NAD C545BEE OR CAMBRIDGE AUDIO 740 C V2?

[admin_exported]

Hello

Recently I bought the cd player NAD C545BEE, so now my sistem is:

NAD C545BEE cd player / NAD C355BEE amplifier / B&W 684 speakers

The combination of the above NAD's are good, but not outstanding as I was expecting more of the cd player, so I would like a further improvement on the cd player. I was advised inside my budget the cd player Cambridge Audio 740C V2.

Anyone has one that can give here some opinion? Also is there a real improvement over the NAD C545BEE? Will the Cambridge bring to my system some improvement? I like the sound clear and present, dynamic, with good deep (present but not harsh) bass, clear mids and high trebles, this is why the Cambridge was advised to me.

As for the speaker cables, currently are the QED Silver Anniversary biwired, but I'm thinking of changing for the Atlas Hyper 3.0

Greetings - J.Costa

 

[matthewpiano]

I wasn't aware there was a V2 version of the 740C. As far as I know they haven't gone down that route yet.

I've had a 740C and I think it would suit your sound requirements down to the ground. Its a very talented CD player and should combine well with the rest of your system.

HOWEVER, I really think you need to tread carefully here and proper auditioning is going to be the only way whether that is in-store or using the money back promise that Richers have on the 740 and 840 series components. Don't just sell the NAD and buy the Cambridge without looking into it very carefully first.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello,

Well from what I heard, now it's the V2...if you search on the net surely you will find information about this.

I don't have a chance to listen to it first, I'm on the Azores islands, and here this is not available, I will have to do the same way as I did with the NAD C545BEE and buy it without listening to it first, and I will have to rely of the impressions of the ownsers and reviews...

You tell me to first do a proper auditioning first, is there any "catch" on this player" Will it not sound better in all aspects than the NAD C545BEE? If it does, surely it's a good bet as improving is always good...

Can you tell me some caracteristics of the 740C cd player? And why you do not have one now? did it disappoing you as a cd player?

Greetings,

J.Costa

 

[matthewpiano]

The Cambridge probably won't be 'better' than the NAD, but just different. Its a very precise and detailed sounding player that presents the recording in a very honest way. I personally found it too clinical sounding at the time and prefer the more musical and slightly warmer NAD sound from a CD player, and this is why I think an audition is important. If you can't audition the Cambridge I'd suggest looking at alternative players that you can audition.

Take it from someone who has made the mistake - buying/swapping and changing kit regularly on the basis of what other people have said/written and without audition generally only leads to disatissfaction.

 

[Anonymous]

What about the Rega Apollo? It's only £50 or so more than the CA, and a much better player than the 740C - haven't heard the V2.

 

[matthewpiano]

Tarquinh:What about the Rega Apollo? It's only £50 or so more than the CA, and a much better player than the 740C - haven't heard the V2.

Good call. Great CD player.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I had the Rega Apollo cd player at home for a weekend to try it out (courtesy of the dealer) and it's very musical and fluid, but a little "round" in the bass" and it's more a laid back cd player and I was looking for something more present, more dynamic, more sound on your face than the Rega Apollo, the Rega Apollo sounds very good but polite and I want something more bad behaved...

I'm satisfied with the sound of the NAD, not it's more musical than before and the sound it's not harsh as I thought in the begging, I'm envjoying this sound, but this upgrade desire won't fade away...

All in all, the Cambridge Audio from what I heard is a more dynamic player, more present sound than the Rega as above said, but I can not hear it before...the Dealer takes back the NAD with a 10% decrease on the price and I would have to give te difference...but I found this same player a 130 Euros cheaper ! So I'm confused and probably will sell the NAD directly to someone and buy myself this other more cheaper player, but now I'm doing a lot of thinking.

A friend told me that he had the NAD C545BEE and Cambridge Audio 740C playing side by side and the CA is far superior in every aspect of the sound, but the final judgement would be my hears...

