NAD M51 Vs Cyrus Dac XP+

[gregvet]

Has anyone heard the new NAD M51 Dac/preamp yet?

If so, have you compared it to the Cyrus Dac XP+? I know their not the same price, but they will be compared I am sure.

Interested in opinion, as it sounds like it could be a really nice bit of kit.

 

[krolikgena]

me too.. :bounce:

 

[jimmy.cross]

Hi

I tested the M51 (no preamp enabled) at home a couple of months ago. It was very good, very deep meaty bass and not a single hint of harsness in the treeble. However, when I compared it to the MDAC and I could not justify the price difference: they sounded very similar with my amp/speakers and yes, there where subtle differences in the presentation, but the MDAC was just too close at half the price, being also a digital pre-amp. And when I say close, I don't mean that the MDAC was the one behind at all.

In the end I got the Mdac. The HDMI input is a nice feature but you have to make sure that your bluray converts the signal to LPCM over HDMI (many brands do this with their latest models: Sony, Oppo, Denon...).The M51 CANNOT process DSD diretly (for example the digital format present in SACD).

If I remember correctly, an adapter from HDMI to optical/SPDIF only costs 40 pounds on amazon.

I hope this helps.