Thanks. Yes, the turntable was taken care of in winter with a P8 + Aria 
All true, and like I said I do stream already, but there are several reasons to keep my CD collection.
From what we were told recently by Neil in Naim’s service dept., the CDX2, CDS3, and CD555 are currently all fully serviceable by the factory.
Obviously the mechs are no longer available new, so Naim have to rely on their stocks of spares of VAM1202s (for CDX2 and CDS3) and VAM1250Pros (for CD555). As for how long they will last, I don’t think anyone could accurately say.
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Super helpful and reassuring, thanks!
Out of interest, do you know what those mechs and lasers on Ebay are? There are always offers for all three models, but I suppose these are the ones that Naim screened out?
There are lots of mechs available on eBay. Many are either secondhand or new from the various factories in China that build pattern Philips mechs. Most all are rubbish. Caveat Emptor.
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I have a CDS3 with 555PS and will quite happily live with it until the end of my days. The chap I bought it from threw in a spare mech still in the Naim box for when the original fails, and the 555 will need a service soon, but given the rarity of CD555 players this has to be the realistic pinnacle of CD playback - still brings a huge smile to my face every time!!!
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Second hand Naim CD players are certainly cheap (and some can’t be serviced) these days but if you want to talk about boat anchors look at the last generation of Naim streamers. NDS was a reference level source and I have seen head units going for $3,500-4,000. That sort of rapid depreciation and the tech gremlins have held me back from moving to streaming.
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With support for all three currently available and no ability to confirm how long support will be available I would suggest you have a bit of a level playing field with no model offering a higher or lesser degree of certainty for the future.
I had a cds3 and currently have a cd555. The 555 is a beast - the weight of the head unit is quite something and worth considering when moving boxes around, even if only for cleaning. The lid mechanism on the 555 is mechanically powered and therefore may represent a higher maintenance risk than the relatively simple perspex lid on the cds3. I may have been unlucky, but my experience with the cds3 was that the puck had to be replaced several times as the grip on the cd reduced over time eventually leading to a slip which rendered cd’s unplayable until the puck was replaced. I have not had this problem with the 555.
For the ultimate tour de force I suppose the cd555 with two 555PS fitted is the end game for naim cd playing however, I might be tempted to opt for a cds3 with 555PS at a more attractive price point as it sounds mighty fine to me. A significant caveat here is that I changed from cds3 with xps2dr to a cd555 with 555PSdr and did not have a chance to compare the head units with the same ps unit.
Peter
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Thanks so much. The 555 loading mech was a concern for me as well. Someone wrote (I believe in another thread here) that the gears were plastic in older 555s but were replaced with metal ones during a regular service.
If it was not you in some other post, there is at least one other person who had the CDS3 puck problem. If I remember correctly, the CDS3 puck has rubbery spots at the bottom that can get depressed over time, leading to this. The other guy always left a CD in the tray for extra dust protection, with the puck in place, but switching between two pucks solved it (to give the rubbery spots time to expand again)
I doubt that I will have a second 555 PS just for the CD, but if (when) the 555 + PS is in place, there will surely be an option to to try the difference with two, and am already looking forward to this extremely interesting experiment. Anyways, knowing that the only remaining possible improvement on the CD source side would be as insane as adding a second 555 PS would be mightily pacifying
Meanwhile I have been making progress and a purchase might be imminent, I will let you all know. Could not have done it without everyone!
This is my thinking. A little while ago I was tempted by trading my CDS3 for a NDX2 but I fear losing the simplicity of the former. Put on a CD and away you go. I use Tidal through my Qb to try stuff and that’s fine but the through of ripping and tagging 700+ CDs fills me with dread.
Regards,
Lindsay
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Hi @northpole What do you think are the differences in music on a CDS3 and CD555? Is it more of the same or do they go in different directions?
It seems to me that in the long run all digital sources will become obsolete and are poor long term choices. I have a CDS3 which is lovely but it won’t last forever. Unlike my LP12…
I am not trading in my Rega
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Why would you go chasing after some discontinued Naim player? Have you considered the Hegel Mohican which has garnered much praise from the HiFi press; John Darko has an interesting video about this player.
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Because I recently decided that after more than 30 years I want to get out of the mix and match game and do Naim-only for various reasons (apart from the vinyl part obviously)
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“If it was not you in some other post, there is at least one other person who had the CDS3 puck problem. If I remember correctly, the CDS3 puck has rubbery spots at the bottom that can get depressed over time, leading to this. The other guy always left a CD in the tray for extra dust protection, with the puck in place, but switching between two pucks solved it (to give the rubbery spots time to expand again)”
My CDS3 was serviced relatively recently due to failure of the laser mech. It was replaced by a different mech (I don’t recall the numbers, VAM something or other) that uses a magnitic puck without the rubber bits.
The original pucks could easily be revitalised by rotating the little rubber bits a bit. I wouldn’t worry about pucks!
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EnglishRogue,
Because…
- Naim CD players sound awesome
- There is unique synergy between Naim sources and Naim amps
- They are very cheap these days
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Particularly with a Superlimina interconnect…
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Thats interesting. I keep a spare puck for my CDS3 (though if you don’t leave a disk in the machine, the pucks last for years) and plan to send it for service later this year. I could be left with a redundant brand new puck if the mech’ is changed - a whole 15 pounds down the drain !