Regardless of the manufacturer, the question is the same as it has always been - “but for how long?”.
In Naim’s experience Mech manufacturers have tended to give little notice when they end the life of a mech (IIRC they were only informed of the VAM1250 demise after it had ceased manufacture), limiting the extent of a lifetime buy that can be made. However, Naim were always the best in the business here, and have always done their utmost to keep players going, even re-engineering a discontinued player in one instance, but even they have been finding it increasingly hard of late. Ultimately, you can never buy enough to keep spare supplies forever. And let’s not forget, mechs in store can die just as readily as those in players…
Like many others on here, all my CDs, just a few shy of 3,000, are on the Core and legally must be retained so no charity shops are involved. They’re cherished & played along with my vinyl & I can still enjoy the booklets etc as I always did. People want to own a CD player, I get that & there are plenty available for those that do, my point is simply that Naim has no need to make one while they have Core which is far superior to my CD5xs + Flat Cap 2 and is probably as good as whatever DAC anyone chooses to use with it (right through the range).
I’m not sure how true it is but my dealer has told me on a number of occasions that stored replacement mechs go off (presumably the laser?) over time. He has no interest in CD players tbf so could be justifying his position cos it does sound odd. Who knows?
Enjoy your CDs/ CD player I’m simply of the view that anyone wanting the Naim sound from CD can have just that with Core & a Naim DAC of their choosing.
Shortly after purchasing my nDAC, I added a XPS power supply, expecting a very significant upgrade in sound quality. I did offer an improvement but in ‘bang for buck’ terms, it wasn’t the best upgrade that I have made to my system. As always, listen for yourself and then decide.
The CD5Si is the successor to the original CD5i and its later variant, which were positioned below the CD5, CD5x etc… in the range.
I haven’t heard the CD5Si so couldn’t say how it would compare. However, I was a big fan of the CD5 and had one for a while. It really was a fun player, at its best with the Flatcap 2 and had a wonderful widescreen kind of sound - a sort of junior CDS3 in many ways. Only problem these days is the age and parts getting tricky, especially the VAM1205 mech which is long gone and even Naim have finally runout of their spares AFAIK.
Only last week I acquired a DC1 cable for my Naim dac XPS-2 combination . The DC1 is transformative , I use both with a CEC belt drive CD Transport .
I think streaming is overrated… there I said it .
I still have my late Dad’s old Naim CDi which is a wonderful sounding CD player that’s built like the proverbial tank. It would be nice to see a two box half width version based on the original CDS with the CD player in one box and a dedicated or Hicap power supply in the other.
Hello Savin , Okay I’ve been using Chord Pro-dac , there are three versions of this cable the best is the second that has a printed heat shrink sleeve with direction arrows that run in the opposite direction to the print on the cable . Yes I have tried the others . The Pro-dac is well regarded and recommended . Mine has WBT Next-Gen phono plugs.
The DC-1 is RCA to BNC, it outperforms the Pro-dac in every way . Better detail more PRAT but most of all to quote Level 42 , " A Physical Presents " . the sound has weight a bit like when you stick a super-cap on a Pre-fix Phono stage .
Yes, the CD555 will eventually be. I ask this question because it seems CDS2 and CDS3 have magics in their voicing, what a waste when we cannot keep using the DAC. On the other hand, it will be a show off for Naim - fans holding on to a 1998 and 2002 product because their DAC still giving class-leading sound.
To me, this thread seems kind of pointless. If Naim wanted to release a new CDP, beyond the CD5si, they have had lots of time to do and have chosen not to. They have chosen to go down the steaming route instead. Why these types of threads continue. Is beyond me.
