hooking up my cdp directly to amp?

The c541 does not have a variable output which means some form of attenuation is required before feeding the signal to your amp. If you do go direct into a power amp with the NAD, put your fingers in your ears as you hit the play button.

very sorry for the dumb question i shoulda tried it before posting. thanx Kevin

You will gain a lot of transparency, if the CDP has the voltage output to sufficiently drive your power amp and you use a good attenuator. You have a Pioneer receiver hooked up to a power amp?

Let's review. I believe that the manuals you have been reading may not have been as explicit/clearly-worded as would be ideal.

A receiver actually contains three different components, all in one box:
(1) a tuner (=source) (just like the CD player is a source)
(2) a preamp
(3) a power amp.

An integrated amplifier usually contains two different components:
(1) a preamp
(2) a power amp.

[let's not worry about no-gain control amps]

A power amp is, well, a power amp.

In this context, using the term "amp" is so ambiguous as to make it utterly useless.

We need to know a couple of things to make helpful posts/responses.

Are you running:
(1) CD player--to--receiver--to--loudspeakers; OR
(2) CD player--to--receiver used as preamp--to power amp--to loudspeakers?

I have no idea whether the Pioneer has "pre-amp out" jacks, so I have no idea whether (2) is possible or not.

I'm sure Timrhu is correct that the NAD does not have a variable output. So somewhere else in the chain there has to be a volume control, on the receiver used as a receiver or on the receiver used as a preamp. If you do also own a separate power amp, if you connect the CD player directly to it, prepare to buy a whole new system tomorrow.

I'm still not sure what you're really trying to achieve. More "transparency"? More "impact"? More....?

I and others on other threads have already remarked that the PSB speakers probably deserve a better pre/power combo or integrated amp than you're currently (no pun intended) driving them with.

Hope this helps/clarifies...

Yes , you can use your CDP to amp directly.
However, since your CDP doesn't have the volume control - the attenuator with volume control MUST be used.
Here is the link to one:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue19/endlerattenuators.htm