CDX 2 Dilemma

Go streaming…it’s the future and has been for a while. (Except the more distant past is my preferred future)

Interesting that you cleaned the laser lens, I have always understood that Naim advise against this and conventional CD Laser Cleaner Disc’s? I have often wondered of the benefits cleaning would make but have steered clear for fear of damaging what is, I am happy to say, a fully functioning CDS3 which had a replacement transport prior to me purchasing. I do squeeze air into the opening to remove dust etc but go no further than this. Interested to hear any comments around cleaning the lens on this forum, just ordered a 555PS to replace my XPS 3 DR so fingers crossed I get this this before 2023!

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Hi @broomy, I fully understand & agree Naim advising against cleaning laser lens, it’s high risk if you don’t know what you’re doing, maybe more so if you ‘think you do’.

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Absolutely! I do not subscribe to CD being a dead format, much like fashion, these things move in cycles but will always retain loyal users. Statistics can of course be used in many ways to present whatever story you wish to tell, like any format, availability and choice of titles will win out here, dead on the high street yes but not through online purchasing. Whilst I have not interest in vinyl, I absolutely get the whole physical format, collecting thing hence my love of CD’s, at 46, CD is my vinyl. Lets keep pushing hard to keep those CD players spinning :grinning:

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Thankfully, Naim do :slight_smile:

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At 48, I’m right there with you, brother. Testify!

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At a click or two past my 3 score & 10 quota, 24/192 WAV is my vinyl

@Ebor wrote: “At 48, I’m right there with you, brother. Testify!”

…and at 71, I am all in on streaming!
…everything ripped to a NAS or via Qobuz and internet radio.

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Hi @cratz, sorry to hear about the CDX2 and hopefully it’s good news from the repair centre. Hopefully it can be repaired to your satisfaction and then provide many more years of playback.

Regarding CD being a dead format, I’ll come back to that in a second.

Streaming is truly wonderful today and I do believe that it’s in a mature state now. I have been streaming for approximately 10 years, starting out with the wonderful Naim ND5XS. All the benefits of having your music catalogued, thousands of Internet radio stations available and not to mention the streaming services out there such as Qobuz, Tidal etc. There’s nothing quite like it really. The ability to search your catalogue by different search criteria is second to none. Regarding hardware, there are many solutions out there as you can see on this forum and of course Naim manufacture excellent streamers.

For me, once I started streaming it actually made me purchase more and more music in the CD format. I probably have approximately 600 to 700 discs at this time. I just purchased 17 more last week. They all get ripped to WAV and stored on my NAS and now on my Burmester 151 streamer. This is all good and the quality of music playback in my system is truly wonderful. My streaming system is going nowhere.

However, I am really precious about my CD collection and the time I take to research and purchase specific albums from specific artists is probably my greatest hobby and past time and provides me with immense pleasure. I’m reviewing some CDs now, opening the cases, checking to see if they are clean and reading the liner notes. All while Bob Marley ‘Exodus’ is being streamed.

Assuming your CDX2 cannot be repaired or fails in the future, there are many manufacturers out there producing great cd players. If you truly love the format and do not wish to give up on them, you certainly do not have to. I love my CD collection so much that I have decided to give them a player that they deserve so the unit bellow is on its way to me. I simply cannot wait for this to arrive.

Regarding CD being a dead format, erm check out the availability of CD’s below on a well known site. Truly awesome! :crazy_face:

Please update us with how the CDX2 repair goes. :grinning:

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I absolutely agree with your comments on researching certain CD Releases, I too have bought more CD’s in the past 12 months than I had for several years, now up to just over 1500. I think in some ways you have the best of both worlds in respect of quality, best versions and convenience, whilst not a streamer, I would guess by ripping and streaming rather than just accessing via a streaming platform you can play the release you want not the one chosen for you. The ritual of getting up, looking at my collection, choosing a disc and in most cases playing through the album, even using the magnetic puck are all part of it for me. I don’t even have a remote for my Townshend Allegri + Pre and this just doesn’t both me in the slightest when changing volume according to recording levels. Interested to hear how you get on with the Luxman player, I have never personally heard any of their gear but I understand they have a detailed, yet warm non fatiguing luscious sound, should sound great.

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Nice CD collection there @broomy :+1:
I mostly listen to the whole album. Maybe it harks back to when I listened to vinyl at my parents house.
Regarding the remote control, touching and feeling a CD or piece of vinyl, for me it’s the physical aspect of these things. They give me immense pleasure.
I love turning the volume control on my Preamplifier, it makes a wonderful clicking sound which I like, it’s the physical connection thing again.
Enjoy your music :grinning:

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:ok_hand:

I received my CDX2 from Focal Naim North America today. They replaced the DAC chip in the dead channel. It sounds great and I am so happy to have it back.

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Awesome. Enjoy spinning those shiny discs :grin:

What wonderful timing to get this back, I upgraded my CDS3 power supply to a PS 555DR which also arrived this week, thrilled! Happy Listening.

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CDS3 and CD555 PS is a great match also.

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