Recently reduced price in anticipation of the upcoming C542. Clean uncluttered look. Able to hook up to a digital source.

Not enough HDCD encoded discs. No headphones jack.

This review is for the C541i cd player. I am surprised that someone reviewed the NAD C542 as I was told it wasn't due for realease until January 2004! Anyway I recently upgraded from an Marantz 5 disc dvd player, to this dedicated CD player. I have to admit, it sounds quite good at this price point. Unfortunately I am not able to find some good encoded HDCD's to audition the internal HDCD decoder in the C541i. Until then I can only comment on regular cd playback, which as mentioned earlier sounds pretty darn good!

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Marantz, Denon.

My subjective perception - Even tonal balance, even frequency response, very good dynamic range, open sounding with good detail and clarity. Tuneful & extended bass (with a but ...). Well built for the $$ too.

The bass is tuneful and extended but can sound quite lean and dry. Depending on your system, it may be be a good thing.

This review is for NAD C542 (successor to C541i). All that can be said about this player is that it performs well beyond its price. My system: CD Player - NAD C542. Amplifier - MF A3CR Pre Power Combo. Speakers - Dynaudio Audience 70. Interconnects - Klotz LaGrange (custom made) all round. Speaker Cables - Chord Company Carnival. Don't want to spend too much at the moment for source and this player fits the price/performance criteria rather nicely while I wait for the killer universal player at a "magical" price.

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Marantz CD63KI. Yamaha DVD-S510.

Clear, unhindered sound. Tight bass, good timing. Good value for $ spent.

Remote is a good dog chewy...

This is for a 541i CD Player. I use it through an NAD C350 amp, kimber interconnects, Wireworlds speaker cable. I upgraded from an entry level Denon 435. The improvement is significant. Tighter bass, better timing throughout, great depth in the mid/upper range. On Beck's "Guess I'm Doing Fine" the low "B" comes through strong and deep, without boominess. Bass is consistent. Piano & vocal tones are more realistic, rock guitar doesn't get lost or over complicated (STP songs, Blink 182 etc), no coloration of sound...nice player all round. Remote control is hopeless and now works as a door stop. Looks - plain and functional - all you need!

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Compared with Rotel's new RCD-02 - nice, but lacked the NAD punch. V.s. Cambridge Audio, better clarity/definition. I've previously used Sony and Denon stuff...nothing special.

Excellent sound quality

Picky laser

Older model: c540 This review is about how to let it play CDR !!! Since I am only a casual listener, and only having this player for 2 months, I couldn't say too much on it's audio quality. Here I just want to mention the ways i discovered to let it play CDR perfectly! The laser of my c540 is kind of picky, sometimes even jump on perfectly looking original music CDs. I tried many different CDRs and CD writers. Almost all my CDRs are 'readable', but alot of noise. Black audio CDRs, green colored and silver colored CDRs has highest noise, almost unlistenable. TDK CDRs are the worst. Kodak golden is ok. Samsung is ok. The best CDR for c540 is: Verbatim (Mitsubishi) Super AZO disks! The Viny (dark blue) (1~16x speed) is ok, but still has noise. The 'Data Guard' (light blue, max 48x) disc is the BEST, it is almost 'perfect', I can hardly hear any noise (defect) in sound. CD burners: My old Yamaha is good, Philips usb is good. unexpectedly, Pacific Digital USB 2.0 32x24x48 drive is the BEST (burn at 16x speed, i haven't tried 8x or 4x yet, nero burn don't allow me to choose those speeds). And even more unexpectedly, Plextor write is the worst! lots of noise at 8x, 16x, and audiable noise at 4x. Hope my review can help c540 users to enjoy music on CDR disc

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Sony XE500, Sony DVP 650V

clear sound, resolution, simple design and remote. So far so good

I don't know of any yet and I hope to find none.....

Was debating between this and the denon dcm-380. My previous player was a pioneer 25 job and I want to take a step up in audio quality. My reviever is a denon dra-685, and that is another story. Well I have read positive reviews and negative reviews about each player but it came down to me being sold by nads mission statement. I like the utilitarian appearance and sofar it is a good bit better than the pioneer (resolution). I don't think the being made in china arguement is valid, most companies seem to be outsourcing to china. It's good for business as long as quality is not compromise which I believe it was initally in nads case but has been rectified. If not I have a 2 yr warranty.

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Pioneer 25 cd job, not the best in resolution but it worked and is in storage as a back-up.

Nice remote features.

Sound, build quality, reliability, support.

This review is for the NAD C541i. This player not only sounds hideous, but is a complete piece of garbage. Manufacturing defects galore. Not only that, but guess what? NAD has no technical support and no factory service! They only recommend service centers. If you want a reliable unit that sounds like an audiophile piece, avoid this trash at all costs.

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NAD C520, Music Hall CD25

Bags of Bass the sweetest of Treble superbe sound over the whole frequency spectrum.

None at this price range.Sounds like a player double this price

NAD CD541i Folks this is an absolutely fantastic player with any style of music.I listen to Acid jazz,Rock,Pop,Classical,its superb with all this music.Has tonnes of Bass very sweet treble and super clean midband can not fault this player.If your in the market for a new CD player do your self a favour and get this one.

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Marantz,Rotel,Sony.

Bags of Bass the sweetest of Treble superbe sound over the whole frequency spectrum.

None at this price range.Sounds like a player double this price

NAD CD541i Folks this is an absolutely fantastic player with any style of music.I listen to Acid jazz,Rock,Pop,Classical,its superb with all this music.Has tonnes of Bass very sweet treble and super clean midband can not fault this player.If your in the market for a new CD player do your self a favour and get this one.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz,Rotel,Sony.

Exceptional Sound at volume. Expandable: Can be bridged with a NAD AMP if you need "more power". Classic NAD look. Great Bass and treble. Good Times @ House Parties.

No Phono out, had to buy the NAD phono preamp. Hard to see what level the volume is at if not turning the dial manually. Technical issue experienced (see review), Hoping it doesn't reoccur.

After doing some digging into the popular opinion on this Amp (and giving it a listen in-store), I decided that I'd be a fool not to buy one. I'm happy to report that my money was well spent. It sounds great, and I get great clean sound at volume. I was using a Yamaha Stereo Reciever before I purchased this, and never knew what I was missing. It brought my JBL N38's to LIFE. I get great tonal response and the quality of the bass is such that it sounds like I've got a mini sub attached to my system! I'm an avid music collector, and all my classic rock, jazz, blues and hip-hop sound great! I can only imagine what a new cd player will add to my setup once I can afford to buy one. A couple of minor points that I ought to mention. First, take the time to "work in" this system by playing it at a resonable volume for a couple of days... It will really come into its own after that. Second, I have experienced one technical issue with the unit. After several months of playing it suddenly experienced a drastic decrease in performance. It ended up being a minor glitch that was fixed under warranty. I haven't had problems since, and I understand that it's not a common occurence with this model. I would recomend this product to anyone looking for great sound at a resonable price.

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Yamaha 400 series Stereo Reciever(1996 model year)

Great sound, HDCD capability, .

Don't like the clunky drawer. For a $500. price tag, it should open/close smooth and silent!

I purchased the 541i, It's build date is April 02. I've had no problems with this unit at all, no skiping or misreading of discs, (scratched or perfect) I've been extreamly satisfied with the sound quality. It's by far the best CD player I've had!

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91' Luxman Sony's Sharp