VAM1202 mechs

Yes I remember Trevor saying that Naim had taken this sudden action because the yield of acceptable mechs from the batches they had in stock was lower than expected.

And the yields from even the best of the “factory fresh” 1202s typically hasn’t been brilliant either, which is why I’d imagine that sourcing them is such a headache.

Probably safe to say that CDS2, CDS3 and CDX2 laser mechs are not available then?

CDS2 uses a VAM1205, not a VAM1202.

Safest to await an update from Naim after the August holidays.

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Sounds like a basic obsolescence issue. There are numerous strategies to deal with obsolescence, one of which is to stock up or buy a " last build" from your oem. However, if this stock then degrades in storage, then this is not a usefull strategy. And one that just lulls you into a false sense. But perhaps better than no stock at all.
Naim being naim want to ( where possible) maintain kit as long as. However, when you are reliant on others for items, you are at risk. Or, need to maintain careful relationships with the oem.
It may well be time to review the plan of trying to keep cdps alive. Whilst all very worthy, it could get messy.

AFAIK the main issue is that the OEM doesn’t really exist any more - at least not in the way that most would understand.

It’s obsolete then!

yes, and… no. :slight_smile:

Is there any news regarding replacement mechs for CDS3 yet? I was hoping to hear back now that is the second week of September. Do any of the Naim distributors offer repairs or have spares? Seems to be confusion but I believe Naim HQ and Naim in US/Canada are unable to provide replacements

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Some distributors may have some mech stock (I don’t know for sure but worth asking your distributor) but hopefully we’ll have a situation update from Naim soon.

See the other thread for Clare’s most recent post, “CDS3 repair”

See Clare’s reply here:

I have been waiting for around a year for news of a replacement drive platter for my Uniti 1, on which the CD sits, which has cracked and won’t grip the drive spindle. My dealer has this in hand, but reading this thread makes me think that it may not be repairable? I have no idea which drive unit is fitted to the Uniti 1.
I was tempted to attempt a repair, using a dab of superglue, but was persuaded against this.
As it’s more valuable as a fully functioning unit, I suppose I will keep waiting until spare parts are available?

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know what mechs are used in my CD3.5 and CDX?

Philips VAM1205

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Ta! I often get the numbers confused (it’s an age thing!), but I had a feeling that they used the same mech.

It’s just for future reference, as both are OK at the moment, and I tend to stream via my Allo Signature kit to the nDAC, hence the CDX doesn’t get much use (so little, in fact, that I moved its XPS to the nDAC).

But I can’t get my wife into streaming; she much prefers to handle CDs, and she has the 3.5 in her office system.

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This may help

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That’s given me the info I was looking for, I have the VAM1202, thanks.

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Given the situation with NAIM CD player optical drives, I wonder why NAIM doesn’t make a CD player with a computer DVD/RW drive and bit perfect firmware? CD drives are long gone but computer optical drives are still being made. The key would be the supporting firmware/software, but NAIM did this for their rippers (HDX, unity, etc).

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