CDP Conundrum

I bought a CDX for 1500-ish about 6 months ago, upgrading from a 3.5/Hi.
No regrets at all.

Paul Rowlands

got to be a 2nd hand cdx-cap my friend. why would you want to replace a cdi for like?????
good luck

Just realised - why do you want to replace a CDi with a CDi?

Paul Rowlands

Firstly thanks for all your contributions folks. I can understand why you might wonder why I would consider another CDi - well, put it this way, I've seen a minty one for £600-650 and the remaining £900 or so will go a long way toward some other kit, eg Hicap etc or indeed a holiday as stated.

But I know of the reputation of the CDX, and it really does appeal. I think if I can dem one, it'll be the route of choice..of course, one should never buy without auditioning first..! The Cap will have to wait a while unfortunately, but it will be done...

Nobody's mentioned the CDS - have seen one for £1650 2nd hand..??

Thanks again for all your advice

G

P.S. Didn't really explain - had to sell my CDi about 8 months ago due to financial constraints, and been running a Marantz CD63MkII KI Signature as a stop-gap. I know, I know... and at least the IR Protocols are the same and it's not THAT shabby.

God I need to realign my ears again, can't believe I just said that.

I'll second that Tom welcome back John.

Thank you Mr Toon for your own high endorsement of the ye old CDi. I recently bought a CDi in near mint condition and it does everything I expect of it and more. I have a separate spur but my dealer was sceptical about major improvements with good supports. I've got a suspended wooden floor and I was asking about wall shelves. He said the CDi has its own internal suspension and will still sound good.
This is I know true but the question is just how much improvement can be had and where are the significant improvements eg more bass, cleaner treble??

My amps are 42.5/hi/110.

Dave

Thank you Mr Toon for your personal opinion.
I appreciate your experience and wisdom.
I have to investigate the stands further. I'm not sure if mana can be bought in Oz.
Oh well I might have to make a trip to the little island to buy stands and maybe an amp upgrade.

Dave

The CDX on Optimum racks sounds awful. You have been warned!

I used to have one of those before I upgraded to...



Regards,

Steve.

Hi,

I have CDi/Nait2/Kan2 as a second system in my living room which has an area of approx. 40 sq.m (main system CDS2/552/500/NBL based in dedicated music room). The CDi/Nait2/Kan2 kicks my pants off! Yesterday I put it on a Mana Phase 4 ("double glassed") and it really took the system to another planet. All I can say is that this is a system I really could live with long term in musical terms (not in terms of ultimate HiFI or absolut output though).

Regards

Anders

quote:

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The CDX on Optimum racks sounds awful. You have been warned!

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My CDX is on an Optimum rack.
(It's also on Stands Unique carbon isolators.)

Paul Rowlands

Good to be heading back to the fold after a spell in the audio wilderness, I have to say, and may I also say thanks for all your combined knowledge and opinions - I don't know of many hi-fi manufacturers where you can benefit from a forum like this.

Well, after a bit of hunting around, I have found a couple of excellent CDXs for around the £1100-1200 mark. CDis appear to be fetching around £600-650 currently, which is what mine went for many months ago.

I am still really not sure quite what to do. A minty CDX will swallow most of the budget, and I will bear in mind about it sounding less-than-ideal on Optimum. John, where can I get to hear some of this fabled Mana kit and what sort of price are we talking for a 3 or 4 tier support?

Also worth considering is this - the CDi will not depreciate much further as evidenced by the fact I will have to pay what I sold mine for last year to get another one. It will leave funds for a combination of Mana, Hi and NAPSC, but no upgrade path. I also suspect this will sound better than a vanilla CDX, as the improvements in the 102 are marked when capped and NAPSC'd. I have heard the improvements in my system with a friend's kit.

On a mains note, I know how important good mains signal is, but I unfortunately live in a (admittedly solid) block of flats and share a mains feed with all of them. This has been eliminated somewhat by the use of a Chord mains cleaner. Not ideal, but better.

So the choice remains. CDX or CDi? The latter is a known quantity, the former is not. Can someone put into words what the main differences are between the CDX and CDi? I guess that even if I buy and dislike it, I can always sell it on. Maybe it's a case of try it and see.

Also from a 'pride of ownership' point of view, I love the loading mech of the CDi, the CDX doesn't do it for me. I suspect it will be a CDi, HC and NAPSC for me. And can Mana really be THAT GOOD? It is also, unfortunately (IMHO) very ugly.

Anyhows, enough rambling, I will let you know how things unfold.

Thanks once again for all your advice, it's good to be back.

Gav

Gavin, go for a CDS it smoke all of the CDPs in question. It is more like the CDS2 in character as it has a more analogue presentation. I actually prefered the CDS1 (with black burndy) over the older CDS2.

John

quote:

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I am still really not sure quite what to do. A minty CDX will swallow most of the budget, and I will bear in mind about it sounding less-than-ideal on Optimum. John, where can I get to hear some of this fabled Mana kit and what sort of price are we talking for a 3 or 4 tier support?

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Mana is but one option and is not the one I settled on.

The Quadraspire Reference works really well with a CDX. It costs £730 for four usable shelves - the base shelf is not supposed to have anything placed upon it.

If you decide to keep your Optimum stand you can add a couple of extra shelves to it as I did, and bear in mind also that on Optimum, the CD5/Flatcap 2 or Hi-cap outperforms a CDX.

I sold my Optimum stand via my dealer who used it as a display rack for his Chord interconnects whilst we were waiting for a buyer. He kept it shiny and new looking and I eventually sold it for a bit more than I expected.

www.quadraspire.co.uk



Regards,

Steve.

