Review: NAD m51 DA converter

Category: Digital

*Musical tastes: Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, Harry Connick
*Aspects of sound: I like clarity and space with good timber and no glare
*Worst thing system can do: shrill or bright

*How long has piece been in system: 2 days (running non stop)
*What did it replace: Rega Apollo R CD player
*How didn't the sound change: it was less brittle on the top end, the soundstage was clearer and more defined as well as deeper and wider, and the music sounded more musical.

*Stengths: the ability to make you not think of the equipment. Tranparency and openness
*Weaknesses: not anything I can put my finger on right now
*If money was no object: I would still own it, but I would spend thousands on a great vinyl set up.

The review:

I'm not a great writer so please bear with me.

I've basically have put together a new hi ended (modest by some standards) in the last 3 months. My old system was a CJ MF2100 amp, Acurus LS11 preamp, Calfornia Audio Labs DX1 CDP and Vandersteen 2ce speakers. I still like this system a lot and it had no great faults, but ultimately I yearned for detail and dynamic range. Thus the new system. One thing you must keep in mind is that the area I live in is devoid of high end anything not to mention people into hi end gear save my coworker as luck would have it! So hearing other people's gear is non existent. So the only thing I really have to go on "what is good" is my own ears and my memory of 20 years ago when I did live next to hi end shops.

I've had some growing pains on thi new system that have led me down a couple wrong paths to finally land me where I'm at now. One thing i've learned about the Thiels (as many here can attest on this forum) is that they are VERY revealing and some might even say bright. I was beginning to agree to the bright comments but a salesmen at Audio Advisor said i should try the NAD M51 DAC and return the Rega Apollo R i bought from them. He had the NAD in his system and loved it, prior to it he said he hated all digital equipment and was a vinyl guy - he is a salesman so who knows right? I thought I'd give it a go. So the NAD arrived a couple days ago and I wired it up. Immediate first impressions was - ehh - what's the big deal. Sounded almost like the Apollo. A couple hours later would change all that. Suddenly all the bass was there and the highs didn't have the edge on them anymore. The soundstage was huge and instrument placement and space was there in spades. There was however the small tinge of brightness. Just for kicks, I took out some old Staight Wire (all copper wired interconnect) and switched out my just as old but in current use Tribtaries (silver wired interconnect) and voila - smooth as butter, or at least smooth compared to the Tributaries. Didn't think wire type would "show" so much but these new speakers reveal any and all changes to the system no matter how big or small.

I'm not great with describing hi end audio impressions but what I can say is this: I'm notorious for listening to CD's for 30 seconds at a time and jumping from one song to the next hoping to stumble upon sonic nirvana but never being quite satisfied. What the NAD did for me, and the biggest compliment i can give, is that it allowed me to listen to whole albums as if it was the first time I have ever heard them and forget about the gear! I listened to Pink Floyd's "Whish You Were Here" - an album I've listened to for 20 years and know intimately - from beginning to end and hear things I've never heard before. . .Now back to the listening!

Associated gear
Thiel cs2.4 loudspeakers
Kimber Kable 8tc speaker cable
Vincent sp331 amp
Straight Wire Encore interconnects
NAD M51 DAC
coax interconnect (monster)
oppo 93 (as transport)