Natural Sound. Very Good FM tuner. Can play all types of music at moderate sound levels.

None apparent as yet. Build quality just a little suspect, nothing proven.

Once we put my Copland/Meadowlark system downstairs away from the toddler, my wife wanted music in the dining area of the house. Not a really small room by any means. We bought the Bose large one box sound system, and found it underwheliming to say the least. We sent it back. I auditioned the Linn Classic, and thought it was very nice, but not so much nicer than the NAD L40 that I would want to spring for the extra thousands. I bought the NAD and my non-audio enthusiast wife thinks its great. And, if fact, so do I. It's not a big rich sound, but then the packaged PSB Minis are not broken. But it makes beautiful music at volumes below 50% and very acceptable sound up to 75%. Vocals and piano are really very good. No fatigue, and the FM without any special antenae is virtually distortion free, although I must say I live in an FM rick area. Music tastes: Classical, show, soft rock and jazz. Now mom and baby are dancing again!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Linn Classic, Bose One Box System (forget what it's called)

tuner, decent psb speakers

cd player, remote, no am tuner, overall sound

Wow, I can't believe how dissapointed I was this system. I've read so many good reviews here and elsewhere, I couldn't believe how weak this system was(and I'm not talking about power). my main gripe was the cd payer, terrible error correction and poor sound. I have several cds that have some scratches on them that my old sony bookshelf system could handle fine, the nad was skipping constantly and you can hear every blemish. the sound for the cd was fine for classical but don't try to listen to rock on this thing, blech. the L40 give you crisp vocals and drums but the guitars, bass and keyboards all are smushed into the same space here, muddy. Overall I thought the system souded a little too lifeless. I put most of the blame on the bad sound on the cd part of the system because the tuner sounds pretty good. for some reason they left off an AM tuner, wich was a mistake becasue this unit would be best suited for talk radio. Terrible remote.

Similar Products Used:

bose, sony

Amplifier has lots of headroom. Great Tuner. Remote is laid out in a simple, logical manner. Solid Build quality.

CD Drawer is flimsy. Remote lacks programming abilities.

I was looking for an all in one unit that was well made.
The Linn was too exspensive. The Marantz not up to snuff.
After reading some positive reviews and having had some good
experiences with NAD in the past, I decided to go for it.
I was pleasantly surprised by the open, natural sound quality of the unit. I own a pair of direct-radiating,horn loaded speakers, so the small output power was not a limiting factor for me. However I want to mention here that
most people do not realize that this little 20 watt amp can
produce tremendous power on demand since it has 3dB of dynamic headroom. The tuner is very sensitive and selective. Contrary to what has been said here by another reviewer; it sounds fine. The CD player works flawlessly
has a very open soundstage and is never edgy or grating.
I just wish that NAD would do something about the flimsiness
of their drawers. However, that being said, it does load
in a very quiet manner and the unit leaves you with the feeling of high build quality. Also a word about the Bass Eq circuit. It is centered at 35Hz. On most small speakers it is not going to increase the sensation of "more bass". However, I would rather it be centered there, than at 100Hz like most receivers. Why duplicate what the Bass control is already doing?
One reviewer mentioned removing the bonnet. I do not reccomend that, as it will open the chassis up to dust and RF and EMI contamination. I do reccomend adding two 4x6" panels of damping material. These are available thru Music Direct and are not expensive. This will deaden the bonnet.
The L40 already has a ferrite choke on the AC cord (internally). The only other tweek one could do to the unit would be to add a set of Vibropod cushion-feet under the existing feet to further isolate the chassis from any external vibrations.
If "boom and sizzle" is your thing, look elsewhere.
If getting involved with music is your thing, look no further. The NAD L40 is a high resolution bargain!

Nice sounding tuner. Low cost. Simple, all-in-one unit if that's what you're looking for.

Sound from CD player lacks life. Poor sound quality at low volumes--volume needs to be atleast to the 10 o'clock position for this unit to really open up. Volume "steps" controlled from remote are too large. Makes a "pop" when turned on.

I'm disappointed with the NAD L40. I researched the L40 extensively before buying and given the many excellent reviews, I expected much more. I'm new to hi-fi and was looking for a simple system for my home office. I tried the Bose Wave Radio CD--a product which is probably blaspheme to those who frequent this site. Needless to say the L40 is much better than the Bose.

I use the L40 with the Paradigm Mini Monitors and your typical, entry-level Monster Cable speaker cable. I originally had the Paradigm Atoms but switched to the MMs for a bigger, more full sound. It worked, but I'm still not satisfied with the result. The sound is fatigueing to my ears and certainly lacks the full-range sound which I appreciate. I do most of my listening at low volume levels and that doesn't work at all with this system. You really have to turn it up to bring out its good qualities.

Much of what I've read about the L40 from previous reviews on this site is true: it does make a "pop" when turned on; the volume steps from the remote are too big--it seems I always want the volume level somewhere in between the steps; the CD drawer is flimsy feeling, but the build quality is otherwise good; and the tuner is good.

Speaking of the tuner, it is the L40's highlight. Read the reviews from various sources on the web and they always mention the good tuner.

In sum, the L40 is to my ears a little to forward or harsh sounding and I don't use it as much as I would otherwise. The tuner sounds much better than the CD and is particularly good with talk radio--very life-like. It doesn't sound open and full until the volume is turned up, but then it doesn't do too bad.

My ratings may seem low, but considering some good separates you could buy for about the same price, the L40 is merely average. I hope to upgrade to a better system soon.

