What to do with my CD Player

[emollusc]

Anyone who read my "Back in the hifi Saddle" thread would know that my Naim CD2 has given up the ghost. It looks like laser has gone and it isn't easily fixed.

As an update, apparently, if I send it back to Naim via my local dealer they will put in a new laser, but third party repairers can't get the stock.

The question is, do I send the CD2 to be repaired or do I cut my losses and buy another, 2nd hand, CD-Player.

As a bit of background:

My primary source is vinyl and whilst I have a media streamer the sound is not in the same league as the turntable. I tend to use the steamer to listen to old radio comedies or to put on music whilst I'm busy doing something that doesn't go with spinning discs: dusting.

Recently, however, I have missed certain albums that are not available on vinyl. Such as most of Suzanne Vega's output for example. The CD2 had a fantastic sound and I did like it.

Ebay seems to be my only reference to 2nd hand costs at the moment. Someone is selling a Naim serviced CD2 for £725 which seems a lot of money for a CD of that age. However, a CD3-5 weighs in at around £400, but would probably need the optional separate power supply to reveal its full potential (could be purchased later when funds allow).

So do I:

1. Send the CD2 off to Naim as I will probably get another 10 years out of a repaired unit.
2. Forget the CD2 and buy another used CD player probably CD3-5 or CD5
3. Do something different.

I have a leaning towards option 1, but would be interested in your views.

Brian

[bob orbell]

If you like it that much Brian, then have the people who made it sort it, I would. Bob

[pre65]

Have you been quoted a price for option 1 ?

[John Caswell]

As some of you may know I do a fair amount of repairs on all sorts of stuff.
I have however given up on CD players due to -
a) Availability of lasers, both open market and from manufacturers
b) Poor quality control of said lasers
c) Surface mount components especially control ICs (**** eyesight doesn't help)
I know this is hard but I would just cut my losses, bin it and look around for something you like and is affordable.
I do not like admitting defeat, but availability and costs weigh very heavily now especially costs. It is quite awkward telling someone his £5k CD player is now junk because the mfr. no longer supports it.

John

[colin.hepburn]

Hi all
I still have my old Marantz CD52 SE. That I got new back in 95 and it still working well with some tweaks and running into a DAC. But when I got my first HDTV I also got a blue ray player as well

Now the blue-ray player was just a £200 Samsung 1500 which I also still use some 12 years on with the DAC and it sounds very good still and lets me enjoy my blue ray and standard blues a jazz DVDs

It’s just an idea Brian but why not get a blue ray player off eBay just to try it and if you like it got for a better one plus it gives you something to play around and experiment with till you work out the way you want to get

PS I would not bother going back to CD players now as the DVD player plays my CD as well and better than the Marantz but its close

[Richard]

A difficult one Brian. The CD2 isn't worth much as a non-runner so on value alone you could get it fixed if only to re-evaluate and sell on again with a Naim servicing receipt if you do decide to let it go.

On the other hand my present CDp, an Arcam 70.2, uses the same crown dac (in probably a less-good implementation than yours) but has been improved by using it as transport into an Arcam IRdac. Similarly my PD91 was better into a PT De Capo a good few years ago. So things may have moved on a bit but it can be a minefield.

If CD is secondary and you love the CD2 I'd get it fixed.

My mains source now is FLAC into a Squeezebox Touch then into the Arcam DAC via usb connection. It can be a faff but I wonder if you're half way to streaming and better source files would help or if you're being modest and already have a good streamer? Radio comes as a free extra with the SBT it isn't as good as FM if you sit and listen but mostly good enough for dusting

[emollusc]

Thanks for the replys guys,

I'll start with the last post first. Richard, your streaming setup sounds like it pretty similar to mine, flacs (some mp3) into a squeezebox and then a Cambridge Audio DAC. The problem I have is the sound in is pretty flat compared to vinyl and the CD2. Now, this may be due to the number of things not least the cost of the vinyl source is probably 10 times that of the streaming source.

Blu Ray as a source, that's an idea and one I hadn't thought of. It is definately something to think about...

As to Bin it, the more I thought about it the more I decided it was a bad Idea. The Naim CD2 sells at around £700 on Ebay, so as long as it costs me less to get it repaired by Naim then I can either keep it or sell it and make a profit.

pre65 you asked if I had been quoted a price for the repair. Well at the time of writing the original post no I hadn't. But I had sent off an email to the local dealer. He, rang me yesterday evening and we had a chat about my player. First he had just got a CD2 back for another customer, who was very happy which what Naim had done. Second, expect it to cost around £350 and third the Naim CD 3-5 player is not a good as the CD2. It was seen as a budjet model with a cheap power supply.

One thing I did do was take the cover off and look inside so see if the cable to the laser had come loose. Wow, Naim don't mess about. The toroidal transformer is nearly a big as the one in my power amp, each of the ciruit boards are sprung loaded and the cabling was a site to behold.

So, Bob it looks like I've taken your suggestiong as the CD2 is to be picked up today, and the family are eating beans for the next couple of months. Actually that's pretty much what the boys eat anyway


Brian

[bob orbell]

Hmm, beans, you mean fart fodder . Bob

[Shane]

Once you’ve got the CD player sorted out, I’d look at improving your streamer. You may well find that the Naim becomes redundant.
My old Arcam Alpha CD may not be up to the standard of the Naim but it sounds pretty good, being a brilliant implementation of the old TDA1541. However, having now delved into the murky world of the Raspberry Pi, the CD has spent the last couple of years gathering dust under the bed and really should go on eBay.
The implementation I ended up with was a Pi3 with Hifiberry digital output hat into a Beresford DAC, for a total outlay of about £200. There are much better hats and DACs available, but even that modest setup bests the Arcam on SQ.
Setup was quite straightforward. Loading up the Pi with Volumio took about an hour of computer-numpty head scratching, and it’s worked pretty flawlessly ever since. It would be nice to replace Volumio with Roon but my very limited budget won’t stretch that far.

[Greg.]

I second Shane’s post. I have the same experience. My CDP is a heavily upgraded Naim CD3. I went to a RPi3 with HiFi berry professional hat streamer and Beresford dac. The CDP became redundant. My next amp had a built in dac so the Beresford came out and the RPi was replaced with a microRendu. Another step up, all now redundant because my current amp has both built in dac and streamer. I stream Qobuz through Roon which is so good, I purchased lifetime membership. I have held onto my RPi as it may be useful for a second system sometime.