40 watt amp with 8 ohm speakers

I'm not familiar with those Ohm speakers, but 40 watts is probably sufficient for most applications. If I recall correctly, only their old Walsh type drivers were really low efficiency.

As for a good budget CD player, I suggest you look at Oppo dvd players. I use a DV-980H. You'll spend lot less than $500 and later on if you get the upgrade bug you can buy an external DAC (which is what I did).

Best of luck to you.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer

Depends if the amp has some current limiting feature. Its not the power but the short impulse current peaks that limit the power more than a steady state power rating. Maybe this is why people say tubes "sound" more powerful than solid state. I think NAD has some soft clipping feature which may or may not limit current flow.

If they are they CAM/PRO-32: the efficiency is 90db/1w/1m and 6 ohms nominal. That means your SS NAD(which has a lot of reserve in the power supply anyway) will output slightly more wattage than it's 8 ohm rating. With that efficiency, the speakers will produce very satisfying SPLs. You should be well pleased with the combo's performance. CDP: If you can find one of these used, it should go well with the rest of your system and it's easily upgradable: (http://www.upscaleaudio.com/view_category.asp?cat=50) some AudioGoner comments: (http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1142238133&read&keyw&zz++tjoeb) It seems Kevin used to have a trial period with the units. He may still. Hard to go wrong when you can audition the piece in your own system. If you happen to find one: Install a pair of Siemens E188CCs for a real musical treat!

40 watts should be enough if you don't listen to your music at very loud levels. Those Ohm speakers are rated at 90dB/watt. Here is a link from Ohm Walsh on the specs of your speakers: http://www.ohmspeakers.com/store_item_detail.cfm?item_ID=10&cart_ID=425217576688

Would also second Duke's suggestion on getting on Oppo. I had an Oppo DV-970HD which sounded pretty good for the price. For your budget, you could go for their top-line 983. Or if you just want a CD player, the Cambridge Audio 540 or 640 have had excellent reviews in your price range. Currently AudioAdvisor has a demo 640 for sale around $500.

Slbenz