A quick puck...

John

I believe it is a question of providing a rigid coupling with the spindle that is also mildly damped - hence, when combined with the heavy transport assembly, you get a very stable platform that reduces reading errors, jitter and general data loss in reproduction.

It seems to me you should be able to get similar performance from an automated slidy-door thingy with some serious post-insert clamping devices, but I suppose the effect would be much more expensive to acheive than the simple addition of a magnetic clamp c 50p in cost. Maybe that is why a CD12 costs so much?

The lack of digital output has similar justification - Naim claiming that it is not possible to produce one without compromising the overall quality of the reproduction without adding enourmous expense.

The puck I can kind of figure from what I can remember of mechanics and how a CD/laser works - but the digital out bit is way beyond my comprehension.

I'm sure there must be someone out there with enough electronics knowledge to have a go ...

Jonathan

John,

There used to a transcript of a radio interview with Julian on the main Naim site where he explained these sort of things, and much more. It does not seem to be there anymore, maybe someone from Naim can sort it out or tell us where it is hidden.

FWIW I find the swing draw / puck better to use than the conventional powered draw most of the time. Why do you need digital out?

Kevin.

...I don't (yet) although I intend at some point to buy a CDR machine, and (copy protection permitting) would like to make compilations and so forth, and maybe the odd copy of CDs I've borrowed (not advocating piracy, but at the price of many of today's CDs, can you blame me?)

Oh, one other thing I've always found peculiar about Naim gear is the continued use of DIN cables - is this just a case of 'the way it's always been so we'll stay that way' or do they have some overriding justification.

In some senses, it puts one off buying Naim if you have already invested in conventional interconnects and so forth. Then again, I do like the Naim sound, and the CD5 plus Epona PSU remains a contender...

John

John,

It seems to me that you forget that although there are things that "annoying" you like the puck and the lack of digital output - the SOUND of Naim is GREATER than the sound of many other less "annoying" equipment ....

Arie

John,

If you like the Naim sound, then Naim must be doing something right. All the little quirks that characterise Naim are there not simply to be different but because they work. I for one am very pleased I don't have to invest any more money than what Naim recommends viz cables and interconnects.

Enjoy the experience.

James

There are several good reasons to use din connectors.

1/ They are self cleaning. The pins self-clean each time you insert them.

2/ They make the ground connection first ( and break it last) avoiding nasty bangs & buzzes.

3/ The signal isn't passed through great chunks of alloy, as in many 'high-end' phono connectors.

4/ Dins allow star earthing in a way that would be impossible with phono's.

Hope this helps,

Rob.

John,

I share your views to some extent, but I now own a CD3.5 anyway, for musical reasons.

The puck is really very easy to use in practice, in fact it has a nice tactile quality about it, the only drawback is the occasional slipping disc. I've just found one or two discs out of my 250-300 that don't play properly. But this is still a bit annoying, even with a "cheap" 1100 quid player.

I once suggested in the old forum that Naim really only designed in the puck for marketing purposes - Julian V was "somewhat unimpressed" by that suggestion, to put it mildly. So they obviously do think it makes a worthwhile difference. And since none of us have ever heard a Naim CD player with a conventional clamping mechanism, we have to take their word for it.

Trevor