[This message was edited by Steven Toy on WEDNESDAY 22 October 2003 at 01:03.]

Gavin,

Just check with Naim about spares for the CDS that you have seen. For certain versions they still have the important spares. If they do for the one you are looking at, buy it. It is a great player and the CDPS is captive to it (it cann't power anything else unless it has been modified). Give the unit a spin.

quote:

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Originally posted by Anders:
Hi,

I have CDi/Nait2/Kan2 as a second system in my living room which has an area of approx. 40 sq.m (main system CDS2/552/500/NBL based in dedicated music room). The CDi/Nait2/Kan2 kicks my pants off! Yesterday I put it on a Mana Phase 4 ("double glassed") and it really took the system to another planet. All I can say is that this is a system I really could live with long term in musical terms (not in terms of ultimate HiFI or absolut output though).

Regards

Anders

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That's good to know Anders. I have a Nait2/Kan2 system that I just added a CD3 to. What a world of a difference compared to the transport/dac combo I was using. Looking forward to eventually going with CDi s/h someday.

Steve
My system is on an Optimum rack and I rather like it.

Paul Rowlands

I will second the "try to get a CDS" mentioned above. It's still a very good player.

I remember once comparing a CDi to a CDS. It was some kind of punkish, noisy rock music. When playing it on the CDi my thougt was "not a particulary good recording, this". Then it was played on the CDS. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the recording! The CDi just couldn't reproduce the very dense music as well as the CDi.

The CDS will probably also hold it's value better, it's a bit of a classic, I think.

JohanR

I've only just seen this thread. I was in a similar position a few months ago (1500 quid, what to buy, CDX or CDS1?). I went for the CDS1 and quite frankly i think it's superb. It cost 1450quid but I gave it a full service (another 300 quid) and Naim gave the transport the all clear. the Nextel ring is in top nick and I always remove cds form the transport after playing to minimse wear.

It is more of a gamble I guess going for an older CDS but boy is it good and it only has the humble grey burndy. It replaced my CD3 and I can see why people say that it gets you out of the digital presentation.

cheers
b

Bugger. Just when I thought I'd made a decision things change!!

Well, I was going to go for a s/h CDi/Hi/NAPSC combo, which would have been around £1250 all in, and very nice too. Unfortunately, my friend seems to have got the only s/h CDi going recently, and it's in really good nick. There is a CDS/CDPS on eBay at the moment which closes in about 15 hours, but it's risen to £1700 which is too rich for my blood at present.

There are about 6 CDXs around on various sites, all around the £1000-1250 mark, so may well bite the bullet and go for one of those with a Hi for now. Would be a good time to negotiate as there are so many around, and if I don't like it after 6 months, I can always sell it on. Will probably speak to my dealer about the rack situation and see what they have and what I can pinch for a week or so. They would also sell my Optimum for me if I bought from them, or chop it in against the new one. Mine came from them originally anyhow.

I may hang fire and see if a CDi comes up in mint nick (I really prefer the loading mech which is what would draw me to the CDS/CDPS) but then I also need to budget for either a new rack or a 4th tier for my existing one.

ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!! Decisions, decisions!!! Perhaps I will hang fire and see what comes up, there's no rush to buy other than that I am fed up with using the Marantz KI. I'd rather do it right than rushed. Also another CDS/CDPS may come up for grabs and that's a strong contender in my book. Also has anyone heard of a company called Audiophile Objective? I asked them for the serial no of the CDX they have in stock and they wouldn't give it to me 'for security reasons'. I'm not going to buy without checking it's history with Naim first, and if I went to see it, I could simply check for myself!! Seems suspicious to my mind. How can giving a serial no be a security risk??

Regards,

Gavin

quote:

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My system is on an Optimum rack and I rather like it.

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So did I until I heard better. The Optimum does look nice though.

Have you heard a better rack?



Regards,

Steve.

quote:

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Will probably speak to my dealer about the rack situation and see what they have and what I can pinch for a week or so. They would also sell my Optimum for me if I bought from them, or chop it in against the new one. Mine came from them originally anyhow.

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Mine didn't - I had already bought it elsewhere. When I first asked my dealer if he'd take the Optimum off my hands if I bought a QS Ref he initially declined. When I said that it would be a condition on which I would purchase the QS he relented, and to be fair to him he got me more than I expected for it and passed all of the proceeds of the sale my way.



Regards,

Steve.

Thanks for the advice John, I'm seriously thinking about just going for another CDi/Hi/NAPSC combo. Trouble is, now I want one there's none out there!!

No rush, though I am impatient, having the cash on the hip and ready to go. Will also try out the Mana. Can't do anything about the mains at the moment, so will just have to make the best of things.

Thanks to all for your collective input and advice, no doubt it'll all change when I come to actually buy the thing!

Thanks again

G

I've had both CDi and CDS - the CDS is much better but, in isolation, the CDi is very, very good. I was strongly advised by several Naim dealers not to bother changing my CDi to a CDX when I was considering a change - not a significant upgrade I was told, just different - that was their opinion and, after comparing them, I'd have to agree.

steve.

quote:

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You may personally prefer the sound of your QS rack to Phase 1 Mana. But what about compared to, say, Phase 3 Mana? Different kettle of fish!

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I heard my own QS Ref against Mana at Phase Four - up from Phase Two I might add, while I was present.

I still prefered the QS Ref musical presentation.

The Phase 4 Mana had better imaging - especially vocals, was more detailed, and had better overall definition.

The QS Ref captured the emotion of the music better to my ears and held onto a multitude of melodic threads better.

In Marco's system, the Mana was clearly better in all areas as it resolved issues with his system in his room that mine simply does not have.



Regards,

Steve.