Naim CD Players and Valve Amps

I'm sorry but Naim + valves is against the law I believe.

p.s. I ran a CDS into QuadIIs + Tannoy III LZs for several years. Sounded great to me but I was encouraged to change when the unattended Quads caught fire one day. I've had my ECT , replaced with an all Naim system, and everything is much nicer now.
malcolm

I've often read with curiosity about the epiphanies of folks when they encountered SET amps and have wanted to try them out. Your comments, as one who has owned some SET's are very intriguing. Could you write more about your experience/journey in this regard?

Thanks, in advance, for any insights you'd care to share...

Markus

I combine a cd5 with an EAR 859 set integrated amplifier. For me it works very well and it makes a fine combination. I tried several cdp's: rega, arcam fmj 23, cdx, but the cd5 was in that price range the best partner with the EAR.
It may depend which ear amplifier you have. The V20 for instance has a warmer more tube sound than the 859. A Naim CDX will probably be a better partner for a V20. For me strengths of the Naim players are timing and dynamics, very good bass and a certain ''analog' feeling which suits the valve amps.

Enjoy trying them out

Theo

I use a Naim CD5 into a Blue Circle BC3 tube preamp (SET I believe) into a Blue Circle BC22 solid state power amp and the results are jaw dropping! True, I've never had Naim amps in my own listening room, but I can't imagine the PRAT and involvement factor getting much better than what I have now.

Kei

Try the Pathos TT ; you won't regret it.

[This message was edited by DJH on SATURDAY 16 November 2002 at 01:55.]

After listening to CD5, Genki, Planet and a MF CD player who’s name I can’t remember, I put the CD5 on the front of my twelve year old Audio Innovations 25W Class A integrated thingie (driving Ruark Talismans, also twelve years old) and have been grinning ever since.

From what I’ve heard this was a bad move, since the warm mushy tube presentation is compounded by the smooth polite nature of the CD5. All I can say is that there must be something wrong with my ears! Please don't tell me what I'm missing. I'm now happy and well adjusted!

Two points to mention (sorry if stating the obvious):
Home trial is essential.
With the best will in the world, the system will almost certainly sound like nothing like you originally heard after it’s burnt in.

Luckily in my case, it now sounds even better – more clear in the top with musical but nicely extended (but probably not fully extended) bass.
Actually I don’t think it was luck – after all, we are talking Naim here.

Added bonus was that my wife, who for some reason (nothing to do with me, honest) always assumed she had cloth ears – now won’t get her CDs off the system. She’s actually leaning on me to get a HiCap. Gotta love her.

From what I’ve seen and heard at the dem and since, if/when the AA500 departs this world I’ll be going back to solid state amplification – no prizes for guessing what make. Then I’ll probably have to upgrade the CD5……. Hey ho here we go… again.

BTW this is a great forum. Just wanted to thank you all for that.

Cheers
Harry

But some of you seem to miss the point.I know that a Naim owner is devoted to the brand and cannot understand why anyone want to go any other route other than Naim but, having listened to Naim Amps, I absolutely, totally have no intention of going down that route.

What I am looking for is a CD Player which is more musical, less sterile and has better rhythm and timing than my MF X-RAY.

As strange as it may seem I am building my system (shock horror) around my EAR 869 valve amplifier.

I will be demoing the Jupiter and CD5 in the near future.

Thanks for everyones time.

Rob

A listening experience : CDX + Mcintosh C22/MC275

Hi All,

Ater my recent upgrading to CDS2(thanks to Naheed), I sold my beloved CDX to one of my freinds who use the above amps. I was very impressed by that matching : excellent music flow, well balanced from tight bass to 'silken' treble. I certainly wanted more defintion and PRaT, but a digital glare and lack of softness which are often attributed to the CDX as its shortcomings were not there. The overall presentation was extremely good.

quote:

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. There's something similar in the way good SET amps and Naim set-ups produce music. They don't obscure the notes, the relation between the notes, and the message/attitude of the piece of music being played.

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True dat! And add an excellent sense of pace and bass details.
Only reason I put up with minor inconvenience and giving up available power is because I can't afford NAP 500.

I was surprised how similar they sound (albeit in the diffdrent systems )

Intersting you mention 300B valve. Altho, they are not my favorite valve, the midrange and treble quality was very similar in presentaion to Naim. 300B being probably more spacious and better layering, maybe.

Robby

How about a CD player with valves inside to go with your valve amp? Check this out:

http://www.hifi-planet.com/hifiworld1.htm

Actually I had one of these for a while. It was quite good, very sweet sounding and you can tweak the sound by changing valve makes. It sounded best with Siemens valves.

regards
geoffp

quote:

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What I am looking for is a CD Player which is more musical, less sterile and has better rhythm and timing than my MF X-RAY.

I will be demoing the Jupiter and CD5 in the near future.

Rob

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You may also want to audition the Meridian 507 or 588 (if you can stretch your budget).

I have the Planet 2000, and have auditioned the CD5 in the shops. The CD5 is significantly better than my Planet in every way.

In its price range, the 588 is the most engaging and balanced CD player I've heard, and is what I'd get if I'm spending that kind of money.

Cheers,
Tze-Ho

Wow, I didn’t expect that after a year from my original I post would still be getting replies.

As you may expect after all this time I bought a new CD Player.

I listened to the Planet, Jupiter and CD5 with my amp and speakers at home and have to say that they are very similar in sound – no surprise there. The Jupiter sounds similar to the Plant only everything is one step ahead in terms of improvement. Comparing the Jupiter to the CD5 was for me more difficult. I found it difficult to find the one that I preferred.

In the end though I didn’t buy any of those players.

Much to my surprise and my dealer’s horror I went for a completely different player. Whilst I had the Jupiter and CD5 at home I borrowed a Sony SCD-XA333ES.

And preferred it.

Is that the sound of groans I here. Probably.

I won’t go into the reasons why here as I may be struck down by the Gods of hi-fi but needless to say I bought one and have been very happy with my purchase ever since.

Thanks for the replies anyway.

Rob

quote:

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Originally posted by Robby:
Wow, I didn’t expect that after a year from my original I post would still be getting replies.

As you may expect after all this time I bought a new CD Player.

I listened to the Planet, Jupiter and CD5 with my amp and speakers at home and have to say that they are very similar in sound – no surprise there. The Jupiter sounds similar to the Plant only everything is one step ahead in terms of improvement. Comparing the Jupiter to the CD5 was for me more difficult. I found it difficult to find the one that I preferred.

In the end though I didn’t buy any of those players.

Much to my surprise and my dealer’s horror I went for a completely different player. Whilst I had the Jupiter and CD5 at home I borrowed a Sony SCD-XA333ES.

And preferred it.

Is that the sound of groans I here. Probably.

I won’t go into the reasons why here as I may be struck down by the Gods of hi-fi but needless to say I bought one and have been very happy with my purchase ever since.

Thanks for the replies anyway.

Rob

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*groan*

quote:

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I borrowed a Sony SCD-XA333ES.
And preferred it.

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Robby ther is nowt wrong with the SONY. I have one too. It was my CD player to start with and I thought did a pretty good job, until I got the Naim bug .
I now have a CDX2 which I am glad to say (since I bought it) blows the sony out of the water on CD.
I still use the sony for SACD playback, which it is superb at.

GEOFFP