You can’t be Cyrus
There are plenty of new cd players you can buy now if you really want one.
I certainly wouldn’t hold my breath for naim to come to your rescue on this, as they have made it fairly clear.
Unfortunately, the market to repair these is just not worth the investment needed, the only hope would be a small independent doing something, but as said how many realistically will be coming through his door to make it work?
Cyrious?
I was sometimes tempted to take my broken Cyrus iii to the factory to see what they could do with it, given that Cyrus themselves have dropped support. I never did ask. I still have it in a box.
I’d very much doubt the same works in reverse either!
FYI Steve Sells used to work at Cyrus.
Well summarised. Its simply not worthwhile - unless it was to be a kitchen table sort of operation, done as a near hobby.
Interesting thread, demand will ultimately determine whether anyone steps forward and can see this as an opportunity in the market to pick up these Naim players and keep them spinning. I do own a Naim CDS3 player, this was purchased used from Tom Tom Audio but the mechanism had already been replaced, I was told this should last me 10 years, I guess the amount of use will play a part in this. Each to their own in respect of formats, CD is my vinyl as grew up with this, physical format is essential for my whole listening experience and I know many feel the same, demand will drive this and interesting to see lots of new CD players still being made, this is very encouraging and these companies do their research! In respect of CD rip and play vs direct cd play, I tend to think that music was never intended to be perfect in its playback, when we consider vinyl for example, I would think even with the same LP this would in theory sound a little different every time it is played given how the format works. Some of the very best sounding Dacs are used by Audio Note who look to bypass any correction paths to keep things natural and musical, Naim CD player most definitely musical
I had two new Cyrus CD players. Both were good but not close to CDS3.
Well, the CDS2 is much more engaging as it possesses a greater sense of rhythm, and the instruments sound more realistic. It creates a wall of sound with plenty of grip and attack when necessary, yet it can also be gentle and sweet when the music requires it. The ND555, on the other hand, is perfect in terms of accuracy but lacks a certain “soul” that’s difficult to explain precisely.
How did you compare them to come to that conclusion ?
I see from your activity that you have a 500 non dr system, with Kudos 707, Nd555, Cd555.
Have you still the Cds2?
Most went from Cd555 to Nd555 and prefer the later. Dark Bear and @Steve for example.
Have you a good switch? How do you rate the Cd555 vs Nd555?
French is right, the difference for me was not small when I made the change, bigger than any of the 500 level components I had moved to previously. I did have 2 run in 555PSDR’s and used my old burndies plus from day 1 I used a Melco N10 and ER switch with custom P/S. I think the ND555 is a wonderful music maker, presentation is so effortless and natural, nothing artificial, no sharpness filter, just beautiful music that is supremely addictive.
I have an original CD5 and luckily Naim were able to fix the mechanism for me back in 2020 so I have a few more years of enjoyment from it.
I bought my CDS3 new in 2004 and I have had no issue with the original mechanism. It went back to Salisbury in about 2018 as it started blowing the fuse in my XPS. It returned repaired with capacitors replaced, new screen and ‘Software updated’ which is something I have never seen mentioned on the forum.
It came back sounding absolutely amazing - even better than it ever had I thought at the time. I do not know whether that was due to the replacement capacitors or the Software update. Now with a XPS DR still sounds sublime even versus my LP12/Karousel/Keel/Ekos2 analogue.
I love it so much that I recently bought another pre-loved CDS3 incase mine has any future problems. I also have a spare full mechanism and also a laser unit I bought from Germany (believed original Phillips units) some years back pre-brexit stored away just incase.
I know Naim cd mechs are ‘selected’, though I have never read the actual criteria. If it were purely a mech swop and Naim were unable to perform for me it doesn’t look too difficult - 2 flexi-cables into existing sockets…
I am hoping I never need to find out…
I would like to get my ‘new’ CDS3 Serviced at Naim but a little reluctant to transport it by courier given Naim’s advice. Shame we can no-longer drop-off as Salisbury is quite close for me.
Until this thread I had thought Naim accepted hand deliveries into Salisbury but stopped it because of Covid.
This seems to make sense as dealers were open by appointment during Covid and courier firms were still working.
Why would Naim suddenly start a new service in the middle of a pandemic and take on extra risk for their staff? Particular as you could still send boxes through your dealer.
Are we sure they didn’t actually cancel the service during Covid and simply never start it up again?
Naim dealers aren’t particularly shy and if they needed to restrict customer deliveries to CD players I am sure they would cope. Booking a delivery slot would also allow Naim to control the numbers.
@woodsmoke found a big difference with his CDS3 after a service and my CDI was also greatly improved by a service in 2019.
Bearing in mind Naim’s tradition of supporting owners with full service support it seems odd that they now don’t want to set up a practical system to help a relatively small number of customers.
Yes we are completely sure.
But as I mentioned, it doesn’t seem logical.
Did you drop something off at Salisbury yourself during Covid?
Naim changed the Servicing to being via ‘Dealers only’ a long time back now, I can understand logic for customer interface, control & admin… Just a pity that if you arranged the service slot & everything via Dealer you couldn’t just perform the final delivery stage to Naim itself.
I would have thought though that with a Naim cds3 player providing the factory transit bolts were all fitted properly little harm could occur to mechanism. I had no issue when mine was repaired receiving it back in perfect condition. The older boxes are far stronger than the current issue too.
I wouldn’t have thought it a problem until I read some comments on this forum…
No I didn’t get anything serviced while Naim was shutdown.
Anyway the point is that whether you think it’s logical or not, it is via the dealer only and during a short period in the middle of the pandemic, you still had to book via a dealer, but could have the unit couriered from your home to Naim and back to your home after servicing. That was withdrawn a year or more back.
I think we are partly at cross purposes, I was only talking about hand deliveries into Salisbury.
I might be wrong about this during Covid but I seem to remember other forum members dropping off boxes for service.
As long as it’s booked in via your dealer I can’t see why this should be a problem as who deliver’s the box (courier or owner) doesn’t seem to make much difference.
Would make a big difference to peace of mind for CD owners though.