Dynamics, clarity

CD loading mechanism

I was upgrading from a Cambridge Audio CD4SE. My existing amp & speakers are Audiolab 8000A and Linn Keilidhs. So first stop was my Linn dealer. The Genki was very smooth and liquid - no harsh edges, beautifully presented. My only reservation was that it was perhaps 'too' smooth. So I moved to another dealer. Here I listened to the other players listed above, plus the Naim. The Arcam I found disappointing. It really didn't represent an improvement on my previous player. (I did try to find an Arcam dealer with an FMJ CD23 I could listen to, as this would have been a better price comparison. But that is another unsatisfactory story altogether). The Musical Fidelity was really neutral and pure and I found it difficult to find fault with it. It is an excellent product. However the Naim was the one which really caught my attention. One feature which surprised me again and again was its ability to separate multiple instruments or voices when they all played or sang the same note. The other players really didn't compete in this. When I finally took it home and listened in a set-up I could arrange to my requirements, the degree of spatial information it extracted from CDs was most impressive. There is always a tendency when listening to listen to the equipment rather than the music. Having acquired the Naim, I now find find I'm even getting behind the music and listening to the performance. Have a listen to some small group acoustic music (chamber, jazz, whatever) and you're there, right with them. I find the illusion less easy to sustain with large orchestral pieces, but the fire and grip of this CD player have certainly awakened the rest of my system. This will probably be my last CD player ever.

Similar Products Used:

Linn Genki, Musical Fidelity A-3CD, Arcam Alpha 9

Build quality, very detailed

Manual opening door, and those damn dinn sockets.

Got this product on loan from my local hifi shop, along with the flat cap. With a good 48 hrs of constant cd playing to help break the unit in, i sat down for a serious listen. Though the player is very detailed, it doesn't have the power to make you sit up and listen. Compared to the sony, the naim sounded woolly and could not wait to give it back. i have since ordered the sony, which is one of the most beautiful, open and engaging cd players i have ever heard and thats on on regular cd mode.

The naim has probably been designed to sit in one make systems.

My system consists of the talk monoblocks, mit and vdh interconnects and B&W 602s2's

Similar Products Used:

Sony scd777es

Startling clarity, liquid midrange, dynamics, nice extension.

Need a flatcap to get best performance

I heard this new Naim model at my dealer and I was stunned by the usual Naim sound: crystal clear, lightspeed-fast transients, the "wholeness" to midrange frequencies that makes sonic images sound that more real, and that often-mentioned "intangible" element that just makes you stop listening to the equipment and start listening to the music, foot-tapping, head-bobbing and all. The particular unit I was listening to was heard through a complete Naim system, including the new Nait 5 integrated and Flatcap 2 power supply, so I'm not sure how much of my evaluation was due to the system and how much due to the CD5. I listened through a pair of moderately priced ($2200) Diapason Prelude II monitors on Diapason-made stands, wired with Nordhost cable (yes, it is possible to use non-Naim cable, though I still think the Naim cables sound better with their own equipment).

What I do know, however, is that I could not tell much difference between this player and the previous Naim CD3.5 besides the obvious cosmetic changes. It's possible that it had slightly better dynamics and deeper range than its predecessor, but if this is true the difference would be so slight that it would be virtually unnoticeable in all but the most revealing set-ups. In any case, my impression was that both the former 3.5 and the new CD5 were equally adept at giving you probably the best sound at this price range than almost any other piece of high-end CD gear on the market. The only other CD player that comes close is the Arcam FMJ, but that unit is lacking in too many areas (to me) to make it a serious contender when compared to the Naim CD5 or 3.5. Another way to look at it is that the CD5 (or 3.5 for that matter) is like getting 98% of the performance of a $5000 player for half price.

Another nice point is that while the CD5 (and 3.5) sounds incredible on its own, but you can up the notch even further by adding a flatcap power supply. Adding a flatcap puts this thing extremely close to the sound you'd get from spending $5 or $6000 on non-Naim gear. I listed this as a drawback because you ultimately need to use the flatcap to hear everything that this piece is capable of.

