NAD C545BEE CD PLAYER ARRIVED!

[admin_exported]

Dear Friends,

Finally yesterday my NAD C545BEE cd player arrived. Now it's connected to the NAD C355BEE amplifier with the B&W 684 speakers.

I had the Samsung DVD player temporarily serving as a cd player. First impressions out or the box: Bass more controled than the dvd player, mids a bit clearer and hight about the same.

I was expecting a big diference in sound, but the diference is more subtle than from day to night...

I left it playing on repeat for 24 hours (How long time to do the run in??) and seconds impressions are about the same as the first impressions, there isn't still diference from the initial sound to the sound of now.

I noticed that the treble is harsh, will this disappear with the run in or not? while the treble of the dvd player is more soft and doesn't have this harshness that the NAD has...

People who has the NAD C545BEE + NAD C355BEE let me have their opinions, how it was the sound initially and how long for the run in and how was the cd sound after??

Another thing: Changing the filter from slow to normal and vice versa I do not see any diference, sometimes it seems to make a slight diference when I change but then it sounds the same, oh another thing: it has a black lackered piano finish remote, completely diferent from the one it shows at the What Hi-Fi review! there is only one problem: the logo "Compact disc digital audio" didn't come printed on the face plate bellow the cd drawer, I contacted NAD and they will replace only the face plate.

I'm unsing Straith Wire musicable II interconnects and QED Sylver anniversary biwired speaker cable.

Thanks and wait for your opinions - J.Costa

 

[jaxwired]

My remote is entirely different. It is much smaller and is not shiny. However I really don't care about the remote since I use the amps remote for everything. Regarding the filter, it is a very subtle thing indeed. I think I can hear a very slight difference if the recording is very delicate with lots of high frequency content. In that case, when set to slow, the sound is very slightly less bright, but this is very subtle.

Regarding "break in" period. Can't speak to that at all. I recall no difference between out of the box sound and the current sound. I doubt it will ever sound different than it does right now.

Regarding harshness, the 545 is probably a much more revealing player than what you are used to. If you feed it a recording that has not been skillfully produced than you will hear it. But the good news is, that if you feed it something great, you will hear that too.

I'm surprised that you do not feel the difference in sound between the dvd player and the 545 is significant. When I got my 545 I definately thought the sound improvement was significant. It's possible that your music selection is somewhat responsible.

My advice is to do nothing for a month. Listen every day. Buy some new music. Keep listening. Then re-access after a month. I suspect you will be happier a month from now.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello Jaxwired!

Thank you very much for the reply. I didn't know that the remote of the NAD C355BEE could be used on the cd player, tomorrow I wil try this. Today I was using the filter and when pressing the buttom I notice a sligh diference but then keeping on playing it sounds the same, it's more noticeable when changing, but not all the times I can see this.

Today I also noticed a very slight diference in sound: more controled, more coese, the treble yesterday seemed a tad agressive than today, but this could be with the run in or that I'm getting used to it's sound.

I did one thing today: I made 2 copies of one original audio cd and played them at the same time on the NAD and on the DVD, turned off the lights and closed my eyes and on the amp remote changed from cd to video and vice versa and really there is not that big diference in sound quality, the diferences were:

- Treble: on the NAD they are a bit more noticeable and strong

- Bass: on the NAD it is more controled while on the dvd is more loose

- Voices: this is the thing I notice more diference because on the NAD it's more present, the voices are more evident

- Also the small sounds of the bottom are a tad more clearer to understand on the NAD

But all in all, it's not that big diference I expected. I talked with my dealer and he told me that the run in period will bring more quality to sound reproduction of the NAD and the diference will be bigger, he also told me that the interconnect I use (Straith Wire musicable II) it's old and not up to the NAD, while could be more a match to the DVD. For this reason he gave me to try at home this weekend 2 interconnects:

Black Rodhium Prelude / Van Den Hul The Combination Hybrid

Which one you think it will be better for my set up? Also you say that the music selection could be somehwat responsible, but woudn't the sound of the NAD be very different from the dvd no matter what type of music/recording I use?

See the photo of the interconnets and let me have your reply to this message:

 

[Anonymous]

NAD: Try some nice finishes on the equipment, not the remotes! Anyone for fingerprints?

 

[jaxwired]

Pmaninit:NAD: Try some nice finishes on the equipment, not the remotes! Anyone for fingerprints?

Agreed. Hate shiny stuff...

 

[jaxwired]

valkilm,

The interconnects will make a difference, but it is likely to be subtle. Of the 2 you have, I would go with Van den Hul. They are very well respected and get consistently good reviews.

Regarding music selection, this is in fact very important. There is lots of music that is produced poorly and will sound better on a less revealing system. A system that truncates high frequencies can be great for some mass market popular music. I buy music for 2 reasons: First because I like the artist / melody / song content, secondly because it is well recorded / produced and I know it will make my system sing. There are basically 2 camps of music listeners. Casual listeners (think iPod generation) and serious listeners (think dedicated 2 channel audio system). Music tends to lend itself to one group or the other. You are in group 2. Your music selections should reflect this. There is the reason that Britney Spears has never released a SACD. Her audience does not know what it is.

My last piece of advice is to try and stop listening with a super critical ear for audio system quality. Sometimes, we audio hobbyists get so focused on equipment sound quality that we forget to listen to the music as a whole. Like we focus intently listening if the bass is tight or slightly flabby. Spend a night not trying to hear the equipment, but instead just listening and enjoying your favorite recordings. See if you aren't much happier with your equipment by the end of the night...

