Top Italian Magazine reviews the M5

AUDIO REVIEW N°274 – Italian best-selling audiomagazine

Test NAD M5 – by G. Corsi & F. Montanucci
Excerpted and translated

“This time, NAD makes it big! Masters Series is a strong departure from the traditional NAD way of thinking of performances without frills. The new series has a very different visual impact, with a gorgeous appearance and finish. From the front panel you can see the new no-compromise approach: fine materials and tooling behind an ambitious and sophisticated design for a genuine high-end sound and performance.”

“Good looking, well made electronics and physical design, with original technical solutions, the M5 has shown very remarkable performances in both areas. These qualities make for satisfaction for every purchaser and at a reasonable price too.”

Lab test:

“…the level of silence and resolution reached by this player in SACD mode is the best ever in our lab tests!” “Only small perplexties emerged using the double-tones lab measure at 19+20kHz, but they are nothing compared to the global, superlative performance.”

“Over 19 bits; it’s a record! Normalyl, we don’t use sensational quotes, but now we must! This graph shows the Philips test SACD pure tone track recorded at –140dB. We never used this disc, cause the noise of the players we tested drowned the original signal. Now, with phenomenal performance of the M5, in conjunction with the very good qualities of the Audio Precision System 2C, the signal line fly out at 16dB over the noise threshold!” … “Summarizing, the effective resolution in low and medium frequencies reaches 19 bits”. An olympic record.”

The Listening Session:

“System partners are Masters Series M3 amp and Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage speakers, living in our listening room” “Crystal clear sound in Joni Mitchells old recording, with a full and resonating voice and a rich and well balanced acoustic guitar. The smallest details are very well heard, inside an accurate and fine playback.” … “More powerful is the Blood Sweat & Tears SACD recording, with a broader sound stage it was easy to detect different instruments in their right position.” “Each, single instrument and voice – thru NAD performances – are very detailed, without mercy, powerful and pure, rich and delicate.” … “Great performances at an unbeatable price!”.