That said, I would have bought the CD5 on the spot had it not been for the fact that I found a new CD3.5 on sale for around $2000, and with my budget it means that I can now get the flatcap at the same time. To me, either the CD5 or the 3.5 is just the CD player to get as you wait out the SACD/DVD Audio format wars...

I'll give the CD5 5 stars for its unbelievable value, and 5 stars overall because this thing just sounds incredibly good, period. Same goes for the 3.5 as well. Both are highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Naim CD3.5

Let you forget the equipment, non artificial, deep and fast at the same time.

The Naim Logo looks flimsy

Go and listen for yourself, the CD5 may be your last CD ever, it's about enjoyment and involvement. The Genki was so boring in comparison, the ikemi was much better but still not natural enough. The Meridian was too heavy and slow.

Similar Products Used:

Linn Genki, Ikemi, Naim CD3.5, Meridian 508.20

Awesome CD playing skills. Quality Build and CD transport stability.

Nothing (don't be put off by DIN or loading, read my review)

Reading the reviews on this page with the negative comments about DIN and the loading mechanism may put you off listening to this truely amazing CD player, well ignore them go and listen to it for yourself. Take a bundle of CD's that you know really well and prepare to be amazed. I went for a listen to 5 CD players and the NAim came out on top, even though it's a bit cheaper then the Arcam Cd player, which everybody loves.

The build of the Naim is excellent, solid and it shows when you start to listen to it. I am not saying that the Linn or Tag aren't good, they are but in my view the Naim just sounds so much better.

Firstly lets talk about DIN, seeing as many people are scared of it. So if your not using a NAim amp you will need to spend another $100 on a good Chord lead. If your buying a piece of hifi for $2000 you would expect to buy a decent lead anyway, wouldn't you? Also note that if you are going to use a Niam amp it comes with a pretty good lead anyway and sounds great.

The loading mechanism is brilliant, you pull the tray out load your CD and then place the puck on top, this provides a very stable playing motion for all your CD's. Every CD I have played on the Naim5 has sounded sonically improved. Why should all CD players have a drawer?
Why is it too much trouble to load a CD like this?
The differance in time taken to load and unload a CD is no differn't except you are in charge of the process and as for the puck flying off stories, please!

Listening to all types of music as I do i think the Naim brings a musicality that no other CD player in this price ranges comes close to. Go and listen to it, forget about the DIN plugs, the lack of digital out, after all you are paying for the transport and decoding. And rememeber the sound only gets better as the weeks of listening go on.
Don't be afraid to use it with a non Naim amp either, it will still sound amazing, i used mine with an Arcam Amp for a month while I was waiting for my NAim pre/power and it sounded pretty sweet.

Similar Products Used:

Linn Genki, Arcam FMJ CD 23, TAG Maclaren CD20R

Stupid 'puck' the holds the CD in place; DIN connections

I recently auditioned the Naim along with the Arcan & Linn players mentioned above. I was upgrading from a 4-year old Rotel RCD965LE and my immediate response to all three of these players was how much clearer and more detailed the sound was. I rejected the Linn quite quickly as although it was wonderful on chamber music I thought it was flat & disappointing on big works like the Libera Me from the Britten War Requiem or the end of Mahler 2. In comparison both the Naim & the Arcam generated far more excitement and caught me up in the music. I was using the closest set-up the shop could manage to what I have at home, namely an Arcam alpha 9 amplifier & Ruark Icon speakers (the shop couldn't manage the Ruark speakers so the audition was using some B&W speakers that they said should be similar & cost about $1200 - sorry I don't know the make). I was torn between the clarity & depth of the Naim and the warmth of the Arcam player.

I eventually chose the Naim after changing to some more expensive speakers (B&W again not sure of the model but cost about $2600) which are the type of thing I would like to upgrade to next year. My test CDs sounded absolutely amazing with these - I nearly spent all that extra money then & there! A totally thrilling sound which made me feel I was in the concert hall.

