Sustaining Naim CDPs - An Appeal

! Bought second hand.

Edit is your friend… @RWC

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Wow…! Now THATS commitment - from Rega - and to their customers…!!!

But - the Rega Isis is a £6000 + CD Player…?? Naim CDS3 territory.

Didn’t Naim do something similar with the CD555 - spare mech for every unit ??

There is only one mech per player for 555 they also have a fault regarding plater I think it cracks new mech required. Anyone who has 555 is living on borrowed time if their player has been in once for repair. Hence my reason for getting rid of cds3 (no more mechs) other manufacturers are offering 5 years warranty so no brainer really

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Excellent news I like Rega warranty didn’t know that, it’s an expensive player however it’s better than throwing £2000 worth of cd player in wheely bin which would have happened to me if I’d kept it much longer. Looks like I will have to save up longer to buy rega player

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It was actually more good fortune than anything. They told the story in the Rega book. Essentially, the mech people were bought out by another company and the new owner had no interest, so on a hunch they asked Rega if they wanted to buy the whole lot. Normally Rega would not have been able to, but they had just gone through a good time and had some cash available.

Good on Rega, but it could have gone very differently

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Thankfully some members discovered an alternative platter fix, there are posts about it on the forum

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I have owned 4 Naim CD players but CDS3 is non-repairable despite 8 year old laser mech. I cannot afford the Isis or CEC players since I am retired. I am happy with my Cyrus CDI XR. Not at the CDS level but good PRAT with my Naim active system. 3 year warranty and will add a power supply when available in the US. A shame that Naim is no longer an option since an all Naim system is difficult to beat.

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The CDS3 was introduced in 2002 and discontinued almost 10 years ago so it is a bit unfair to put it in one sentence with a new player which just came out lately and which of course will give you plenty more years of serviceability.

Who knows how it will when your new player will be 10-15 years old? Like many devices it relies on available parts to be serviced.

Also, Naim is looking into a solution and no official statement has been made yet as for the replacement mechs. I am sure that they will put the extra effort to try to keep these players running, one way or the other.

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That would be brilliant.

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Not sure thats the official ‘line’… Would be nice, though…

The latest official line was this:

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My CDS3 had the original laser mech replaced 8 years ago by AV Options, Chris West recapped the player and the XPS power supply as well. I expected a longer life span but understand nothing last forever.
The issue for me is I cannot get my CDS repaired. 3rd party repair is next to impossible here and all replacement laser mechs are hit or miss. Frustrating because it sounded excellent before failing and no comparable options exist for me.
I understand Naim cannot keep a warehouse full of laser mechs but with over a dozen people with the same problem it is surprising. While Naim is seeking them worldwide, it is clear this is improbable since we are 5 months in without success.
Naim has great customer service and all personnel I have dealt with are top notch. I am just disappointed that I can not enjoy an all- Naim any longer

The Isis has only increased in price by £400 in the 12 years it has been sold. I had to buy blind as my Naim/Rega dealer doesn’t stock the Isis as there is little demand for expensive players and he couldn’t risk having one in stock. So I had to rely on reviews. Paul Messenger, the hifi reviewer, who has a full 500 home system said the Isis was very musical and he compared it favourably with the CDS 3 and 555 ps.

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There’s a level of certainty in that sentence that I don’t think is justified.

Yup. Naim are… ever hopeful.

I think reference has been made to Indiana Jones being needed…!

It isn’t looking very good, indeed

There are a lot of worried owners, of Naim CD players, of varying vintages. But - I have not seen very many reports of actual ‘deaths’…?

As others have said, there are (potentially) options, beyond formal Naim support, still.

My CDX2 is still working - built 2005, with the ‘Version 1’ mech.
I will keep it ticking over… :slightly_smiling_face:

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All true, but it’s understandable to be worried about “what if”, and it’s not a nice feeling in the back of the head. Some did break, like here: https://community.naimaudio.com/t/cds3-death-rattle/18585?u=suedkiez

On the other hand, it’s to be expected that mechanical things break at some point and that Naim can’t service them forever. As someone said, it’s been 9 years since the last CDS3 and 19 since the first.

(Personally I’ve ripped it all, the price of a Roon setup is less than a new CDP)

If it was people, we would call them the ‘worried well’…

I must disagree - all mechanical things do not break. Most things which move or rotate are subject to wear, to a lesser or greater degree - which can cause failure, in extreme.

Look at the veteran/vintage/classic cars which are still around. OK, its possible to get the wearing parts - or worst case, make them from scratch.

In a way, thats where Naims amps are. The parts - or their modern near-equivalents - can be obtained - so a say 1978 NAP160 can be fully ‘serviced’.

The real problem is that the CD players all used COTS (commercial, off the shelf) mechanisms… Which have been discontinued… Whereas, Electrolytic Capacitors are still made, in any size you want.

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