I just bought a used NAD S300 integrated and a used NAD S500 single-disk CD player, from two different people. The S300 is in perfect condition and I absolutely love it. It is everything I had wanted and more. I have little to add to related threads except to note that you can use the remote to put it into stand-by mode, whereupon it WILL remember the last input when reactivated. It only defaults to the balanced CD inputs after a hard shut-off. The S500 arrived yesterday and may have been damaged in shipping. Upon my specific inquiry and in his Audiogon listing, the seller represented that it looked and worked perfectly, but instead it won't play and CDs at all; it just comes up with a row of dashes on display. The seller double-boxed it for shipping and the two boxes show no damage at all. Assuming an honest seller, either the unit just happened to wear out now, or the vibration of shipping knocked it out of whack. Does anyone have a theory as to the nature of the problem or repair cost? The buyer is asking me to make a damage claim with UPS (the shipper) but if we go that route, which I am willing to do, I fear UPS will deny the claim because there is no trauma to the boxes. The seller has yet to agree to refund my money and take back the unit if UPS denies the claim. However, PayPal does have a buyer protection policy. Does anyone know if it's worth the cyber-paper it's written upon? If I do get a different player instead, I want one with a metal face, sturdy chassis and a single-disk transport. What to get? My candidate is the one I earlier rejected in favor of the used S500, namely, a new Music Hall CD-25 with upgraded Op Amps. I see these pros and cons versus the NAD: The Music Hall will (a) start out at a much lower price to begin with (makes me wonder about the relative quality); (b) have HDCD capability; (c) have upgraded Op Amps in the analogue section instead of a Class A (I've never known what that means); (d) be new, not used; (e) not match the S300 faceplate; (f) lack balanced outputs; and (g) (based upon what I have seen in past threads) perhaps work better with the S300 better volume control. What should I do? I don't want to spend much more than $US 600 (what I paid for the S500), and the player must be readily available to me here in California. As I said, I want one with a metal face, sturdy chassis and a single-disk transport. And does anything in this price point have a metal drawer? The S500 drawer is plastic, and perhaps the Music Hall drawer, too. Does anyone know about the Music Hall drawer? I really need some good ideas here; comparing the S500 to the CD-25 and maybe telling me of any sonic differences. I'd also love to learn of any other great players in this price range, prefereably new or almost new. Thanks for any and all input.