Having listened to a lot more of my music in the week since I bought it, I am still happy with big romantic pieces, but I find the sound a bit flat on more abrasive, original instrument recordings (e.g. Pinnock's recording on the Brandenburg concertos or Eliot Gardiner's B-minor mass). To be honest, I find it hard to tell the difference between this and my older player on less good quality 1960s and 1970s analogue recordings.

However, in spite of all of this I have to admit that if I were buying again I would get the Arcam. Why? Nothing to do with the sound, but the CD loading mechanism. The Naim has a little magnetic disk or puck which sits on top of the CD holding it in place. I'd only had the player for a week when my husband put the puck on slightly off-centre and it spun out into the innards of the machine. A trip back to the shop showed me the (rather awkward) way to open up the box and get it back, but it was sad to see them not at all suprised this had happened. They also warned me when I bought the player not to leave CDs in for a long time as the puck would wear out quite quickly. If I have to take the CD plyer apart every few weeks to retrieve one of the parts, this does not seem to be a forward advance in technology.

In addition, I was slightly cross to find that it had a DIN output & I needed to buy a DIN-to-phono cable just to connect it up (another $150 on the cost) as the player comes only with DIN-to-DIN for other Naim kit. I realise decent cables are an industry in themselves, but if you are spending this amount of money on a player you'd think they'd provide a good cable as well.

Similar Products Used:

Arcam FMJ, Linn Gennki

Musical.

DIN connection.
Lack of numeric output (but why ?).

I'm one of those idiots who thought that DVD-Audio players should be the solution to get analog-style reproduction of numeric sound.

Really stupid...

After having sold my Marantz CD67SE and bought a Toshiba SD500E (only for the european market, I think), I realize my huge mistake. Indeed, DVD players are good for watching movies, not listening to music...

One month after, I was looking for a top CD player. Having heard about Rega, I attend a listening session with Rega Planet and Jupiter. I was quite impressed by the difference between them, justifying the price difference.

I attend a second listening session 2 weeks later, with my own CDs, just to make sure I make making the right choice with the Jupiter. At this time, the dealer showed me the Naim CD5 and we performed comparison with the Jupiter.

Clearly, the Jupiter is on the "dark side" compared to the Naim. While not being a disadvantage in some systems, it is in my tube powered one. Moreover, the Naim seems to meet opposite requirements : it is not agressive at all, but provides handfuls of details, a great amount of dynamics, a 3D scene, "liquid" voices. Compared to this, the jupiter seemed "flat", lifeless (but the jupiter could be a bargain for a treble oriented system ).

Finally, I bought the Naim. I'll make an update of this review after a few months of listening, even if it is not allowed on this site, but the first review has not yet been removed...

Amplifier : JADIS DA-30
Speakers : BC acoustique Niger.

Similar Products Used:

Rega Planet & Jupiter (Model 2000)

usual NAIM rhythmic drive (tight, fast bass) and treble clarity (can seem edgy on poor material)

Initial impression is similar sound to cd3.5 but with more depth: harmonics and reverberation are more clearly portrayed.
Initially awkward loading is actually better and faster than most drawer-loading players, they seem toy-like in comparison (e.g.Arcam)

The review below is obviously bogus as this product has only been produced a few months, not a year. No one would be so cruel as to naim her child Linn Genki

Similar Products Used:

naim cd 3.5,cdx,arcam alpha9,ah!tjoub!!!

musical

not analog, but what CD player is?

I have played this unit for about 2 months and can say that it is the first CD player I have heard that fits my criteria:
it is musical
it is not ridiculously expensive
Sure the Linn CD 12 and the Naim CDS kill this but at what price-how about $20K and $11K, repectively. Too much for what may turn out to be a medium on its way out. If you have a great job, or are independently wealthy, treat yourself to the top of the line Linn or Naim. If you're an "average guy" (in the immortal words of Lennon), audition this player. I think you will be quite happy with what it does.