Naim Audio didn’t used to be as price-fetishist as it is now, PRAT BS notwithstanding. I have their CD5 from about 2002, and I doubt it sounds any different than any other competent CD player in a state of good repair.
But keeping it in a state of good repair is part of the challenge with CD players. The Naim CD5, with its rotating manual tray and magnetic puck clamp, has no belts and no plastic drawer machinery. All other CD players that can claim that are top-loaders, which is for me extremely inconvenient.
The minimalist controls are fine for playing whole albums, which is my standard use case, and any Philips RC-5 remote will operate it.
On the used market, I paid 1/20th the price of their latest model bought new (assuming the price posted above), which is still expensive for a used CD player. I will not, of course, buy the unnecessary external “upgrade” power supply
Yes, it was on the
Stereophile Class A recommended list that year and whatever, but that manual tray machinery is the reason I bought it. I’ve spent a lot of time gluing plastic and replacing gummy belts over the years. (I own half a dozen CD players.)
I did manage to break one of these by being careless with a home-made external power supply jumper. But that was my fault—and I think it’s a robust, low-maintenance design absent such screw-ups. It would be even better if Naim would provide a service manual. If it did, I’d have two of them.
Rick “not
everything about Naim has always been silly” Denney