Mana & Cambridge CD4 v Naim CD3.5 - a 2nd opinion
Posted by: Steve G on 04 December 2001
As set up initially Mr. Pig’s system was:
Linn LP12 on Phase 5 Mana.
Phase 3 Mana with a 72 on the top shelf, CD3.5 on the shelf below, a 250 on the next one down and a Hi-cap and turntable power supply sharing space on the bottom shelf. Speakers were Linn Saras, stand mounted and placed very close to the wall firing straight out. Wall was about 16’ or 18’ foot square and the speakers were perhaps 10’ apart with the listening position around 12’ away. The Mana racks were against one of the side walls perhaps 3’ from the left speaker. The room is quite bright sounding.
Initial listening was done with the LP12 and initial impressions were pretty good. Nice punchy midrange, reasonable bass extension for a standmounter but I was a little concerned about the treble quality which seemed a little ragged to me, with a noticeable effect on vocal sibilance. Listening to the CD3.5 was similar but listening to some of my music here (notably Massive Attack) identified a potential issue with the left speaker receiving considerably more boundary extension that the right speaker. The speakers were equidistant from the room corners but while there was a hollow alcove behind the right speaker the wall behind the left speaker was solid. This coupled with the nearby position of the racks plus a small table and plant-pot in the same corner could have been the cause. I think this could probably be cured by experimenting with speaker position as moving the Sara’s out slightly from the wall improved things a little.
Anyway onto the main event and the LP12 was moved off the Phase 5 Mana and replaced by the Cambridge Audio CD4. A number of tracks were used for testing including The Ghost of Tom Joad by Springsteen for fast transients, Sullivan Street by the Counting Crows for challenging vocals and Diesel Power by The Prodigy for bass etc. Initial listening was done on the Naim deck and then the track was replayed on the CD4. The Naim deck coped reasonably well with most of the tracks but the sound was poor with the Prodigy track. To my ears however the CD4 was very poor on all of them and unlistenable on a couple of tracks (Eminem’s Stan for example).
It’s a very bright and aggressive sounding player sounding to me like a graphic equalizer had been fitted and all the mid-range levels pushed way up. Lots of immediate impact because that area of sound that the Sara’s do well (mid-range) is emphasized but bass control and extension was poor and treble plain awful. Mr. Pig was concerned that the player in fact sounded a lot worse on Phase 5 Mana that when previously tested on Phase 4. The top tier was therefore removed and certainly the CD4 sounded a lot better now, although to my ears still some way behind the Naim player in overall presentation. Mr. Pig didn’t agree but I think we’re looking for something different from our systems – I like a balanced controlled sound capable of dealing with everything from Sibelius to the Smashing Pumkins and from Emminen to Mozart. Mr. Pig would appear to prefer a fast punchy sound with its inevitable focus on mid-range performance and certainly in that area the Cambridge deck performed well, notably with cymbals.
For someone who listens mainly to vinyl with only occasional use of the CD player I can see the point about the Naim player not being worth the extra £1000 or so it cost. For myself who mainly uses CD with occasional use of vinyl it’s a no brainer – I couldn’t live with the harsh sound of the Cambridge player.
My supposition was that as Mr. Pig’s system was setup primarily for the LP12 neither the CD4 or the Naim (both aggressive decks) suited it and perhaps a sweeter, less aggressive player would be better. Amongst a few bits and pieces I’d brought along was my old Micromega Leader II, which I normally deploy as a transport for a Meridian 203 DAC. This took the place of the Cambridge player atop the Phase 4 Mana and to all ears (myself and Mr. & Mrs. Pig) comfortably gave the most musical performance of any CD player tried. Interestingly this improvement collapsed when the Meridian DAC was hooked in. The DAC was also tried with the Cambridge player and certainly to my ears benefited significantly from it.
Significantly in my main system at home (32.5/SNAPS/140/Credos on a Target TT5 rack with sources on a Wallnutt 2 tier wall-shelf) in which I use a CD3.5 as my primary source the situation is reversed. The Micromega player gives the Naim a good run for it’s money but my system benefits from the extra attack the Naim player brings.
Overall I’d say Mr. Pig’s system outperforms mine perhaps primarily due to being housed in a much bigger room (my listening room is 12’ x 8’ and also houses my main computer and lots of storage). The Sara’s didn’t really do it for me as their obvious colouration, while dramatic in many ways, didn’t work with much of the music I listen to. Controversially I’d have said replacing the Sara’s with my Credos would have improved the balance of the system a lot but even with those in place I suspect a smoother CD player would give the best results.
Thanks to Mr. Pig for his hospitality and his wife for an endless supply of tea. And folks, Mr. Pig is much nicer in person that some have imagined from his forum persona…
Regards
Steve
)Steve, you should pop round to mine or me to yours seeing as you're nearby. My system is undergoing massive flux at the moment (having temporarily removed a fair amount of Mana from under the sources/amps in favour of the speakers, and also undergoing major work with the TT and interconnects (getting VTA right, sorting out RFI, etc.) but it's coming along nicely. My new preamp arrives today (after 3 months wait!!!!!!) and I'll hopefully get the dealer to reset my TT (it was new and hence needed a revisit to sort out a couple of things like VTA and so on).
My own take on the Saras is well known - I'm not a big fan - but I have heard the comparison between an Arcam 7 series CD player and the 3.5, and whilst it wasn't as conclusive as Mr Pig claimed for the CD4, the Mana certainly does change things and move goalposts. Whether that's a good or a bad thing is, of course, up to the ear of the beholder...
TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."
quote:
Originally posted by Tony Lonorgan:
Quote: " Base is not capable of making silk purses out of Pig's ears. "Alex, you have Pig's ears on your Base rack? This explains a hell of a lot regarding his recent postings. Please give them back to him immediately.
Tony.
Actually Mr. Pig has a cold at present and I wondered if that had affecting his hearing, especially in the upper registers?
Regards
Steve
quote:
Originally posted by Mick Parry:
GentlemenComparing a £99 Cambridge with a CD3.5 has got to be the daftest thing since Charlse dumped Diana for you know who.
Regards
Mick
Those of who choose to believe our ears instead of being led like puppies would probably disagree.
I think it's an interesting comparison to make even if, as in this case, I much preferred the Naim player.
Regards
Steve