Indeed, and some of the factories produce Philips QC grade mechs, and even might have produced directly for Philips when they were being made under licence .. so you could be lucky.. or buy from a trusted channel that will give a good warranty.. ie they have confidence in the product as they have researched their particular manufacturer QC..
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@Simon-in-Suffolk - thank you for asking. Hermes! My older son is into Greek mythology. 
. Hermes is a year old - very friendly - love to head butt you - which I didn’t know cats loved doing as sign of affection. Loves attention and playtime and company! And definitely not shy 
Reason he wasn’t adopted was - is he’s got leukemia - and that cuts his life span to somewhere around 6-8. Could be longer with proper care. We just couldn’t leave him behind! He is very adorable!
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Indeed - the hunt is on!
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Indeed, quivering the up right tail is excitement of anticipation, and head buts, or pushing against you with the top of thier heads is a sign of affection along with kneading… Hermes looks like he has found a good home 
Lying on their backs exposing their undersides when you are stroking or they are stretching near you shows trust.
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Well done regarding Hermes. An animal like that truly brings good karma into the house.
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Do you have any particular supplier in mind? Are you allowed to say? If not any chance you could be allowed my email to DM me?
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Sorry I don’t … but I think a few on here are researching it
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I have been looking on eBay and found someone who ‘claims to have a compatible laser assembly’. Looks nice - high res pics , below. Since I haven’t opened the unit, or seen pics of what it is - hard to ascertain.
I also stumbled upon a German supplier (google ‘just tone schnepel‘) and have written to him to see if they make specific components that can be adapted.
Here’s what I am seeing are possible next steps
-
As @NeilS identified - the platter has a radial crack, that may be the only underlying cause. Optimistic here. And see if my dealer has a spare Naim platter lying around, and if he can swap in.
If 2 isn’t possible
-
I ordered a (what I can imagine is a dodgy mech) to borrow the platter. I found a couple of forums where NeilS talks about popping off the platter and using Loctite 380e. Carefully pop the platter and replace. If anyone has done that - I would love to get some advice!
-
Wait till the skips are untenable, if all else fails! While I haven’t repaired CD players- I have dabbled in sortering and general mechanics and 3d printing
- and give it a go myself. Most likely will end up being a doorstop!
@Richard.Dane - any flexibility in the forum rules to share findings around possible solutions? Would it be too outrageous to request if we can get some original assembly pictures of the Naim CDX2.2 - to verify any of these rabbit holes, we are chasing! Maybe pictures of labels etc would help as well.
If folks have any guidance on replacing Naim mechs - I would love that. There might be old forums where this has been discussed before. Cheers
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AFAIK Naim either don’t have such things or don’t make such things publicly available. Your Naim dealer though may possibly be able to help though, but I don’t know for sure.
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Focal/Naim in Canada replaced the laser mech in my CDS3 but it began skipping again after a couple of weeks. They could not guarantee any more of their lasers in stock. I could not find a local tech for repairs so I sold it on. Huge gamble on finding a good one now. Good luck.
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I have a CDX2, and have been following this tread.
I hope it can be repaired but both plastic and moving parts can wear out
If mine goes, I just have to accept that this is an electronic item with moving parts . If it moves into Dead Parrot territory , it will be replaced by a transport such as an AudioLab or a TEAC
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I know there is a nostalgia and a desire to keep using a CD amongst those with large collections. I tested a Naim DAC with a Mac mini + Audirvāna and XPS2 v CDX2 in my 252/300 system back in 2012 and the rips were better, so I bit the bullet and parted with the CD then. Stands to reason that removing a mechanical system from a simple digital playback ought to be a good idea…
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It would seem that NAIM CD players have a disproportionately high failure rate when compared to other manufacturers, especially Japanese players. As many of these players use the same mechanisms, what is it about the NAIMs that causes these failures?
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@BrendanD thanks for the recommendation - I have been testing the Audirvāna App with my MacBook - and I have to say, while I like the interface, I am having reliability issues - as the software crashes every other song or so. Or hangs.
I have to say that it’s quite something. I am feeding it through the Naim DAC…very musical.
How about you - are you having issues recently?
