rega Apollo, vastly preferred the Apollo, and so spent the rest of the time comparing the Apollo to the Arcam CD73.
Arcam CD73
This is a very fine CD player, full of detail and all that, but I didn’t spend a lot of time listening to it after I discovered the Apollo. The CD73 offers even greater detail and richness than the NAD 542, and I didn’t hear any way in which it fell short of the NAD. It drew me a little deeper into the music than the 542, as well. However, it also sounded a little too bright for my taste.
Let me interrupt my listening impressions for a brief reflection on value. Do I think the 542 is worth $200 more than the 525? You bet! The added harmonic richness is really, really worthwhile to me. Do I think the CD73 is worth $250 more than the 542? Maybe not. The CD73 improves on the virtues of the 542 but doesn’t add anything as notable as the harmonic richness when moving from the 525 to the 542.
I saved the best for last!
Rega Apollo
Listening to this player was almost a religious experience. The music it made lifted me up and carried me along, so that I forgot about critical listening and picking apart songs. I just enjoyed what I was hearing. The Apollo gave me a deeply moving emotional experience that grabbed my solar plexus and didn’t let go.
I can’t really analyze this player’s individual traits. It’s certainly not lacking in detail, smoothness, extension, or such. In fact, I noticed details from the Apollo that I didn’t hear from the other players. It wasn’t necessarily superior detail retrieval, but a better overall voicing. The Apollo assembled all the parts into one seamless, coherent, organic whole, and I think the coherent presentation of a whole is what let me notice more details and better understand how a piece of music was put together.
I loved this player, and would buy it in a second had I the money.
Perhaps I should note that the next step up in digital sources at Overture Audio is the Rega Saturn ($2400). In the scale of diminishing returns, that next step after the Rega Apollo is a doozy!
Returning to my thoughts on value, do I think the Apollo is worth $500 more than the NAD 542? ABSOLUTELY, YES!!! To the NAD’s strong individual traits it adds the ability to combine everything into a seamless whole that draws me VERY deeply into the music.
My sincerest thanks to Overture Audio for their very kind reception! Their selection of audio equipment is really excellent, and both James and Andrew are as friendly as can be! (And my thanks to them that they didn't offer to let me hear the Rega Saturn . . . )
I’d been considering purchasing the NAD C525BEE and wanted to hear whether it offered an improvement over my computer-as-source. I offer my impressions.
Associated Equipment
The downstream equipment is my own: a Meier-Audio Corda HA-2 MkII SE headphone amplifier and a Sennheiser HD 650 with the stock cable and without the foam that covers the drivers.
I began with the NAD 525, then switched back and forth several times between it and the NAD 542.
NAD C525BEE
This least-expensive unit of the four nevertheless tromps anything my computer can produce. Immediately I noticed how tight and authoritative the bass sounded. (I’m not used to tight bass from my HD 650 with my computer as source.) I noticed also a quieter background and more details in the music. Soundstage impressed me both for the superior separation and placement of instruments and for the greater soundstage depth.
My complaint with the 525 is that it sounds hard, not as rich and natural as I like. I noticed this most with acoustic guitar and vocals. Please remember, however, this player costs only $300 new (and $50-100 cheaper used!). It's an excellent value for its price!
NAD C542
The 542 adds significant harmonic structure to the 525’s sound. Voices sound richer; acoustic guitars sound more natural. Bass was less prominent but certainly not lacking compared to the 525. Maybe the 525 was a little bass heavy and the 542 more neutral? I can’t be sure, but I am sure that I missed nothing about the 525’s musical presentation while listening to the 542.
There are probably other differences, but the 525 is already very good, and the 542’s superior harmonics was all that really stood out to me.
Next I compared the NAD 542 to the Rega Apollo, vastly preferred the Apollo, and so spent the rest of the time comparing the Apollo to the Arcam CD73.
Arcam CD73
This is a very fine CD player, full of detail and all that, but I didn’t spend a lot of time listening to it after I discovered the Apollo. The CD73 offers even greater detail and richness than the NAD 542, and I didn’t hear any way in which it fell short of the NAD. It drew me a little deeper into the music than the 542, as well. However, it also sounded a little too bright for my taste.
Let me interrupt my listening impressions for a brief reflection on value. Do I think the 542 is worth $200 more than the 525? You bet! The added harmonic richness is really, really worthwhile to me. Do I think the CD73 is worth $250 more than the 542? Maybe not. The CD73 improves on the virtues of the 542 but doesn’t add anything as notable as the harmonic richness when moving from the 525 to the 542.
I saved the best for last!
Rega Apollo
Listening to this player was almost a religious experience. The music it made lifted me up and carried me along, so that I forgot about critical listening and picking apart songs. I just enjoyed what I was hearing. The Apollo gave me a deeply moving emotional experience that grabbed my solar plexus and didn’t let go.
I can’t really analyze this player’s individual traits. It’s certainly not lacking in detail, smoothness, extension, or such. In fact, I noticed details from the Apollo that I didn’t hear from the other players. It wasn’t necessarily superior detail retrieval, but a better overall voicing. The Apollo assembled all the parts into one seamless, coherent, organic whole, and I think the coherent presentation of a whole is what let me notice more details and better understand how a piece of music was put together.
I loved this player, and would buy it in a second had I the money.
Perhaps I should note that the next step up in digital sources at Overture Audio is the Rega Saturn ($2400). In the scale of diminishing returns, that next step after the Rega Apollo is a doozy!
Returning to my thoughts on value, do I think the Apollo is worth $500 more than the NAD 542? ABSOLUTELY, YES!!! To the NAD’s strong individual traits it adds the ability to combine everything into a seamless whole that draws me VERY deeply into the music.
My sincerest thanks to Overture Audio for their very kind reception! Their selection of audio equipment is really excellent, and both James and Andrew are as friendly as can be! (And my thanks to them that they didn't offer to let me hear the Rega Saturn . . . )