The NAC C545BEE is a good partner for the NAD C355BEE, but not outstanding as many owners said, it it my hears that are different than the others? But the Rega sounded much better of course that's why I say the NAD combined with my amp is not outstanding, it's a good and honest combination.

J.Costa

 

[Anonymous]

Mattewpiano,

Maybe you are interested in buying my NAC C545BEE? it's only 2 weeks old...and has the different remote (shiny one as I posted here before).

Should you are interested contact me at jcosta1968@hotmail.com

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I had the Rega Apollo cd player at home for a weekend to try it out (courtesy of the dealer) and it's very musical and fluid, but a little "round" in the bass" and it's more a laid back cd player and I was looking for something more present, more dynamic, more sound on your face than the Rega Apollo, the Rega Apollo sounds very good but polite and I want something more bad behaved...

I'm satisfied with the sound of the NAD, not it's more musical than before and the sound it's not harsh as I thought in the begging, I'm envjoying this sound, but this upgrade desire won't fade away...

All in all, the Cambridge Audio from what I heard is a more dynamic player, more present sound than the Rega as above said, but I can not hear it before...the Dealer takes back the NAD with a 10% decrease on the price and I would have to give te difference...but I found this same player a 130 Euros cheaper ! So I'm confused and probably will sell the NAD directly to someone and buy myself this other more cheaper player, but now I'm doing a lot of thinking.

A friend told me that he had the NAD C545BEE and Cambridge Audio 740C playing side by side and the CA is far superior in every aspect of the sound, but the final judgement would be my hears...

The NAC C545BEE is a good partner for the NAD C355BEE, but not outstanding as many owners said, it it my hears that are different than the others? But the Rega sounded much better of course that's why I say the NAD combined with my amp is not outstanding, it's a good and honest combination.

 

[manicm]

I'm probably wide off the mark here, and this might shock, but maybe there are better pairings than with the 684s? Isn't it a bit too much with already slightly bass biased NAD amps? I think the last ounce you're missing is in the speaker and not your CDP.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I'm not sure I can understand what you mean with slightly bass biased? (sorry my born language is no English...) Please explain in other words what you mean so I can understand.

Greetings,

J.Costa

 

[matthewpiano]

The NAD amps tend towards strong bass and so do the B&W 685s.

 

[jaxwired]

matthewpiano:The NAD amps tend towards strong bass and so do the B&W 685s.

I was thinking the same thing. I have the same NAD equipment and the detail and clarity is very "in your face" on my spendors...

 

[Anonymous]

Friends,

This is a new update on my opinion on the NAD C545BEE:

The initial impression on this cd player has changed, now after a proper and longer (than I expected) run in the NAD cd player is a very fine all rounder, the harsh treble is now smoth, detailed and present enough, the bass controled and deep and the mids clear and also present and reads HDCD (it doesn't show it anywhere but decodes it).

True the sound of the NAC C355+NAD C545 and B&W 684 (not 685 as said here) presents a very pleasant sound, vibrating, dynamic and with delicacy too, but more orientated to a in your face sound than a laid back sound...this is exactly what I always liked in sound: a more in your face sound than a laid back sound, not so in your face and this is my case, is not so in my face, but in a way i like it. The bass is not over all the sound, is deep and controled and very well integrated in the sound. Sounds marvelous with the 684's

Curious what a run in can make, because at the same time the B&W 684 were also doing their run in, and not all sounds very good!

Now I'm changing the speaker cable, from QED Silver Anniversary to Atlas Hyper 3.0, as QED makes the sound a little lean. The interconnects will be changed after this.

In your case, aren't the spendor A6 speakers too much for the NAD's as they belong to a higher championship?

Greetings

P.S. - The Chord cables tends to brighten up the sound and make it more in your face, try the Atlas Hyper 3,0 and this will change and your sistem will gain a new sound...

