Cd5si

What are people’s thoughts on the cd5si… moved to no CD player 6 months ago and am missing the playing of actual cd’s…
Moved from Uniti / Serve… could never discern much difference in quality between the player in the Uniti and the one in the serve.
Have now moved to Nova and Core , which I am delighted with ( proac response db3 )…As said before I would like the option of physically playing cd’s
What are people’s thoughts ? … I know I could just rip and then play , but sometimes just want to check a cd for content/ quality before ripping ( I also think the act of playing the actual cd is somehow more “rewarding” )
Is the cd5si a good idea or not ? In others view ?
Steve.

I had one till this time last year but sold it through zero use in its final few months after buying an ND5XS. I have to say when I sold it the buyer obviously wanted a demo and I remember thinking how brilliant it was compared to that streamer. I’d certainly buy another if I was in the market for another CD player.

Stephen Tate is your man on this one, Steve, since I’m pretty sure he has one.

Personally, the habit of playing CDs has not left me but I know it has for others. Enjoy your music.

C.

1 Like

Absolutely. The CD5si is a very fine player indeed, Naim’s best entry level player ever IMHO! I use my one a daily basis and it never ever fails to disappoint, always entertaining, in toe tapping fashion with all genres of music. I know CD seems to have been forgotten about in recent times but when you hear a CD5si you will ask why? I will say go ahead and try one, you may be pleasantly surprised. I also run mine with a Hi-Line interconnect cable where it gives the player that extra bit of sophistication and more organic sounding. I also think the newer mech is much better than the old VAM1202 ones from old. I find it loads quicker, skips tracks quicker and runs quieter than my old CD5i ever did.

1 Like

It is a great CD player, I bought one last year and it was what made me buy Naim gear. I had a MF A1 amp that one day failed to power up so I took it to a local dealer for repair. While in the shop I got talking about how my system hadn’t changed in 30 years and I asked about upgrades to bring it up to date. Their first suggestion was speakers to replace my Rogers LS2’s so I auditioned the Rega RX3 and Spendor A2’s. The Spendors were certainly better than the Regas but neither really beat my Rogers and certainly it wasn’t worth the £1600 asking price for the Spendors for at best a tiny improvement in sound quality.

It was then the dealer asked if I had perhaps considered a new CD player and he brought out the CD5si. He played it back through my A1 amp and Rogers speakers that I had taken along and I was blown away by how good it sounded compared to my Arcam Alpha and I walked out of the shop with it. Since then I’ve added a Nait XS2 and a pair of PMC twenty5.22 speakers and the CD player sounds terrific through that.

3 Likes

I can’t part from my cd player too. My wife is using it often. 2yrs ago I auditioned a hicap for my supernait and the dealer used a cd5si to demonstrate the difference. The 5 level player was clearly capable enough to show the difference.

Cd5si ordered from Darren and the guys at The Audio Room in Hull !
Could not wish to meet a better bunch ! …excellent facilities and enthusiasm for what they do.
Just need to make a space now…and then there’s the question of a Hiline :grin:

2 Likes

You won’t be disappointed
I stopped using my si when I got the core…And when I eventually decided to sell …The new owner had a demo and I was completely blown away by how good it sounded ( after a days warm up …It sounded crap first off )

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.