Was thinking about the discontinuation of the 5 series CD5si CD player .Does ANYONE think Naim will ever make another CD player or even a CD transport going forward ?
No unless a complete change of direction.
No⌠This is a shame because while i have the Uniti Core, Iâm still missing the physical interaction of playing a disc ⌠Iâve recently demoed the Michi Q5 cd player, which sounds fantastic but has a bug in the software at the moment⌠Iâll be trying the cyrus 40 soon, and i think thatâs probably going to win out⌠Naims missing a trick, but they donât care!
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REALLY? What kind of bug exactly?
No.
Why do you ask?
And âthey donât careâ is an unusual way to look at a practical business decision. All my dealings with Naim leave me in no doubt that they care very much.
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Wait the 1st April 2026. There will be an announcement.
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When connected to the Internet, itâs meant to display the album artwork of the disc being played⌠Only it seems to display whatever it wants whenever it wants!
Iâm sure theyâll sort that out in a future update, but like i said, im leaning towards the cyrus 40 now anyway i think!
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Surely, if theyâve decided to knock cd players on the head, then cd players are something they no longer care about!
Well,Naim has made excellent CD players in the past (at all price levels) -would be interesting IF they made another would it be just like the CD5si or more inline with most other manufactureâs offerings currently as a transport or cd player with digital out
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Why do you say that? Are they announcing a NEW line to replace the 5 series or something like that?
I was speaking with a member of naims staff recently⌠I was discussing my Uniti Core, and we got onto the subject of cd players⌠I was told theyâll not be making them anymore⌠So, like i said, im now shopping elsewhere⌠Back in the day, i owned a lovely naim cd player and i agree with you that theyâve made some fantastic modelsâŚ
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I canât normally say it, Naim doesnât allow me to tell which products they will launch, before the official date.
You will see also a new Naim cassette player.
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No thatâs the original one from the 90s just about to emerge from R&D. Theyâre absolutely meticulous in their approach to design.
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Sad but expected.I recently acquired a Naim CDX2.2 (in fantastic condition owned by someone who knows the brand well).Have it paired up with a non-Naim ps.Sadly when it goes might go for a Rega Saturn Mrk 3.Have a Oppo UDP-205 but sadly does not âdo it for meâ on CD.Outstanding on Blu Rays and DVD (which you canât rent anymore for movies),decent on SACD though.
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Given Naimâs commitment to longevity and the problems sustaining that position due to the obsolescence of mechs, pulling out of CD production makes absolute sense - Iâd suggest they care enough not to sell expensive products they canât guarantee to maintain. Theyâve given excellent deals to help folk move from CD to streaming, something else which shows they care.
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No they wonât. And why should they anyway? Plenty of brands out there still making CD players at all price points.
It is perfectly possible, likely even, that they will. Companies tend to follow the market. When CD âtook overâ (in sales terms) from vinyl, I for one never thought that vinyl would bounce back and become as popular as it now is. It may take 10 or more years but CD is a great format and it too may enjoy a resurgence. Whatever Naimâs current intentions may be, if the market shifts back to CD, they will too.
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No!
What companies are moving to is the ability to plug a USB CD drive in to rip CDs (Innuos Stream etc.). Most support AccurateRip drive database, so guaranteed âbit perfectâ rips once calibrated (rip 3 CDs everyone owns - Dido etc.)
No reason a firmware update couldnât do this on naim streamers. With the Core being discontinued why not? Plug in USB stick or connect to NAS share⌠plug in CD driveâŚrip CD. Just like the Core did.
A software team could knock out a firmware supporting playback/rip from a USB connected CD drive in no time.
Hopefully some of the ÂŁ1.4M unamortised R&D spend in the naim accounts has gone in this direction. In fact given most competition is moving this way it would be strange if naim are not considering something like this.
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It is a deprecated medium, it will keep fading away, slowly but surely, just rip your CD collection before they start degrading and failing.