Just wanted to let everyone know about this GREAT price on the NAD C740 from www.expressaudiovideo.com. List is $499. The unit sounds like $4999!!! Clear, sharp, clean. What more could you want?

I replaced an inexpensive Sony receiver with the NAD C740, and replaced the cheap interconnect and speaker cable with the Kimber PBJ interconnect and 4PR speaker cable. I have Polk RT8 and Paradigm Mini Monitor speakers, and a Sony CA7ES CD player. The difference in sound quality between the Sony and the NAD receivers was remarkable!
The highs went higher, the bass sounded more coherent, and for the first time, I can really start to hear soundstaging and imaging in my system. My old Sony receiver was rated at 70wpc. The NAD C740 is rated at 35wpc -- technically, half the power of the Sony. However, the NAD has considerably MORE power! It's amazing how the advertised wpc of the units do not describe their actual performance.

I would encourage anyone who loves music and is still using a mass-market receiver as their amplifier to spend the money (about $400) on this receiver. You will not regret it.

In its price range, I think that it's a 5!

Tired of mass-produced A/V stereo receivers with high wattage ratings that sound like junk? NAD has the answer in the C-740. Its modest power rating belies its useful output potential and sonic capability. It's sound is definately entry level audiophile class. The new NAD "C" series apparently is sourced from a different assembly house, being made in Malaysia instead of Taiwan. So, some departure from previous NAD appearance is evident. Parts quality remains good. Price is a bit high considering the current Asian exchange rate.
While I've auditioned and compared it with separate components (amp/ preamp/ tuner), I also compared it with an older Yamaha RX-460 50w/ch receiver. The NAD immediately demonstrated it's ability to provide excellent bass "punch" and "weight" with detail and imaging without HF grain. NAD does great things with amplifiers: their amps can source current-- necessary for a great bottom end. The C-740's amp demonstrated its sonic superiority over the Yamaha, which isn't too bad in its own right when driving less demanding speakers. (In fairness, the Yamaha cost a lot less than the NAD and is an older design.)

The tuner is also quite good with excellent sensitivity, and selectivity, slightly quieter than the Yamaha, but not by too wide a margin. The NAD tuner sounds brighter than the Yamaha--but also brighter than my reference tuner which bests both units in overall performance by a respectable margin.

Ergonomically, however, I preferred the Yamaha. Its controls (and display) are more user friendly, making station programming and overall operation easier. The NAD remote is a "point and shoot," requiring it to be aimed directly at the unit to work. The NAD's controls lack the Yamaha's nice "feel" and responsiveness. The Yamaha is more compact (less depth) for easier placement on a bookshelf. But, these are quibbles that are less important than the sound performance.

With everyone making A/V receivers, high quality stereo receivers are becoming more scarce. Glad to see that NAD decided to make a unit that performs so well.

I had resisted replacing my old Sony receiver until one channel basically stopped working.
The Sony sounded ok at very low volume levels, but as soon as it was turned up, it was kind of harsh and muddy.

I bought this NAD because of the remote and tuner, and the good reviews their amps had gotten. I actually got it mail order without ever hearing it.

But I have to say that on plugging it in I was very pleased with its performance. Everything sounded much more defined and clearer. It was as if thick grey sludge had been wiped from a dirty window, allowing the sunshine to stream through.

The radio reception was less amazing. Though much better than the Sony, it still doesn't seem to get as many stations as I'd hoped. So I'm getting a half-wave antenna and will see whether that improves matters.

As to the operation of the unit, I have a few quibbles:
- on-off button turns it really off and the remote won't work unless you turn it back on again. There's no way from the front panel to put it in the sleep mode the remote puts it into.
- the motorized volume control has very little fine control at low levels, so I can't set it to low background music using the remote, though I can adjust medium levels or turn it off.
- the remote doesn't work with other company's equipment (not universal)
- the receiver has no switched utility power outlets, so I can't turn off my CD player using the on/off switch of the receiver or the remote.

But given the sound quality and overall value, I still have to rate this four stars.

Neutrality, ability to remain dynamic even with compressed music

It's a receiver, so none for such a product

Nice unit overall. I am very glad to see there are still a few two channels manufacturers out there. For receiver, it is very dynamic, even driving my Dyn A50s which are a 4 Ohm load, with low sensitivity. Never tends to sound bright, or over emphasize the low frequencies. Fairly neutral, and overall accurate. To me, very similar to my Audiolab 8000s.

Similar Products Used:

Audiolab 8000s

clean sound, great tuner, Very loud for a claimed 35 Watts

The remote is very directional at times, but no audio complaints at all

I tried the C730 and the C740 and the choice was clear the C740 was so much louder and drove the bass so much better. Mached with my B&w 602 S2 speakers this system sounds incredible at the price. I've heard some much higher end stuff (roksan amp) of late and it wasn't that much better.