Similar Products Used:

Bose Wave Radio CD

Not aware of any yet...

My L40 doesn't work

Although I haven't had the pleasure of actually listening to this NAD L40 CD/Rec. at home yet, I'm adding this reveiw in case there is anyone else who has bought a NAD product, unpacked it (like a kid at christmas time), only to find a dud. I took the new L40 out of the factory-sealed box, plugged it in and only got a light above the power switch.

No LCD display, no lighted volume control.
The dealer in Perth was apologetic over the phone and now I'm waiting for a replacement.....

Similar Products Used:

Older NAD, Rotel

NAD L40 CD ReceiverD. H. Labs Silver Sonic T-14's
B&W CM1's
What's good and what's bad.
Bad: The remote is not just bad, it is plain useless. Over half the functions have to be programmed at the receiver.
The FM (Free Music, no body would pay for the sound quality that most FM stations broadcast across the airwaves) is only really good for very causal listening.
Good: Sound is very British (you either love it or hate it, no doubt helped by the B&W's). It's sound is very neutral, clean, what you hear is what's there. No coloring nothing added and nothing left out (I have the tone defeat on and the bass eq off, I cannot recommend using them. If you need to correct the sound of your speakers it's time to change speakers). The amp adequate for normal listening levels; you are not going have live concert sound with amp rated at 20 watts a channel. The dynamic headroom is more than needed if you keep the unnecessary controls turn off (tone & bass).
The CD player clean, not the fastest but adequate. Works very well with the amp. (A word of warning instead of programming the tracks you want hear. You program the tracks you do not want to hear. To make this worse you can not do this from the remote).
I recommend leaving the L40 in stand-by mood all times. There is slight improvement in the sound when the L40 has had time to warm up.
The motorized volume work's well, even from the remote.

Sound 5
CD 4
FM 3
Remote 1
Value for money 5

compactness, sound quality, tuner performance

few, minor, personal issues

I bought the L-40 as a second system and I have to say how pleased I am with it. I'm not a golden eared audiophile so whatever "flaws" there are to the sound I couldn't say. I just like to listen to the music. The only "gripe" I have with it is that it "thumps" a little at power-up. NAD tells me that this is SOP and it won't hurt the speakers. C'mon!
That's cheap and reminds me of something low end from Radio Shack. You live with it, however. The other, few, weaknesses involve source switching. These have already been addressed in previous reviews. To me, it's nothing I can't live with.
The tuner section is quite good, however. My favorite station is nearly 40 miles away and I can get good reception with just a rabbit ear antenna. I listen at somewhat lower volume levels. The L-40 has no loudness EQ circutry and its "bass boost" seems to have little effect. The tone controls, on the other hand, seem to be quite effective and that is what I use to approximate a loudness curve.

Overall, this is really a sweet little piece of gear and a boon to anyone who doesn't want to hassle with seperate components. I'm giving it 5 stars anyway. Cheers!

Similar Products Used:

none like this

One-stop shopping for a reasonable quality receiver and CD player.

During startup, doesn't use the last selected mode (e.g. tuner). Always defaults to CD.

The product was purchased specifically to provide CD & FM in a 50' x 30' indoor pool room. It provides power to 4 Polk AB855 in-wall speakers which are connected as two stereo pairs in series on opposite sides of the room (50' apart). The objective was to achieve good sound in a less-than-stellar environment.

I chose this unit for three reasons (in descending order of their importance to me):

1. Combo CD/receiver.
2. No-frills style NAD design which seems to place more emphasis on sound than on bells & whistles.
3. NAD amplifier design which always seems to provide better peak handling power than expected given the conservative power rating.

The L40 is a perfect fit and provides a very musical sound under imperfect conditions. If it can handle this room, it should handle most non-critical applications with little fanfare and great sound.

Similar Products Used:

Large range of separates & receivers over the past 25 years.

great value and quality!

Programming CD tracks is counter intuitive

Great value from the NAD Music System matched w/ PSB Alpha Minis. These bookshelf speakers deliver much bigger sound, a deep bass, nice seperation and exquisite highs! A steal for the money ($149) if bought seperately! The NAD CD/Receiver is also solidly built and will last a long time! Receiver is powerful, CD programming however is counter intuitive as you have to choose those track that you do NOT want to play.. otherwise, it's a great compact system! great value and quality for the money! highly recommended!

Similar Products Used:

Marantz

I picked up a NAD L40 to replace my aging bedroon system. Overall, I am very happy with the unit.

Pros: Good sound, nice value, just right for a secondary or small room system.

Cons: Lacks some features, amp only does so much.

The sound is very neutral, and it's a good pairing with the Linn Tukan speakers. They are perhaps too good for the L 40, but the price was right ($500 for the Tukans, see review). Bass punch is good, mid-range is very neutral. Sound is the typical NAD/Rotel brittish mid-fi sound. The amp can run out of power with really spirited listening, but that's usually not a problem in the environment that this is made for.

Features wise, the unit is only so-so. The display is clear and readable, but it lacks some things like time remaining on a single CD track. The remote has limited functions, but this makes it more usable (ever use a Linn remote? Ick!) Lots of inputs, but only one set of outputs (bannana-plug ready).

The unit has a nice stand-by feature which keeps some of the electronics warm. It can only be out into stand-by at the remote, but powered-on using the remote or front panel.

The remote volume steps are a little too large for low-volume listening. I try not to disturb my roomate late at night, and the remote doesn't really allow for it.

Verdict: A Good Deal for small to medium rooms where high power is not required.