CD5 in Listener

Thanks In Advance,
Ron The Mon

I think that the new 5 Series is much, much better than its older brothers, no contest. Like some others said, I can hardly imagine that anybody hears otherwise (but do apparently). From what I've heard the improvements on the NAIT are more significant than with the CD3.5 / 5. This doesn't mean that the progress here is small, it's big but not as big as with the NAIT. Say a 35 % performance hike on the NAIT 5 vs. a 20 % for the CD5 or something like that. Makes any sense?

The only scary part of the new 5 Series is the design which more and more seems the shape of thing to come for Naim. The new casing might be acoustically better (?) than the old extruded cases but they look & feel cheap and ugly IMO. As for the new logo, well, a bit like Aston Martin changing to plastic stick-on badges... Cheapish too.

This probably isn't the case with Naim but sometimes it seems as if companies change things just for the sake it. I wonder and doubt if the new design and logo will get more acceptance with a wider audience if that was a goal. Time will tell. Maybe both are simply cheaper and/or easier to manufacture.

The sound quality of the new 5 Series is great though!!

Richard.

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The new casing might be acoustically better (?) than the old extruded cases but they look & feel cheap and ugly IMO.

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Richard,

are you really saying that the new five series looks 'cheaper and uglier' than the three series?

My dealer lost quite a few sales on the old stuff because a lot of the hifi buying public don't agree with you on that. No such problems with the new range.

I recently heard CD5/NAIT5/Rega Ela and it sounded superb, bearing in mind much smaller scale than I'm used to.

cheers, Martin

For those who already own naim, I dare say it is the sound that is most important, although if you have 3 series and want a 5 series product then the obvious mis-match in style might be an issue.

For the uncommited or new buyer then the look will be a consideration and whilst I like the old style for its understatement, it does look old and it has none of the features that most people expect i.e. remote control for one.

I also belive that naim have taken a conscious decision to unify their branding so that the logo is consistent from the label to the hardware and that the top of the range styling is reflected in their lower ranges. It will not be too long before all the hardware is in new style cases using the derivative of the nap 500 technology.

cheers

Nigel

As usual you are completey wrong.

That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. Unfortunately I expressed my opinion in an earlier post and you just hurl abuse at me for it. So I have to conclude that we are back to a consistent level of Parry hypocrisy, do as I say not as I do!

"The drivel in your first letter quite honestly made you look a moron."

Sadly for you no it doesn't, however, your reply just shows you up for what you are.

"I hope to hear from you soon on a 1 to 1 basis. "

Why would I want to talk to you? Anything I say gets you wound up and I think you are a hypocritical bully who thinks that a bit of verbal abuse wins arguments. Sorry but your arguments are generally weak to start with and then you weaken them still further by hurling abuse instead of addressing the issues. With people like you around it is no wonder wars get started!

", I tend to be vituperative, confrontational and quite honestly like a bastard from hell. I spit bums like you out for breakfast."

Don't be so pathetic. You sound like the school bully who thinks he can win arguments through being aggressive. Do you think that you will get results this way? I have dealt with many people over the years who cannot argue and have to resort to hurling abuse and never had a problem with any of them as they all fell by the wayside. Common sense wins in the end.

"Yours in utter disbelief"

No I think I am the one in utter disbelief that anyone could write such poorly thought out rubbish.

Keep this up Mick and everyone will have worked out what you are really like.

Ian

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I keep seeing mentions of this "Listener" publication (which I assume is on-line). Can someone tell me where to find it?

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"Listener" is an old - fashioned paper magazine published every two months. We're beginning our seventh year of publication now (disclosure: I write for the magazine). Currently the closest thing to a "Listener" web site is a page that's part of the Audioweb site. There's some sample articles there and a subscription form. Other reviews can be found on various manufacturers' sites; there's a couple of them on the Mana site for example.

"Listener" page on AudioWeb

As anticipated you have written another long letter rambling on as usual.

Boring the pants off everyone.

My offer still stands........ask for my phone number and you can contact me direct.

In fact I am looking forward to it.

Regards

Mick

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Mark, I perceived your initial comment to be very insulting to Ian (and to the rest of the readers here) and highly inappropriate. Was that your intent?

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Sorry Philip, I can't see anything in there that could be considered offensive to the rest of the readers here or indeed inappropriate.

Ian (and others, thus "someone like you") trolls here regularly, most often to get in little digs about Naim at the drop of a hat, and I can't see anything wrong with pointing this out, if a little aggressively.

It's good to see that Series 5 has stirred up such a lot of interest and heated debate.

"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about." - Oscar Wilde

Fancy calling Mr Wright a troll........you now run the risk of a twenty sentence response from him denying that his original troll was in fact a troll, but that he was merely expressing his opinion.

Regards

Mick.........still awaiting the phone call

Sorry if I was misquoting Ken. If my memory serves me well, he said something quite definitive about the CD2 and teh CDX, but obviously my massive hangover and the heat (it got up to 46 C the day before) may have colored things. If he did say this, he has obviously changed his mind as you stated.