 

[jaxwired]

There's no such thing as speakers "too good" for your electronics. Better speakers always sound better, regardless of the electronics (contrary to what some people might say). Now, you can have speakers that are too hard to drive and require special electronics, or you can have speakers that are poorly matched to your eletronics (like bright with bright), but spending too much is blather.

Ask anybody with NAD equipment if they would rather have a gift certificate for new $500 speakers or new $5000 speakers. 100% pick the latter. Why? Because they know it will sound better, not worse. It's ridiculous really.

I'm glad you are now happy with your equipment. If you remember, I told you a few weeks ago to wait a month and then decide. Whether it's equipment "run-in" or brain "run-in" (my theory), there's something about owning the equipment for awhile...

 

[Anonymous]

Hello,

Yes I remember that! And in fact you were right...thanks for that advise. About the speakers, I had the 683 at home and they sounded worst with the C355BEE, but the 684 sounded very good, in my case the more expensive speakers were not the best option and i'm glad that I didn't keep the 683...

I'm not sure if it happens the same with you, but some days seems that the system sounds worst than other days, I wonder why...

Yesterday it sounded nice, today not so nice...weird. Also somethimes I have the feeling that the sound is a bit balanced to the right side, does it gives you this impression? it gave me today, just today...

Also tell me one thing: normally at what volume you listen to music? My NAD C355BEE tends to warm up reasonably when turning up the volume, but even at low volume is also warm, with the Marantz it only warmed really when turning up the volume, with this NAD even at lower volumes it warms up...

Have you tried a HDCD in your C545BEE? It sounds great, althow there is nothing in the NAD that tells you this...

J.Costa

 

[Anonymous]

Nad C545 BEE can't decode HDCD. Only C542 can.

 

[Anonymous]

I think your problem is NAD C355BEE as I owned it and wasn't quite happy with it. It's good for the money it costs but if you want clean sound and bigger sound-stage look elsewhere. NAD C355BEE had muddy sound like someone put a veil over my speakers. Creek Destiny put a smile back on my face. Here where I live a local dealer sells Rotel + B&W combination - I've heard it and wasn't that impressed.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I've owned a CA 740c for a month now and really love it. Although I would describe it as detailed and lively, it also has a relatively natural delivery, certainly compared to the 640c I auditioned it against. It was more refined, especially with voices and in the mid range. Also sounded more refined than the 640c, which I also liked. As a bonus, don't forget it will act as an upsampling DAC for two digital sources (basically a DAC Magic), so my DVD and PVR freeview both come through the 740c.

Not sure how it woulkd compare to your NAD but it certainly has the exciting and lively sound you seek, but with real refinement as well. Guess that's a recommendation!

 

[SteveR750]

jaxwired:

There's no such thing as speakers "too good" for your electronics. Better speakers always sound better, regardless of the electronics (contrary to what some people might say). Now, you can have speakers that are too hard to drive and require special electronics, or you can have speakers that are poorly matched to your eletronics (like bright with bright), but spending too much is blather.

Ask anybody with NAD equipment if they would rather have a gift certificate for new $500 speakers or new $5000 speakers. 100% pick the latter. Why? Because they know it will sound better, not worse. It's ridiculous really.

I'm glad you are now happy with your equipment. If you remember, I told you a few weeks ago to wait a month and then decide. Whether it's equipment "run-in" or brain "run-in" (my theory), there's something about owning the equipment for awhile...

Try convicing a certain Mr Tiefenbrun of this logic! I'm not sure I espouse to the 1970's view that you should spend as much as possible on your speakers as they have ther biggest influence on your sound - after all rubbish in = rubbish out theory holds mostly true, and has a certain undeniable logic about it. However, neither do I believe that spending 90% of your system budget on your front end particularly sensible either. Ultimately its surely about balance - to achieve a good sonic balance usually means a sensible financial balance after all all "things" cost money, and better "things" usually cost more to make (as their constituent materials and intrinsic design costs are higher).