I have a question…having been out of the hi fi scene for a good few years I have come back to discover that Naim don’t make a premium CD player similar to the CDS any more as far as I can make out. So why is this?
Is it a market issue or a SQ issue?
Market issue. CDs are becoming redundant.
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I think more a market issue - so many people have moved on to streaming that it does not make sense to invest in building a CD player that can compete.
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Naim said quite emphaticaly that they would continue to make CD players al long as people continued to buy them. Purely a demand issue.
There are also issues with parts availability. For example, Naim discontinued some players because they had stockpiled all the available mechs for them, but decided that their remaining stocks were only sufficient to provide spares for the service dept.
To add to Chris’s comments, specifically, the then Naim Managing Director Trevor Wilson told me they had just discontinued the CDX2 because they couldn’t get the mechanisms and only had enough stock to support throughout their life those CDX2s that they had already sold, and not because there was no demand for CDX2s any more.
Best
David
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Most super hi end firms have still very fine cd players on the market.Also some new models.
Yes this is true. And i was with David when the the managing director said they were running out of mechanisms for the CDX2. Others have sourced or made their own mechanism, Naim seem to have decided its streaming that is important, not cd players for the future.
It seems a shame, i saw an Accuphase cd player recently and thought, Naim could do just as well? But i guess they feel the numbers do not stack up.
I bought an ex-demo CDX2…I don’t use it that often but I like the fact it is there when I feel like listening to it…
Could have done with one when Qobuz went down last weekend…a bit of a wake up call for me.
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If you have thousands of albums on the nas it’s not an issue. No need for an expensive CD player that sits there doing nothing much.
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I have a CDS3 and I am blown away by the sound quality, best I have ever heard.
Naim can still service and support most of their CD players and there are some bargains available.
I would recommend you read the reviews on line, see what’s available and buy one. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
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I agree, if you have lots of CD’s, surely investing in a uniti core or such like, ripping bit perfect and then having some database of choice is a far better way of doing things now?
Hi @popeye. Appreciate you weren’t replying to my post but…
I demoed this and didn’t rate it against my CDI. Not saying this was the “right “ outcome but there’s also a lot of work ripping your CD’s etc. Playing a CD is half the work of playing Vinyl and no one seems to mind visiting the LP12 every 15 mins to turn over the 12 inch 45.
Chances are they’ll be a better platform or software for files next week anyway. Many seem to have ripped and dumped their CD’s and as the technology advances they’ll be stuck with “unlistenable” old tech SQ.
Sorry about that, I’ll try and calm down.
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Strangely enough I’m listening to a CD at the moment -strange as I don’t have a CD player or transport.
The latest Auralic firmware (7.0) adds the ability to play CDs on my Aries G2. It rips on the fly to the Aries RAM buffer and even goes off and gets metadata and art.
Very handy if like me there is an ever increasing pile to be ripped and you just want to listen to one of them immediately.
I’m impressed with the sound of the Aries and certainly I’m not detecting any great difference between ripped music or CD, not surprising I suppose as both are played form the Aries memory.
I now have CD replay that sounds better than the CD555 I once owned.
.sjb
Yes, spinning a CD this very moment and like many members of this forum, I have over five hundred Cds that can easily be ripped.
I saw it coming the ease and convenience of streaming, the 21st century is here!
CD555, ND555, and a fully loaded LP 12 could easily set someone back a bundle of 
.
In sum, two out of three ain’t bad!
Of Course, the two out of three depends on ones situation.
Enjoy your Music!
The Why.
Allante93.
I don’t mind paying a surcharge to upgrade my CDS3 to a streaming option but I haven’t heard one yet that comes close to my CDS3 without that surcharge being inordinately expensive. I know streaming in some form or another has been around for a few years already but it still seems to be remarkably immature given the pace of change.
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Let me be clear…I’m a photographer and believe me…images look and are just better printed than they are in pixels.
The analogy here is having a ‘something’ that you can see, touch and hold has got to be better that it disappearing into the ether…so while I get that ‘streaming is the future’…maybe…and was reminded of the streaming stuff when my son announced that ‘Dad…you don’t buy music these days’…well I do!..I prefer the to have and to hold method!
PS…I know I will regret this post in a year or so! 
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Dear All,
I’m really interested in this topic, since I own an old (but excellent) 5x cd + flatcap2x and I’m wondering how to improve my (only) source to match with my 202-200DR combo (I have only cds). And yes, other important brands in the highend sector continue to have at least one reference cdplayer on the market (on the other hand, I continue to buy CDs).
Preamble: I only listen to cds (no vinyl nor internet, streaming etc.) and, telling the truth, I am not so inclined towards the IT aspects of music reproduction (apps, firmware, internet updates …).
Some questions that I would like to discuss with you:
- Is it qualitatively better listen to CDs through a CD player or ripped and listen through a streamer?
- As AJK previously suggested, is it so annoying for you to take a cd from the case and insert it in the cdplayer? And the “physical” pleasure of seeing the packaging and reading the album information booklet?
Thank you in advance for any contribution in this regard, it’s always a pleasure to follow this forum for (many) years!
Regards
David
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As @Allante93 might think, I am a bit of a dinosaur and need to work on this. Should start a new thread but as this is so basic I don’t expect many would post. Final thoughts are @popeye also pointed in this direction but my experience was the musicality wasn’t there yet. At your level it obviously gives great sound and someone who wants to play CD’s could just play a CD once, put them away and start ripping again if the technology changes. It also looks VFM against some other options. But I do love my CDS3.
Going back to @c2photo’s original question. From other posts and threads the general view is that streaming is replacing CD. This was a great opportunity for Naim to grow sales into a new category and also attract new younger buyers who would hopefully progress to Classic etc. With limited room for expansion at the Salisbury factory low volume CD production was replaced by the high volume range of “new technology” products.
But fast moving technology is expensive for manufacturers who constantly have to pump money into R&D and also pick the right direction to take. There is a thread looking for a new 272 to fill a gap and it must be a worry that early ND555 owners seem to be moving on. £21k for a source compares with an LP12 but “non dinosaurs” looking for the sexiest product can find great one box solutions
But if you like CD there are fantastic pre-owned Naim players that will be fully supported for many years…I hope.
Hi C2photo,
If you are looking for a replacement cd player, then add my name to the list of CDS3 fans. Mine replaced a CDX2 and was significantly more resolving, while also being able to make music just flowwwww. AT today’s prices, a CDS3 head unit is £1,500-2,000, which is a ridiculous bargain. Sure, it needs an XPS or 555PS as well but it is still outrageously good value. And Naim still supports it.
I have now switched across to streaming but like @Elfer found that a streaming system that outperforms a CDS3/555PSDR is a lot more expensive. We are talking a server plus ND555/555PS or Chord M Scaler & DAVE, either of which is considerably dearer than a new CDS3 would have been, let alone the used bargain that it is today.
Hope this helps, BF
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