CDS2 Servicing and parts

IIRC there is in incompatibility with Olive XPS and the Classic series streamers and nDAC. It works, but Naim warn it is not supported and may become unstable and lead to damage.

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Yes best not to use olive xps. I recall reading they can get very hot to the point of a possible fire.
Imo keep the cds2 it could go for many more years, they seem to go for ever or die early. I personally enjoy the Prat of Naim Cd players compeared to the newer digital players. KEEP IT till it dies then put it in your man cave and enjoy its sexiness when having beers with your mates.

@feeling_zen in Yokohama atm bit hot isn’t
It!
Off to Shimokitazawa on Tuesday to check out secondhand vinyl and do a jazz cafe. Had a go in Shinjuku the other day, I found a nice mint first press scary monsters no Obi 1900¥. Man it’s hot here……

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Hi Rooster. It certainly looks hot. I moved up to Hokkaido about 4 years ago. Mrs. FZ is in Tokyo on business and the weather and crowds are reminding her of all the reasons we left.

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Had to look that up…! Not somewhere I knew, from living in Kansai… But sounds interesting.

Japan certainly is hot - very hot - at this time of year. Best avoiding if possible, by either leaving until in cools - or as @feeling_zen has done, move further North… :expressionless:

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As luck would have it was on the television the night before, my wife pointed it out. It seems to be one of those areas where the real/true (otaku) nerds go
Will report!

That’s a word I know… :slightly_smiling_face:

He he now who calls you that :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

No one. Its just a word I know from living in Japan.

The Naim DAC works fine with the Olive XPS (AFAIK it’ll even work with a later CDPS and appropriate Burndy). It’s the streamers where the Olive XPS can’t be used.

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Interesting Richard. Do you know why that is?

Not to jump into Richard’s skin and I could be wrong anyway, I think it could be the olive xps has a smaller transformer???

The size of the transformer still far far far exceeds the demands of the output.

I think there is a comment in the old forum about the actual DC output stages not having quite the current support needed for the streamers which draw ever so slightly more amperage.

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It’s because the XPS used the Supercap transformer and, as FZ states above, the streamers draw more current on one of the rails than the XPS can safely provide.

@NeilS provides a more comprehensive explanation here;

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So, once the CD players finally die, there won’t be much real-world use for the olive XPS, even given away. That’s a pity, but a 30+ year life is hardly a source for outrage on any electronics.

The olive XPS and CDPS can be used with the Naim DAC, so that’s something at least.

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Well Richard has corrected me and explained that the nDAC is usable with the Olive XPS.

If it was me, I’d future proof my investment by snapping up a second hand nDAC now, and when the player dies, send the nDAC and XPS off for a service and just add a high quality transport and call it their new (nearly) Naim CD player.

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Food for thought.

I am not sure that the nDAC sounds different from the DAC on my NDX2/XPSDR - see above. Given that, I am more likely to give the XPS to someone with an nDAC, but these are both options.

There are some jolly good CD transports out there. However, if my old ears (and those of two professional musicians) can’t really pick between Core and CDS2 on pretty much any CDs, I am not sure that (say) an Audiolab transport will add much.

There’s a lot of sense in that argument but personally I feel the NDX2 falls well short of my CDS3 in the satisfaction stakes and I can’t stretch to NDS. I’m not saying it’s not good but it just doesn’t possess the lovely smooth sound of the CDS3.
When I first saw the trade in scheme my brain went in to a whirr, but I ended up back in the same place - I love my CDS3 and don’t want to change.
Plus, my biggest gripe about the trade in scheme is it doesn’t reflect the initial outlay on the px item. Getting the same in px for a CDS3 as a CD5i doesn’t seem fair somehow.

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Owned a CDS3 with a later Mechanism with a CDP555 prior to trading this in on a CD555 which I got serviced and then added a second CDP555 to. Got to say whilst I love what I now have, I still consider the CDS3 to be a great sounding CD Player, never fatiguing and just sounds right. I can fully understand your reluctance here and such a waste for these to be put out of service. Pretty sure we will see a resurgence of CD in the coming years, market pressures have down everything to kill this off in favour or streaming and vinyl but we are still here and still listening to that spinning sil
ver disc :slightly_smiling_face:

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Without the XPSDR on the NDX2 (which is how I had the NDX2 for a couple of years), the CDS2 was clearly better.

With the PS, some streams were better than my CD played on the CDS2 and some worse, but the difference is largely or entirely driven by the chosen version of CD or stream, not the boxes themselves.

Many claim that using a 555PS instead would is another upgrade - so it should be, given the cost.