 

[Anonymous]

Hello Jaxwired!

Thank you very much for the advises, very well appreciated.

You are not the first person that tells me to listen to the music and not the equipment, this is one thing that I think I can not separate at all, as I love to listen to the equipment too...but of course music first!

And you are completely right about the 2 groups, endeed the first listens to mp3, compressed music sucks but for them it's no diferent than listening in a 2 channel fhi fi like we do and love it.

And maybe I should stop trying to compare the NAD C545BEE sound to my DVD, now I know that the DVD sounds terrific in some aspects of sonic performance, but I will learn to appreciate the sound of the NAD properly and upgrade on the cables to make that subtle diference, but definitive.

Now I found myself looking for hi quality recorded cd's, but at the stores you only see rubish like you so well mentioned Britney Spears and on...I'm curious, what type of music you listen and lately what cd's have you being buying? maybe I will buy some like yours since you already know their quality and surely I will appreciate this audio quality too...thanks for that.

What interconnects you use? is it Chord? And speaker cables? I use the WED Silver Anniversary but everyone tells me that it's a little lean for the NAD's...

Greetings - J.Costa

 

[chebby]

valkilm:..but at the stores you only see rubish like you so well mentioned Britney Spears and on..

Yikes! That's a bit bleak.

At my local HMV (typical of most of them I expect), there is a fairly good classical section. Also Jazz, easy listening, folk, C&W, blues, film & show soundtrack CDs are all quite well represented. Downstairs the Rock/Pop/Dance CDs are at least 99.99 percent non-Britney and I can still find - mostly - well recorded CDs of bands that my dad & grandad would have heard of and choice is there right through the decades to now. (Not all 'mainstream' stuff either.) Anything I can't find will be on amazon.

I don't get too bothered about recording quality - if I really like the music of course - and I would not restrict myself to just those disks that make my equipment sound good. The 'worst' recordings I have are things like Glenn Miller and 'Hot club de Paris' and Benny Goodman from the 1930s and 1940s. Unavoidably so (except the wartime GM Abbey Road recordings which are fair). I still play them and love them. (Ok rip in Lossless then play them and love them but you know what I mean

)

My idea of a good CD player (or any other equipment) is one that 'disappears' and just lets you enjoy music without fretting about the quality. 'Warts' are apparent, not masked or hidden, but the system/component instantly and confidently communicates where they are (ie not in your system but back somewhere in the recording studio or live venue). I suspect your DVD player was doing this for you maybe.

On a good system, the 'charisma' of great music always shines through despite a lousy recording.

 

[jaxwired]

One more thought occurred to me. One man's subtle is another man's huge. I could easily see two people hearing the exact same difference in audio equipment and one person calling the difference subtle and the other calling it huge. It's all relative. People mean the difference is "huge" on the relative scale that we apply to high end audio.

I would not agrue with someone that called the difference between a £1000 system and £10,000 system subtle.

Regarding music, I'd be glad to post a few choice selections. Don't have time this second, I'll do it later....

 

[jaxwired]

As promised, here is a list of great music. You can sample this stuff at amazon.com. I'm in the USA, so you might have trouble getting some of these, but here they are:

http://community.whathifi.com/forums/231475/ShowThread.aspx#231475

 

[drummerman]

jaxwired:
One more thought occurred to me. One man's subtle is another man's huge. I could easily see two people hearing the exact same difference in audio equipment and one person calling the difference subtle and the other calling it huge. It's all relative. People mean the difference is "huge" on the relative scale that we apply to high end audio.

I would not agrue with someone that called the difference between a £1000 system and £10,000 system subtle.

Regarding music, I'd be glad to post a few choice selections. Don't have time this second, I'll do it later....

I think you're right with your first sentence. The improvements mentioned by the OP are about what he could expect at that price level plus differences with cdp's are relatively subtle compared to amplifiers/speakers, even when looking at players at the opposite ends of the spectrum. This is simplifying the issue but you get my drift.

As to your second sentence, a typical £1000 system, taking this magazines recommendations as an example, would probably consist of some marantz stuff and B&W speakers. I think most would call the difference btw this and a good 10k system not subtle. At least I would hope so but if they don't, they probably just wasted 1k when a micro would have done the job perfectly ...

Interesting to see you are using relatively modest NAD's with the spendors btw. That's not criticism but I'm intrigued if you are planning to upgrade your source/amp or are perfectly happy with it.

 

[Anonymous]

Valkim, if it's not what you were hoping for, take it back, don't just accept it, if the difference is only subtle, well perhaps you should think about raising your budget, or purchasing an external dac. The question is can you justify spending hundreds of pounds for a subtle improvement? if you can, disregard my post.

 

[jaxwired]

drummerman:

Interesting to see you are using relatively modest NAD's with the spendors btw. That's not criticism but I'm intrigued if you are planning to upgrade your source/amp or are perfectly happy with it.

I've only had the NAD amp for about a year now. The CDP is even newer. The truth is that the system sounds wonderful and I am very happy with it. I can see no go reason to upgrade. However, like most who enjoy this hobby, I tend to want to get something new occassionally regardless of how happy I am. It's just fun to get new stuff and try different products. So, I can't say I won't eventually try something else.

 

[drummerman]

Glad you like your system.