What’s the status of replacement mechs for the original Uniti range? Considering purchasing a used Uniti/Uniti 2 for use as a second system when I move house - if the mech were to fail could it be replaced, or does it also use an obsolete Philips mech?
There are not the same. Common Teac 35 cd mechs. No problem of availability.
I strongly suspect that the IP (patently likely have expired if indeed there were any specific to these units or still unexpired generally) is not the issue whatsoever. It’s the prospect of ramping up a manufacturing run, including sourcing parts and everything else that goes into that, for a very small run. Naim would not be buying, relatively, very many units, vs. manufacturing output what it was 20 years ago. The per-unit cost is the problem. And in 2021, sourcing the components.
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I’ve still got my Cyrus dAD 7. Must be 20 years old. Still sounds good even through my cheap home cinema set up. It is also my music room as well so I use the dAD 7 to play along with when attempting guitar parts.
My main plan though is to rip all my CDs (about 500 of 800 done) and listen via my Node 2I/ Qutest when I’m in casual mode - to extend the life of my 2008 CDX2.
My streaming set up is by no means my end game. Still waiting for Amazon Music to be more widely adopted (come on Naim) and for the technology to mature a bit more.
I would describe the technology as mature, the underlying protocols such as TCI/IP and UPnP haven’t fundamentally changed for years, and neither have music storage formats really.
The latest flavour of the month streaming services will always change over time. If you really want to try stuff just because it’s newer or cheaper maybe get a PC and a USB DAC or whatever, but to me that is not the road to long term satisfaction.
Agreed - but that didnt prevent Naim’s original streamers becoming outdated. That’s all I’m referring to.
They still can do everything they did when new, and a bit more besides. Also worth remembering that they are both Network players and DACs.
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Yes, but your 20 year old CD player can only play CDs. Your 1st gen. Naim streamer when released could only play ripped CDs. It subsequently had Spotify and Tidal support added and a number of additions and improvements to iRadio etc. Which one of those sounds more outdated to you?
(and that’s without various relatvely easy workarounds that will allow it to do most of the things a current model can do, like Qobuz, Roon, AirPlay etc.)
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That’s because their computing power was too limited. A mistake maybe (but even so they acquired new features that didn’t exist when they were released), but it wasn’t repeated and the new streamers seem to have all the headroom and flexibility for the limited needs of audio.
My whole point
I see. It seemed like you were concerned about the new streamers’ useful lifetime
Not at all - more concerned about integrated streaming services disappearing or becoming unsupportable. Or new ones not being supported - like Amazon. If I spend circa £5k upwards on a streamer I’m not interested in ‘work arounds’ going forward.
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I see. Well, should you want to move to a different service, transferring favorites and playlists is a breeze with Soundiiz and similar services, that shouldn’t scare you. Qobuz is fine, personally I don’t see the point of waiting for Amazon.
And regarding “integrated streaming services disappearing or becoming unsupportable”, that was my point - they are just software which can be changed, and it’s difficult to imagine a future streaming service requirement that the new streamers’ computing platform can’t handle
On the subject of CDPs, I have two Arcam Alpha 5 CDPs that are 25+ years old + have just sold a 20+ year old budget Kenwood - all of which still play CDs as their makers intended - TBH if I don’t get similar longevity out of my much more expensive CD5si I will be more than slightly cheesed off - ideally it will get to 25 years old with needing a mech repair.
As for CDPs vs streamers, I think the point being made above is that (largely beyond Naim’s control) streaming needs, services and compatibility have developed beyond all recognition since the gen 1 platform launch. Depending upon the user’s needs, the platform may already be obsolete. In contrast, assuming one still wants to play CDs, providing the SQ is high enough, a CDP is not obsolete whether it works or not. There are actually quite a few decent CDPs on the market today - the tech is not obsolete - it’s just that not all manufacturers support like they once did, though some do.
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Naim have been making streamers for quite a while now, and there has yet to be a service that has stopped working or had support withdrawn once implemented so I don’t see any particular cause for concern there.
If you want any particular service supported just because it’s newer or cheaper I would suggest you are not Naim’s target customer. They have chosen which services to support carefully based on sound quality, demand and the likely long term prospects of the service remaining viable. They may, in their own good time, add Amazon to that list although there are always more issues to deal with behind the scenes that us customers are generally aware of. For example, see Stevesky’s explanation here:
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I thought this post was about replacement mechs for players not Streaming
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The CDM9 that was used in the Alpha 5 was one of Philips best mechs and, apart from platter drop, they’re very reliable overall. I have an Alpha 5 plus and a Naim CD3 both still going strong, both with the CDM9 mech.
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So what is it with mechs that were otherwise new that makes them dead after being stored for years? What part expires and can it be just that part in the mech that can be replaced? I have a new naim sourced and apparently soak tested VAM1202 mech in a naim box that I hope is still good for when ever I need it. It was not cheap either so I wont be happy if it’s a dud!
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Hi Richard,
Could you tell me what mechanism my 1997 CDS / CDPS has ?
Regards,
Martin
They do seem very robust - the plastic draw cog is the other thing to watch - I have replaced it on both units. However, even if broken, with a bit of ingenuity (Naim-inspired Velcro handle on the disc draw cover) they still work fine but just with a manual draw and a press of the open/close button to tell the machine to read the disc when a new CD is inserted.