The best you could get for the price on the market!

Remot

I think this cd player is great! I used a Denon 375 before and it sucks if a compare it with the NAD 540. There is only one bad thing related to the 540 and thats the remote, it sucks!!!!! But i could recomend this cd player to all people!!!! =o)

I use this CD with a NAD 340 and Dali 104 and a prism 22 signal cable.

Very detailed and clear.

None that I am aware of yet, except may be could be a bit better looking.

There were no other players that I listened to that came close in that price range. I found that when I introduced the CD player into my system everything sounded smoother and as if I had replaced my speakers as well, it was great. The imaging on my Rebecca Pidgeon CD was astounding and precise.
Highly recommended budget CD player for anyone that wants a big improvement over the entry level players out there.

clear, detailed sound, good definition of the sounds in space.

The disk tray seems really weak....

After waiting for 3 weeks, this c540 was finally there... A :ittle problem between the dealer in france (JM-Lab) and my shop.
I had befor a CD1020 Marantz, who gave me a very fine, detailed sound, but after the listening on a DENON DCD735 (20 bits processor), I felt that I missed something ...
I wanted, at first, buy a USD 400 DENON DCD-1550 (dual 20-bits proc.), fut found some reviews of the C524 and C540 NAD cd players and their 24-bit Burr-brown processors.
I took finally the C540, and this was really a reveal with my Onkyo amp. and JM-LAB Cobalt Loudspeakers ...
Sound is very precise, detailed, mediums are really great, the "applause" (sorry, I can't remember the right word in English :)! ) of the public on an unplugged album are so real ... Pianos and acoustic guitars are in front of yours...
The DCD-1550 didn't made the same impression to me...

Finally, after the reading of the others reviews here, I feel how important are the other elements ... I don't really see this cd-player with a low budget yamaha amp and too warm speakers... it would be... "too much"

But I think the Onkyo amp. drives the JM-Lab speaker the good way, and this C540 reveals its full qualities here, and it's true that the tweeters of the JM-Lab is here for something... The highest frequencies are just a bit, to be a little critical, short....

So 5 stars for value... try to find equal qualities for this price !

And 5 stars also for the rating, for the global quality (excepted the tray !!!), and the benefits mad to my whole system... !

Similar Products Used:

Marantz CD1020 (bitstream)

Great, exact sound

nothing ,for now

Before I purchase this NAD 540 model I never believe that the CD can make a real difference. I have listen my old TEAC multiplayer with Marantz PM 4000 integrated amp, KEF Q35 speakers, Liberty interconnects and Monster cables (sorry I didn't remember the model) and I had a pretty good quality of sound. Recently I upgrade my system to NAD C540 and the difference is huge. The sound is clear, precise, very deep and reach. I mostly listen to the classical music and I think that NAD C540 is the optimal. It's very simple, very elegant and the sound is great!

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Teac pd1600(?) multiplayer

I've suffered through the burn-in period of 25+ hours. The sound is clean and detailed. My biggest gripe is it skips on the CD-R's I created. I've tested 74-min and 80-min CD-R's and I think the 80-min ones are the problem. Both CD-R's play fine on my old cheapie Sony single disk CD deck and my car stereo (BMW/Alpine in a Z3).

The skips occur after one minute of the song and are never in the same exact spot. It can skip anywhere from 1:03 to 1:40.

On commercially available CDs, there is no skipping.

I bought the C540 to record digitally to my DAT. I have a music studio where I need to record my own CD-Rs and have digital transfers done from them from time to time. Skipping is not acceptable.

Is skipping a problem encountered only during burn-in?

Looks and overall sound...very detailed.

None noted.

I have used this product for over six months now and it continues to improve. I have not had any of the problems discussed in the reviews below. I would highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a simple inexpensive ($400) CD player. It works great with my NAD 317 integrated. If you looking for a top of the line, no comprise player you will need to spend more money and look elsewhere.

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Parasound 2000 Ultra
TEAC VRDS 20
Denon

Nicely designed with typical NAD austere styling. Nice warm
sound with decent level of detail

God-awful quality control and terrible transport.

