Better sound with unclosed CD tray?

Posted by: Bobber on 08 April 2009

hi there,

i once followed the "foolish" tip of a naim enthusiast who recommended not to close the cd tray of naim cdp completely. a small gap between tray (1-2 mm) and the main housing would protect the tray from vibrations occured by the rest of the player referring back on the laser unit. this cheap trick should definitely be heard.
has this phenomenon been discussed or confirmed in the forum in the past already? i myself have surely noticed a slight but obvious improvement in sound (more room, wider stage) with this way of listening with my cd5/hicap and listen for years in this way only.
i expect my 2nd hand cdx2 every day now. can i expect this effect with that cdp too? what are your experiences and theories?

cheers!

horst

Posted on: 09 April 2009 by Gianluigi Mazzorana

Stu.
Do you really want to smoke Pat's cat in your pipe?

Posted on: 09 April 2009 by fixedwheel

quote:
Originally posted by Gianluigi Mazzorana:
Stu.
Do you really want to smoke Pat's cat in your pipe?

Ah, now it all starts to make sense.

Reading the forum over the last month has suggested that some of the regulars are definitely smoking something very funny!

Cheers,

John

Posted on: 09 April 2009 by Gianluigi Mazzorana

Watch out your pets!
Stu's around with his pipe!

Posted on: 09 April 2009 by mjamrob

quote:
mat - Have you still got your green pen?

Yes it's useful for labelling CD-R's especially one by Steve Hillage

Posted on: 09 April 2009 by rackkit

quote:
Originally posted by 151:
have you been in a coma?its the 9th of April .

A coma would be more useful than this thread.

Posted on: 09 April 2009 by Seanbeer

i find it doesn't matter the position of the tray as long as I keep using the Lp12 instead of my CD5i, it always sounds much better !

Posted on: 09 April 2009 by Chris Dolan

I sort of liaised with Naim on this "in reverse" a couple of years ago, but not precisely on the point of which sounds better.

I have a CDX in my second system. It is in my study and matched with some "classic" components. It is not expertly set up but is very enjoyable to listen to.

A little while after I had a new laser mechanism installed in the CDX but for no immediately obvious reason, when I closed the drawer it was not precisely flush with the rest of the fascia but was recessed on the left hand side by a few millimetres.

I found that irritating but it did not actually sound any different from when the drawer was fully closed but still flush to the fascia.

I raised this by email with customer relations at Naim. I was told that inside the CDX on the right hand side of the drawer there is a magnetic catch. This holds the drawer closed and is also the end stop for the drawer. It is held by two bolts and they suspected that this was slightly out of adjustment.

Essentially their advice was "if it ain't broke then it does not need fixing" so I have not tried to readjust it to make the closed position flush to the fascia, but just carried on using it.

However I have developed a preference for playing music on the CDX with the drawer slightly pulled out and set flush - which would be the equivalent of a couple of millimetres open in "normal" circumstances.

I had also assumed that the preference was actually a psycho-acoustic defect on my part because I preferred the drawer to be flush!

Chris

Posted on: 10 April 2009 by 151

quote:
Originally posted by rackkit:
quote:
Originally posted by 151:
have you been in a coma?its the 9th of April .

A coma would be more useful than this thread.

couldn't agree more.

Posted on: 10 April 2009 by John Campbell

Hi,

There are no drawers on a Digital Streaming system to worry about

Cheers

John

Posted on: 10 April 2009 by craig sidwell

quote:
no drawers on a Digital Streaming system to worry about

No music either.

Posted on: 10 April 2009 by wizard67

Keep the tray closed...you know it makes sense really don't you?

Posted on: 10 April 2009 by teabelly

Sounds like an April fool gag to me....

Posted on: 11 April 2009 by MilesSmiles

quote:
Originally posted by rackkit:
A coma would be more useful than this thread.

Spot on.

Posted on: 11 April 2009 by SC

quote:
Originally posted by MilesSmiles:
quote:
Originally posted by rackkit:
A coma would be more useful than this thread.

Spot on.

I beg to differ...I'll go for being dead.

Posted on: 11 April 2009 by Jeff

Holy shite!

I can't believe I reaf thriugh this entire thread.

I won't be trying this tweak due to the fact I have a CDS2, but, there are much crazier things I've read on this forum than what the op suggested:

massaging powerline
caressing HiLine
dangling x/o's
burning-in takes months
harmonizer (huh?)
etc....

We're all friggin crazy here

Posted on: 11 April 2009 by Gianluigi Mazzorana

You forget feet decoupling.

Posted on: 11 April 2009 by Jeff

quote:
You forget feet decoupling

Ah yes, I forgot about that one.

BTW last night I unplugged/replugged and redressed my cables. No really I did.

Posted on: 11 April 2009 by Luxen

NAIM - unplugged.

Live in the forum...

Posted on: 12 April 2009 by Bobber

hello again,

i can test myself since yesterday now and i have doubts about the effect my new cdx2 shows. i feel it does not show any difference between opened or closed tray. never mind - my old cd5 did defintely!

a tremendous effect was noticeable when i replaced the original fuse by a gold coated copper fuse. amazing, amazing, amazing...!!!

check it out with all your components. you would never regret!

ciao

horst

Posted on: 12 April 2009 by Luxen

quote:
a tremendous effect was noticeable when i replaced the original fuse by a gold coated copper fuse. amazing, amazing, amazing...!!!

Care to explain in details???
With a little picture???

Posted on: 12 April 2009 by Pigeon_Fancier

Let's not forget that some UK naim dealers recommend not locking dins and some even claim to be able to tell the difference (

)! But there are treatable psychological conditions and ones that are closed to modern medical science...

Posted on: 12 April 2009 by Luxen

I would NEVER change a fuse on a NAIM product...Why should I???

Posted on: 12 April 2009 by Bobber

...only fools and the dead never change their positions...

h.

Posted on: 12 April 2009 by Luxen

What a stupid statement, dear bobber.

What if the position to change to is foolish???

Not a wise advice.

Posted on: 12 April 2009 by Rui Marques

quote:
Originally posted by Jeff:

We're all friggin crazy here

You are not alone! I have a Nanotech Nespa Pro that it is supposed to correct imperfections on the CDs layers. And also use a demag. And also a liquid to clean CDs

And in my "crazy" mind and ears they improve the music that comes from the system.