The soft clipping does distroy the sound but I only turn it on in a party situation so who cares.

Overall the system sounds incredible on many different types of music and even preforms great (not fantasically) on classical music. I just need to upgrade to a better cd and I'll be set.

Similar Products Used:

old Yamaha reciever and panasonic /adcom pre/power pair.

quality, sound clarity

I have owned this receiver for almost 2 years. While I will not repeat the below reviews, I must tell you that it has performed flawlessly. It provides plenty of power for my medium-sized listening room. The sound reproduction is excellent; the quality of the unit has been excellent. I am quite impressed with NAD.

Quality

none yet

Got the C740, a C520 cd player, and paradigm mini monitors for my dorm room. Together, they sounds great. Best system you could buy for $900.

C740 seems nice, definately has enough power to run most speakers. We hooked them up to some floorstanding Klipsch's and it sounded great even when turned up loud.

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Sony, Panasonic, technics stuff

A few months ago I finally decided that it was time to upgrade my $400(Cdn) Panasonic bookshelf system to something a little higher end. I don't what prompted the decision. Maybe it was because I blew the driver on the left speaker. Maybe it was because the CD player developed a nasty habit of skipping whenever it was used. Maybe I just got sick of the fact that it sounded like crap.
I decided to upgrade slowly: first would come a receiver (or maybe an integrated amp -- there's not much good stuff on radio anyhow) and speakers, then a cd player, followed by a DAC... after that the upgrade schedule got a little fuzzy. So yours truly went out, with a budget of approximately $1500 for speakers and something to drive them, and did a little shopping.

I originally chose a system that mated a NAD 314 integrated amp with Acoustic Energy 109 speakers. I found the NAD was very silent compared to other amps, sounded a little laid back, but provided dynamics to the music that belied its power rating. My sheer laziness convinced me of the need for a remote, and I decided that I might as well spend the extra $150 for the darn radio as well. Hence my decision to move up to the C740.

I was particularly impressed with its handling of the 109s, which are bi-wired 6ohm three-way speakers. There's a nice depth and sparkle to the sound, perhaps a little bright. The unit can play LOUD as well (the speakers are rated at 91dB sensitivity), losing little dynamic range. My neighbours never leave the house so I have yet to try peeling paint with sheer volume, but listening at reasonable levels is much more pleasant than my old econobox Panasonic system.

Radio reception is quite clear -- but I have to sort out the positioning of the ribbon antenna to get all the desired stations coming in. A useless look-what-my-receiver-can-do feature of the C740 is the ability to label the radio stations with a name (up to 8 characters) -- I guess NAD felt bad for us RDS-deprived listeners.

Set-up is quick and easy. The manual is very straightforward, lacking perhaps a section on specs and maybe an illustration of the remote (which would be kind of redundant anyhow - everything is labeled exactly as you'd expect). I never was one that found wiring stuff up to be rocket science anyhow. I still have to sort out the tape 1/2 monitoring stuff, as the manual is a little less than generous with details on this. Or maybe I just got bored reading about I featured I currently have no need for.

As for the design and engineering -- well, it's a gray box with darker gray buttons on the front. Seems solid enough. Attractive in an industrial way. One annoyance is the fact that the little notch on the volume know isn't contrasted from the rest of the unit. If you listen to music in dimly lit surroundings as I do (I dunno, sight detracts from hearing) then it's hard to see what the volume is set at and you may give yourself a good solid (and unintentional) blast of sound when switching between input sources.

I'll submit a review of the AE109s when I have a decent CD player to reference them with. So far so very good though -- I can see why they are award winners.

So to sum up: the NAD sounds good. It looks good, except for the remote (what was the thinking here, that we'll make one side longer than the other to draw the eye away from the rest of the boring surface?). Value is good too... I give it 4 stars. The little niggles I mentioned and slight forwardness of the sound keep it from a 5 on 5.

SYSTEM (so far):
NAD C740
Acoustic Energy 109's
Gale speaker wire

Sound quality for price

No digital input

Do not be misled by the power numbers--this thing blows
consumer-grade components (e.g. Sony, JVC) with more
than double the power rating completely out of the water.
If what you care about is listening to the music the way
the music should be heard, this is a steal. Terrific
soundstage, great imaging. Maybe a little bright for some.

My old Proton D940 died (a dark day) and I needed a replacement. I auditioned just about everything else in the price range, and nothing really excited me. So I took a chance and bought the NAD without hearing it first. I had some reservations about doing this--until I fired up the C740, and all reservations went out the window.

It may also be hard to find one of these, as there aren't a lot of NAD dealers in the U.S., so it may be hard to audition it for yourself. But for the money, you can't go wrong--far, far better than anything you'll find in a Best Buy or a Circuit City. Well worth the effort.

Similar Products Used:

Proton D940