Hi. No it’s not a general issue. I’ve been running Audirvāna since 2012. I run it on a dedicated base M4 Mac mini. It sounds like something else on your Mac or network is interfering with Audirvāna. If you go on their forum and post a capture log they are very helpful in sorting things. Assume you are running Studio.
I’ve never had a crashing problem. Most of my annoyances come from running the mini headless and some Mac process requiring an intervention that cant be fixed on screen sharing. Happens about once every. 6m. There’s a known Mac issue that file access needs to be toggled off and on as its not remembered on a restart.
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I did a study back when I was working at the factory as I was looking at possibility of an insurance scheme so needed some data to examine. Naim’s mech failure rate was completely in line with the Philips mech average. Ignoring mechs in players that were DOA, failure rate was a bell curve that peaked around 7 years. FWIW I still have plenty of Philips mech players still working fine, some of which are 1st and 2nd get players, and also my CDM9 mech equipped Naim player is still going strong.
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Evening Richard
I read with interest the process for putting a CD player into soak mode. I have just tried this on my CD5 for the last 4 hours and it is showing 2 errors. I was wondering what this means?
@NeilS is the expert here but AFAIK, it indicates that either the disc has errors or the mech has issues - possibly starting to fail.
Hi All. I heard back from Naim US, very extensive responsive - at the bottom of this post. Trying the steps one by one.
@Richard.Dane - last para says “ If the issue persists after the steps above, the next recommended step would be professional inspection (laser current, servo calibration, and transport health).”
Does this mean that Naim Focal NA will inspect the unit but not repair (no laser unit or VAMs available). Would calibrate the servo motor, adjust heights etc? Just curious
Thanks.
Hi Ankur
*
Thanks for the detailed description — based on what you’ve observed so far, here are a few focused troubleshooting steps to help narrow this down:*
*
Please try the following, in order:*
*
1. Clean the CD clamp and spindle*
*
- Gently clean the spindle hub and underside of the puck with isopropyl alcohol (90%+ if available) and a lint-free cloth.
- Allow to fully dry before use.*
*
2. Check transport isolation*
*
- Place the unit directly on a solid, rigid surface (no felt feet, no soft isolation).
- Avoid shelves that flex or resonate.*
*
3. Try a different mains outlet*
*
- Plug directly into the wall (no power bars or conditioners).
- If possible, try a different circuit in the house.*
- Test with known-good discs***
*- Use commercially pressed CDs in excellent condition (no CD-Rs for this test).
- Avoid discs with edge damage or excessive label thickness.*
- Thermal check***
*- Power the unit on and let it warm up for 30–45 minutes before playing.
- Note whether skipping increases once the unit is fully warm.*
Important observation
Since the unit can complete a full soak cycle without errors but begins skipping on subsequent playbacks, this may point to early signs of:*
*
- Laser aging or marginal tracking (Unfortunately, laser no longer available) Non-repairable VAM1202
- Servo drift once warm
- Transport alignment tolerance*
If the issue persists after the steps above, the next recommended step would be professional inspection (laser current, servo calibration, and transport health).*
Thank You / Merci
Please try the following, in order:
-
Clean the CD clamp and spindle
- Gently clean the spindle hub and underside of the puck with isopropyl alcohol (90%+ if available) and a lint-free cloth.
- Allow to fully dry before use.
-
Check transport isolation
- Place the unit directly on a solid, rigid surface (no felt feet, no soft isolation).
- Avoid shelves that flex or resonate.
-
Try a different mains outlet
- Plug directly into the wall (no power bars or conditioners).
- If possible, try a different circuit in the house.
-
Test with known-good discs
- Use commercially pressed CDs in excellent condition (no CD-Rs for this test).
- Avoid discs with edge damage or excessive label thickness.
-
Thermal check
- Power the unit on and let it warm up for 30–45 minutes before playing.
- Note whether skipping increases once the unit is fully warm.
Important observation
Since the unit can complete a full soak cycle without errors but begins skipping on subsequent playbacks, this may point to early signs of:
- Laser aging or marginal tracking (Unfortunately, laser no longer available) Non-repairable VAM1202
- Servo drift once warm
- Transport alignment tolerance
If the issue persists after the steps above, the next recommended step would be professional inspection (laser current, servo calibration, and transport health).
Thank You / Merci
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