The other thing is we keep our CD players running by fitting the Chinese mechs on eBay? Are these any good? Has anyone had to do this yet?
And I am sure I can’t be done by the Naim Community police for suggesting this as there may be no other option but this solution to fix our kit?
Is the mech so vital to the quality of the sound?
I’ve suggested that many times, many, many times
(best Round The Horne voice)
Just taken my Olive CD3 out of retirement, it sounded fantastic after being retired in 2002 and un-used since then .
Hi Richard, the early CDS used the CDM4/27 and the later ones used CDM4/21.
The two mechs are interchangeable with only minor differences to the body.
As to any other equivalent, it’s not something that has been looked into.
Regards
Neil.
Probably if they were any good, Naim would simply buy them
Yeah. But key is has anyone had any experience of them and how vital are they to the sound quality?
Thanks Neil, do you anything re the CDM4/11 that Sheila mentioned?
I read some customers reviews on Amazon, for the 1202 mechs. A lot of people are complaining. Very often it doesn’t work or work badly or only few hours.
I may be being Foolish & Deluded (as Winnie the Pooh said) but I take my much comfort from the fact that so many CDPs of great vintage are still going strong - a few are mentioned above, plus my 1991 Technics which seems to be unaffected by the years, house moves and being kept in an unheated garage for years. My 2002 CDX2 is (touch wood) also showing no signs of distress, despite having had no servicing or other TLC.
Do we have any evidence that Naim CDPs are more susceptible to failure than more mundane models? If not, I feel some of the panic and disgruntlement above might be misplaced.
Mark
None. I looked into this about 14 years ago and Naim’s MTBF was a little bit better than Philips own figures. Mech failures usually have an initial spike followed by a bell curve that peaks around 5-7 years. If your mech is still going strong after that then it could go for many, many years.
FWIW I have a very early Hitachi player still working well as well as a number of second gen players all working just fine. Of course I also have others that have died, but that’s only to be expected - some live, many others die.
So there’s no guarantees but maybe best to just enjoy what we have rather than worrying about tomorrow. Seems to be the way to go.
If we can enjoy what we have then my CDS3 could go on and on!
I’m staying put for now! Like anything in life, nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain. Which will be coming up Soon!
No I’m afraid I don’t Richard, but it does look pretty similar. The depth of the platter is the only obvious difference visually.
I can’t comment on compatibility with Naim players though.
Regards
Neil.
Very worrying.
My original mech died after 4 years and the replacement VAM1250 is now 12 years old. If it’s demise turns my CDS3 into a doorstop I’d be seriously miffed. If I owned a 2018 vintage I’d be livid.
One of the reasons I buy Naim is the way it’s possible to keep older products running. I think if Naim lose that they lose much of the brand ethos and a fair few customers.
Steve the VAM1250 has been unavailable outside of Naim for at least 15 years. When Naim’s own stocks were exhausted they could have just left it there but instead invested in an R&D project to enable the VAM1202 to be fitted in its place - this long after CDS3 production had ceased. They did their best for customers where most others would have just shrugged and said sorry, but with yields so poor on 1202s and the problems of sourcing once COVID hit, we are where we are. I don’t think anyone can say Naim have not tried their hardest here. And I’m sure that if they can find more they will get them.
I have cds3 mech replaced last year so bit worried how long it will last, it does put me off a bit. Sometimes
I listening to cd passively but concerned about longevity of mech spoiling enjoyment really. I’m thinking along the lines of Leema as a replacement or Cyrus Rega Creek. I appreciate naim are trying to source mechs but ultimately focal own naim will they allow money and time used looking for mechs 
they could say move ex cd owners (dinosaur music replay ) get streaming instead. With hindsight I wish I had stayed with Cyrus
Well said I’m of the same rather angry to be honest
Sorry you are angry but please read my post above. It’s worth remembering that the oldest CDS3s are almost 20 years old and the model was discontinued almost a decade ago.
It is very unfortunate for cdp owners……but if they were Krell, Linn, Meridian owner’s and many others we would not even be having this discussion, they gave up many many years ago. Keep up the good work Naim, keep trying, but people need to be realistic.
Richard I appreciate your reply however many owners of cd players have invested hard earned money for what they believe are outstanding players. I appreciate it’s extremely difficult to source mechs however we are talking thousand of pounds here. People thought naim would perhaps have a certain amount of loyalty to their customer base. How can a customer owner justify throwing £15000 of 555 in the bin or £4000 cds3 and cdx2 in said wheely bin