What would you choose?

John--

Get the combination. MUCH better than a standalone CDX. And if NANA is vouching for the seller of the tandem, you'll be safe.

Best,

Bob

I agree - get the combo. If you are going to buy second hand, then taking a CDX that is 3 years older seems well worth it if it means getting a great price on an XPS. The fact that you even are considering an XPS now means that you are going to want one. Why not get it now at a great price and be done with it? The seller has gotten the thumbs up, and Naim's reputation for dependability and great service should ease your concerns about the extra three years. Good luck.

MBM

OK that seems pretty clear. And thanks. I agree that I will eventually end up buying the XPS - so why not now? It just means laying out more money now - but it seems like a good price. The only twist to add to the whole thin is that Steve at NANA said that it would be a safer route to go with the newer one. He was not specific - upgrades I asked - he said possibly some upgrades to the boards in those few years. He offered to do a look up on the s/n on the unknown standalone to make sure of its track record. I did not tell him about the offer of a twofer, just the name of the seller whom he gave the thumbs up. I am just tumbling this around. I am listening to a Chick Corea Cd right now through a Sony SCD XA777ES - which has what seems to be a pretty nice presentation - which is another reason to be sure that this CDX is going to be the killer front end at the price (similar to this sony)

More comments? I appreciate it!

Depends on how much the XPS is actually. "Greatly reduced" isn't very specific. The $250 difference seems right given the age difference on the CDXs.

I have a CDX, 82, Hi, and 250. My CDX is 1999 vintage. I tried a CDS2 XPS combo 1999 vintage for a couple of weeks, also put the XPS with my CDX. In the end I just kept my bare CDX ( is so much better than my old CD3). If I had lots of money I would have kept the CDS2 and XPS but the amount of difference was not worth the money. Hi Fi sound goes up in quality in small increments but the price is in large increments. Take your pick, a CDX alone is good. Ted.

This is a tough one. I'm reluctant to purchase any CD player s/h because the transports and laser assemblies seem to wear out eventually. For this reason, I'd be more tempted by the newer one. Also, my 2001 CDX seemed to sound more tuneful than my dealer's 1999 demo model when I bought mine brand new back in December 2001.

However, if Naim can still service the CDX should it go tits-up then I'd risk the older one if I could then get a deal on an XPS to go with it.



Regards,

Steve.

Like ted, I've got a CDX/82/Hi(x2)/250. I haven't tried an XPS yet, and will only do so when I know I've got the cash.

Paul Rowlands

Well, decision made, thanks to all of you and a bit of homework on my part. Turns out that the "newer" CDX was not so "newer" as I thought. The seller (who I am sure made an honest mistake) gave the S/N (171xxx) from his preamp in error. The CDX in question was a 160xxx s/n. Quite a difference. The difference between the two CDXs was a little more than a year. I then spoke to NAIM NA (Steve C. who was extremely nice and helpful)who told me that there were no recorded problems with related to the s/n of either of the CDX - although he still pointed me in the direction of the newer. I talked to the seller of the older who sweetened the deal even more, in effect widening the margin to US$350 between his and the newer CDX. He through an added cost saving and 1/2 the shipping as well. I wont say what the total came to but it was well under US$3000 for CDX/XPS, including shipping.

Thanks again for all your help. Looking for an AV2 now......

A serious bargain. Good work. You may want to consider getting the new S-XPS burndy - I got one about a month ago. Great upgrade for very little money.

Thanks again to all - and thanks for the felicitations skraft. Will give review when I recieve. My next post will be about supports.....oh my.