I bought this unit based on reviews and NAD reputation. Their literature and WEB page touted its transport as being
designed to track flawed and damaged CDs. The player I was
replacing was a 15 year old Magnavox so I expected a big
improvement. I was not disappointed. The sound improved
greatly and I rediscoverd my CDs. Again, though, I was
replacing an antique player. From the very first disc I
played, the player skipped badly. In fact, I don't think
it could play one entire track without at least one hicccup.
I was extremely disappointed since my old player had never
skipped once and I had a $50 portable player that didn't
do it. Even my car CD player had never done anything like
this. I took it back to the dealer and he said another
one would be in shortly. Over the next month or so, I called
the dealer once or twice a week(he never called me). All
I got was promises. I finally got fed up and boxed up the
player and took it back. I demanded to use the floor model
until my new player came in which they agreed to. The new
one worked fine, but a year later the dealer has never
called me to pick up a new player. I didn't push the issue
since I finally had one that worked and was not very
confident a new one would work. After a while, although
the player sounded good, I decided to buy a MSB Link III
DAC to see if that would improve the sound. I really was
surprised because the MSB took the sound to the next level. Greater detail and the soundstage became much larger, and
huge on some discs. I am very happy with this combination and it is just the stock model with no upgrades or tweaks.
My system components include Rotel 995 preamp, Musical
Fidelity AC3r power amp, and NHT VT-2 speakers with
Straightwire interconnects and Better Cable speaker cables.
To sum up, this player is pretty good if you can get one
that tracks properly. But between the horrible quality
control and my treatment by the dealer, I would never buy
another NAD product of any sort.

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None

THERE IS NO BETTER PLAYER FOR UNDER 600 (AND TRUST ME, I TRIED TO FIND ONE)

THERE ARE MORE REVEALING PLAYERS

I looked long and hard (and drove alot of folks crazy) trying to find a great player for a manageable price. The Marantz is exceptionally clear and revealing. What out for the highs, however. If not perfectly matched, they can cause pain (and indeed hurt with my B&W CDM 7 SEs). The Cambridge was heavy in the mids and not great base. The Adcom frankly wasn't worth the money.

I liked an old NAD 522 I had and thought I'd give the 540 a try. Amazing! Blew them all away. Perfect in its musicality (though still with acceptable clarity). Highs are tight though COMPLETELY non-fatiguing. Mids are downright sweet. Lows fill the room. This CD player takes your speakers to another level - makes them sound bigger with a warm, full sound.

This is a near perfect player for jazz and classical. I agree with some of the reviews that mention it's less than ideal for good ol rock and roll. It does fine here, however.

For value, I'd give it 6 stars on a scale to five. I can't express what a value this thing is.

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Marantz 6000ose, Cambridge Audio D500, Adcom 700

sound

reliability

I bougth the NAD 541 two weeks ago.
From the first moment I was impressed from the sound of this player.What a difference to my 18 year old Philips.
The soundstage was much deeper and everything sounded more "realistic" almost "analog".
But 3 or four hours later, the first problem:
When I tried to switch from track 1 (for example)to a track with a number higher then 10 the player was not able to find it. But it worked if I switched step by step from track 1 to 5 to 10 to 12 and so on...
The next surprise was a tracking problem.Some of my CDs made the typical "clicks", which I have never heard on my Philips.
So I changed the unit.
The new unit was even worse.He played with less "Tracking -Noises" but very often the display showed me "no disk" and the player was not willing to do his job.
I treat my CDs very well, there are generally no fingerprints or scratches or something on it.
Even my (low cost)CD-ROM-Drive in my PC played those CDs without any troubles.
The austrian-general distributor promised to repair this bugs, but I decided to change for another brand of player,
because I have no confidence in this brand any more.
BTW, I sent a message to NADs "guestbok", but there was no answer.
I will never buy a product from NAD.

Remark: The 3 Stars value assume that the unit ist working without problems.

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philips cd202

Pace, good bass, aggressive without losing control. As good as some high end players.

I had one which skipped and took it back. Seems a common problem. Musically not a blemish.

I had one CD540 whiched skipped on the first track of most of my CD's. Because it sounded fantastic I nearly decided to live with the problem. Common sense prevailed and I took it back. The new one is perfect. Plays CDR's. Compared to the old Marantz CD46 there is more pace and exitement with the 540. The 540 actually plays minutely faster in real time anyway. With the Marantz the sound is extremely accurate. The sound of the skin of drums has a real quality which even the 540 cannot match. But for everything else the 540 is better...high end. I'm sure if they did not have skip problems, they all would get a universal 5 stars. The Arcam 7SE is the most overatted player I have had. Strings, high range female vocals, trumpets etc. have a tone like tea with 9 sugars. Sweet enough to make one sick, not true to life, and not the pace of the 540. The Nad grabs the attention with it's dynamic, attacking and clear style with an extraordinarily wide and deep soundstage. Top notch.

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Marantz CD46, Arcam 7SE, Arcam 8R amp, Musical Fidelity B1 amp, Precious Metals Coppertech Audioconnects, Cabletalk speaker Cables, Kef Cresta 2 Speakers. Tannoy Mercury Speakers.