I have a CDI but given the age I want to buy a mid-range one for replacement, what do you recommend?
I had a CD5X for a while which was a great player. I would in fact consider another for an office system. I had the FlatCapX also. Both could be had for less than Ā£1k these days. I believe the XS version is a further upgrade but at more money. Whatever you decide to buy will need to be used as Naim have stopped making CD players of the type you are looking for.
The CDX2 is very good however it needs a very good support to really sing.
The logical āup to dateā equivalent replacement for a CDI would be a CDX2. In most ways, its performance is a big improvement over the CDI, although itās not as characterful as the older player, and certainly the CDI has a way with playing music that is highly engaging and entertaining that even the CDX2 may find difficult to match.
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Listen to a cd5si. Ok, perhaps not mid range. In fact it is both top, mid and bottom range now!
Yes, it has no way to upgrade a power supply not any digital out. So, there is pretty much zero tweaking to be done. You just have to listen to your music. It will either fill your need or not. New/ ex demo for Ā£900. But be quick, Naim will not be making these for ever.
+1
IME, youāll struggle to get anything as good as the first generation Naim players in terms of musical engagement/involvement, so, if you can get one, how about another CDI? 
You could go down the S/H route and get a bargain CDS3 or even a 555. With the factory backup on equioment no longer manufactured you have no worries about servicing.
At the moment Naim can fully service CDS3 and CD555, even my CDI had a good service in November 2019. As it has an internal power supply it was a big improvement, looked and sounded like new. Problem with CDIās is there are no laser mechanisms left, if this fails the CDI has had it.
Looking at buying āmid-rangeā the CDS3 and CD555 head units could be considered bargains but both need a separate power supply. CDS3, starting with XPS is the least expensive option but the CD555 needs a 555 PSU.
Not tried this myself but affordable upgrade path would be CDX2 (which has an internal power supply for use out the box) then a dedicated power supply, nDAC and further upgraded power supplies.
Of course, you can just run the CDX2 if you are happy.
Iām slightly amused at a Ā£4k (when new) CD player being described as āmid-rangeā, but I can vouch for a CDX2 sounding great straight out of the box. Mine is a 2004 model, so not a so-called ā.2ā model, and itās still on its original VAM1202 mech, but sounds wonderful nonetheless. If youāre happy taking the gamble that an older player will keep going for a while yet, I would say there are some great bargains out there to be had on the s/h market.
Mark
Hi Ebor, your right, My mid-range is your bargain and his b/@@%# waste of money.
The Naim CDI has crazy engineering.
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