I wonder whether it would be economically feasible for Naim to devise a means of engineering a digital input for the CD555 so that -in the event of transport failure- it could be used as a high quality DAC fed by an external transport, or even with a USB data stick. I realise that this wouldn’t be cheap or simple but would give reassurance to existing owners and be in keeping with modern recycling thinking.
It would be a shame to render such a magnificent player to junk status…
I still have an old Marantz CD player as well as the CDS3. The Marantz is over 30 years old. Hopefully a 20 year old CDS3 will go on for a fair few years.
Will continue to enjoy as it is. How long does the mech last? Anyone any ideas. 20 or 30 or 40 years? Or is it the great unknown?
According to Naims product history, the first CD player they made was the CDS in 1991, so if any of them are still going, then thirty years and counting.
It’s unknown Dan. Some will be DOA, some will die young, most will live a reasonable life, and some may well go on, and on, and on for many years.
My cds2 2002 cds1 upgraded option is still going strong! Amazing fast sound machine it’s like the pRat machine from god . Not sure if it’s been serviced at any stage but it does have the last software upgrade so it can play burnt cd’s !
It’s actually pretty cool even though I’ve discovered vinyl I still love it a lot, great for drinks with friends, nights on the deck and just sounds pretty dam good. Was my main stay for years has done literally thousands and thousands of hours I guess it will die on my mana rack. I Love it sooo much even though I have considering upgrading to CDS3, Ive decided my olive system needs to stay a “classic olive” system😎
As an aside, I have a Philips CD150 from 1985, it uses a Philips CDM2 galvanometer style mech which still works. I recapped the whole thing, but the only part which presented with any failed capacitors was the mech driver board, which appears to take some stick from the ‘galvanometer mech’ as it uses a capacitor-resistor snubber circuit as an electromagnetic brake/damper for the galvo but even that didn’t stop it from working!
I also have a Sony CDP 227esD from 1989/90 it uses a Sony magnetic sledge mech, KSS 151A and that is still going strong with no sign of component issues. The general attention to detail is amazing for a main stream product, it is a really nicely designed machine.
‘Full proof’ sounds like what you’d call a very strong whisky.
Some posters could really do with that.
Worth noting, that AFAIK, Naim mechs all used the variants with glass lasers. Which is quite unusual but does go a long way to helping device longevity. Most mechs out there used plastic lenses on the lasers and just sitting unused would eventually cloud to the point where, although clear to the human eye, would render the pickups useless. By the early 90s, almost evey CD player under a couple $K was plastic lenses.
I managed to fix both a Yamaha and a Onkyo mech over the years. In both cases, spare parts were only available for 2 years after production. They failed after about 8 years each. I fixed them with unsuitable material around the home. And to this day, 10 years after I fixed them, they are both going strong in new homes.
Just out of curiosity, do you know what material lens the, currently used by Naim, TEAC CD-SN250-000 uses?
Both my CDPs - CD5X and CD2 - have been serviced in the last year. Fingers x’d, the original mechs are fine and will remain so for awhile yet. Quite a while, I’m hoping! Longer for the 5X, obviously…
I’ve taken now to alternating them in use, a few months each - not sure this prolongs mech life or not?
No. But those commodity TEAC drives, good as they are would almost certainly be plastic lenses. I can’t confirm that though and wouldn’t bet money on the answer.
I am with you on this Richard. I sold my CDS3 this year. It was nearly 20 years old and sounded superb with its original mech. It does seem that Naim have done all they can under the circumstances, but I do feel for those few that have new machines that might break in the near future.
Yes but, sadly, it won’t be just ‘those few’ who will be affected: it will be a very large minority (at best) of Naim CD owners. I will be one of those scarily soon, so I’m hoping that those clever chaps and chapesses at Naim can find a solution to this apparently intractable problem.
Is the R&D cost of Naim designing an in-house, retrofittable, mechanism so prohibitive as to rule this out as a possibility?
After all, this great nation used to design, build and continually upgrade Spitfires not far from Naim’s own home.
Sorry, if this comes over as rather bumptious, but the thought of losing my greatly cherished CDS II is pretty ghastly! I have a lovely and just about to be upgraded LP12 to fall back on, but that seems an odd, backward step in technology.
Someone somewhere must have a brilliant idea as to how to get us out of this mess, surely?
Graham
I think people are under estimating the amount of time and costs, of the R&D needed, to ‘re-mech’ a Naim CD Player.
And which one or ones would you do…? I would suggest the only vaguely viable candidate would be the CDX2 - perhaps leading to a CDX3…? ( Or 2.3…? ) It not realistic to expect ‘all’ of them to be re-engineered. Believe the 555’s are OK, still, for mechs…?
How many ‘DOA’ CDX2’s are there around currently, with a failed mech…?? Probably not that many… Just a lot of rather worried owners… I would suggest.
Lets try to worry a bit less…
I feel your (future) pain Graham, and it was one reason why I sold my ‘3. That said, my replacement mech is working wonderfully well and resides in a Core. This solution works for me and I am glad I ‘jumped’. I fully understand if you reject this expensive solution, especially as I also had to buy an NDX2….
I, too, am victim to CDP failure, in my case on my 2012 Uniti, which I bought to minimise box numbers from six to one, and have been waiting patiently to hear about spare parts, but have had no joy.
I believe that my CDP is a VAM 1202, which no longer spins, and I attribute this to the bottom plate cracking radially, which means no mechanical grip on the drive spindle?
If the CDP is unrepairable, I guess that there remains a decent amplifier, but it’s vexing that it had recently been serviced, and a new screen unit fitted.
Thanks to this thread for the details I have found about my Uniti, and Naim CDPs, which has been of help. I continue to pursue this with Naim (fingers crossed).
My Olive CD player (mid 1990s) was recently rescued from upstairs and it’s hibernation, now sounds very good - being played through a Nova
Perhaps like an older car, light but regular use is the way to go…?
I also have my NAT03 (again rescued from upstairs’ hibernation) currently doing it’s job with my Nova , so at the moment it’s 2x Olive sources from the 1990s, a Nova, Graham Slee Reflex and Clearaudio TT