517
Multiple Compact Disc Player
Date of manufacture : Nov 94 - Nov 96
Please note that this document contains the text from the original product brochure, and some technical statements may now be out of date
The NAD 517 combines the convenience of a five disc "carousel" with the kind of performance that has
won widespread acclaim for single-disc NAD players. Careful, innovative electrical and mechanical design
endow the NAD 517 with a degree of audiophile sound quality not associated with a CD changer. And,
of course, the NAD 517 represents excellent value for money - just as one expects from NAD. The NAD
517 offers all the convenience of a CD changer and more: Its drawer-loading transport accomodates five
CDs, making uninterrupted music available for as long as six hours. Whilst playing one disc the listener
can open the drawer and replace two discs. Fast disc and track access are also notable NAD 517
features.
Unlike many multi-disc designs the NAD 517's 32 random-access programming and automatic "Shuffle
play" features can both operate across all loaded discs.
Another useful feature of the NAD 517 is the edit function. Use of this feature means that abrupt
ending on tapes recorded from CD's are a thing of the past. After having selected the total tape time
available (side A + B) on the NAD 517 it will automatically decide how many tracks will fit on one side
of the tape. The supplied remote control handset makes changing discs and/or tracks easy with its direct
access numeric key-pad from the comfort of your listening chair.
Besides convenience, ease-of-use and keen pricing, NAD products are also renowned for their sound
quality and the NAD 517 is no exception: Digital-to-Analogue conversion is handled by the now world-
wide acclaimed Bit stream converter which, due to the nature in which it works, is free of all the non-
linearity errors which plague so many of the Compact disc players equipped with Multi-Bit converters.
The NAD engineers realised that it is not just the Digital-to Analogue converter which has an impact on
the sound quality. The digital and analogue power supply stages are separated from each other by
means of individual regulators to prevent any contamination of the analogue audio signal from the
digital section. The entire output stage is completely DC coupled -a feature to be found almost
exclusively in expensive single disc players- and controlled by DC servo circuitry to prevent any DC offset
on the output. The low output impedance ensures perfect interfacing with other components and
interconnecting cables (even long stretches of cable) without any adverse effects.
High-Grade components, many with High-End pedigree, have been used throughout all circuits,
normally only to be found in expensive single disc players. Furthermore, multi-stage filtering removes
unwanted ultra-sonic by-products (which would otherwise cause interference with your amplifier and
other components of your system) of the decoding process without affecting the critical audio band.
As usual with NAD products, future upgrading and flexibility is easy and straightforward. The NAD 517
boasts a coaxial digital output from which the digital data can directly be transferred to digital
recording formats such as DAT, MD or DCC recorders. To maintain the integrity of the digital data
stream and to isolate the Digital-to-Analogue converter from the outside world an isolating transformer
between the converter and output has been used.
All these measures assure that the NAD 517 has almost unequalled sound quality, especially when
compared to other CD changers. Apart from this sonic advantage, the NAD 517 also offers the high
level of convenience demanded by todays discerning customer.