It is a great store! And ken is an astounding dealer. Reminds me of my old boss at caltech. Very cool, inteligent and impartial. The listening room with all the rugs is great. I didn't care for teh NBLs at teh time but the demo was enough to convince me teh CDS 2 was king and I bought one six months later.

I get WB ACT 2s in about two months. The next question is 135s or 500...

and maybe an 01.

dav

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Re: "Listener" magazine

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Thanks!

(I still don't like this
software very much)

Dozy

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Ian is not a troll

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Ohhhhhhh, yes he is!! In this pantomime anyway...

So if Ian and Mick would care to post pictures of their respective fundements, we can see if either of them are Trollesque.

(*who else would you trust)

Jonathan

"I am a middle aged, grumpy old git"

Just about sums it up, really.

Have a merry Christmas Mick.

mikeh

Pity somone else can't admit to being a boring rambling troll.

Oh have a merry Christmas and I hope your mother in law springs a surprise visit on you Christmas day.........then you'll be a grumpy young git.

Or if I was a real bastard........I could hope a certain boring rambling troll visits you on Christmas day........then you would become a Mick convert.

Regards and affection

Mick

BTW there are no 'ifs' about it you are a real bastard (cue the we love Mick song as murdered by Ms. Brightman). But hey,it keeps the world spinning.

Zob - Looking for a Radius Protocol expert.

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I listened to a CD5 recently and concluded that it was much more of a mass market sound (more detail etc) with a bit less of the old Naim PRAT

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I went & listened to the a CD5 & Nait 5 recently and I think I can see where he is coming from. The sound is stunning & in some ways better than the old 3 series but it's seems to have lost some of the stomp that the old kit had. I replaced Nait 5 with a stone cold Nait 3. Then I sat up and listened. The new stuff doesn't seem so involving to me.

Now if those nice chaps at Naim like the new kit fine (and if I was starting afresh I could too) but I can't help wondering what will happen when 5 series owners start to upgrade. The sound they bought will appear to alter radically when the buy a 102 etc. Will they like that change? Who can say.

As to the look of the beast , my wife loves it, I on the otherhand thought I was looking at the Rega (sitting next to it) until I looked closely.

So all in all I reckon Naim have a fine product but does appear to have changed direction a little and is now more appealing to the mainstream.

Tom
Enjoying it all

have you ever compared CDX/XPS against CDS-II/XPS?

I would guess that the CDX is equivalent to the NAIT3, and the CDS-II is the NAIT5. Of course some have said they prefer the CDX/XPS. Mana-heads seem to put themselves into this category, so Ian is being true to form here.

cheers, Martin

As you go down the range, things get cheaper, and elements of the performance are compromised in order to maintain other aspects. In Naim's case, the fundamentals of the the music remain intact all the way to the 3-series, implying that they have chosen to omit the icing rather than the cake, so to speak. Other manufacturers remove the cake, leaving one only with icing, which is deeply unsatisfying over time. Naim's approach throws the cake into sharp perspective, so (and this is putting my point in very black & white terms) if one is accustomed to (say) a CDX, a CDSII could very well sound strangely "full" and "rich" (probably not the right words, but you get my drift), owing to the extra information retrieved, but not at the expense of the fundamentals. The fundamentals are simply less obvious, as there is more going on.

Thus, if comparing CD3.5 with CD5, is it not possible that they have found a way to incorporate fewer compromises at this particular price point? This would account for the perceptions expressed.

If the CDSII can be taken as Naim's "this is as good as it currently gets" statement on CD replay, and the CD5 sounds closer to the CDSII than did the CD3.5 at a similar price point, then the CD5 represents an advance, IMHO.

Best;

Mark

(I still don't like this
software very much)

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Naim's approach throws the cake into sharp perspective

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I guess from the "black and white" and "full and rich" you are thinking of Christmas Cake?

This has got to be the best seasonal analogy of the year!

Prostetnic Vogon Jelz

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have you ever compared CDX/XPS against CDS-II/XPS?

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No but I did compare a CDI & the CD2 a few years back which certainly gave a similar impression to the "improvements" of the Nait 5 over the Nait 3. The older model in both cases had a greater sense of grabbing your attention, the newer, a fuller picture at the expense of attack. This attack seems to be preferable to certain people and this probably includes some of those who like what Mana does and those who prefer the CDS to CDSII etc.

Naim (and their customers) seem to be moving towards the fuller picture even if that is at the expense of the "old" sound. Obviously the higher up the chain you go the more of everything you get.

The only new product that worse than old is this forum software. What happened to the promised threading?

At least the Vogons turn the Earth into a perfect sound system before blasting it.

Tom
Enjoying it all

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This has got to be the best seasonal analogy of the year!

Prostetnic Vogon Jelz

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…but please, no poetry.

(I still don't like this
software very much)