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naim cdx cd player

D

docrog

Member
Hi Everyone
I have an elderly naim cdx that is not reading cds properly
When I put a cd in, instead of spinning up quietly, it makes a brief noise then stops with an er displayed. I assume it is the transport but naim want £679 to service, basically more than the value if working properly. I have also noticed that the transports can be difficult to source.
I have thought to upgrade instead. My wife loves listening to cds and cant get on with streaming. The rest of the system is a nac 52, Dynavector power amp and shahinian speakers although elderly still going strong.
any suggestions?
Roger
 
Try a replacement puck first. It’s a great player IMV, not sure whether you can still get the transport though.
 
@docrog - It could well just be the 'puck' slipping! The little rubber grippy bits on the underside deform/degrade first, and that means the CD slips when the motor mechanism spins-up to register the CD and so.. the player doesn't read the CD; = 'Er'.

Your noting the odd noise suggests this, strongly, to me.

I'm not up on which puck type you need for a CDX, but a new one is c. £20
Try that first; I suggest you call, say, TomTom audio, to discuss /supply a new puck.

ATB
 
I'd agree with the advice to try a new puck, although trying to breathe new life in your current one first is worth a try.
I believe the correct one for the CDX is 'Clamp 3'.
 
I found the Rega Saturn-R to be much more musical than the CDX/XPS. The Naim is very dynamic and punchy but sounds 'digital' and harsh. Only the best CDs sound ok, a lot of disks are unplayable.

The Rega is organic sounding with a sonic signature very similar to a good turntable. It gets music out of any disk and is rhythmic and involving without being either harsh or dull. It's a great player.
 
Naim players will not run forever.
Repair and spares are not that simple to source and require.
A pity as most of their players were very good.

As others have suggested Rega is another fine solution, and supported by maker.
No problem buying s/h as most are able to be repaired.
 
LOL... yeah, forget about sourcing a new puck for a few quid, chuck the CDX in landfill and buy a Rega… the wisdom of pfm knows no bounds :rolleyes:
 
If it is a new CD clamp you need then may I recommend the latest one-size-fits-all Clamp 5 from Cymbiosis at a not unreasonable £11.03? I believe it works on all Naim CDP. To test the theory do as @MartinC suggests and fiddle with the rubber sections on your existing clamp so they will get a bit more grip on the CD, if that improves matters, but does not completely fix it then the CD Clamp 5 I link to above will sort you from there.

EDIT: WARNING later posts suggest Naim say a clamp 5 is not suitable for a CDX and may result in damage :oops:
 
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ATC also keep a spare for each of the CD players they sell. If you can get the CDX working then job done, I wouldn’t bother going down the Rega rabbit hole if you like how the player sounds.

I never found the CDX cold or clinical etc, not sure I’d want a CD player to sound analogue either.
 
tiggers said:
LOL... yeah, forget about sourcing a new puck for a few quid, chuck the CDX in landfill and buy a Rega… the wisdom of pfm knows no bounds :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Exactly even I never mentioned a puck, which might help on short term.
The doorstop landfill scenario with Naim CD players is long and well known, sad really Naim didn't manage to support customers paying premium for their kit.
 
boegelund said:
Exactly even I never mentioned a puck, which might help on short term.
The doorstop landfill scenario with Naim CD players is long and well known, sad really Naim didn't manage to support customers paying premium for their kit.
Click to expand...
It’s not really naims fault that certain mechs are no longer available. We are talking about products which are nearly 30 years old! CD players are a little different as they contain tech which is not always native to the manufacturer.

I think the idea that Naim don’t offer support to existing customers is laughable, sorry.
 
boegelund said:
The doorstop landfill scenario with Naim CD players is long and well known, sad really Naim didn't manage to support customers paying premium for their kit.
Click to expand...
The newest CDX is 21 years old, does any other manufacturer that buys in mechs still support their CD players at this age? Genuine question btw. I know Rega support the Isis and have spare mechs for each one sold (I know as it was a factor in my decision to own one) but that is their flagship player, I see lots of Planets and Apollos on eBay for sale as spares or repair so assume these aren’t well supported. Not sure why Naim are expected to be different in this regard!
 
Woodface said:
ATC also keep a spare for each of the CD players they sell. If you can get the CDX working then job done, I wouldn’t bother going down the Rega rabbit hole if you like how the player sounds.

I never found the CDX cold or clinical etc, not sure I’d want a CD player to sound analogue either.
Click to expand...
Totally agree, if anything the CDX is one of the least clinical sounding players I have ever heard. For the money it was a bargain.
 
boegelund said:
The doorstop landfill scenario with Naim CD players is long and well known, sad really Naim didn't manage to support customers paying premium for their kit.
Click to expand...

To be fair, Naim traditionally built kit that was designed to be long lasting and fully serviceable. The early CD players were the among the first products which introduced components which were not established standard parts or they had any control over. To build CD players they had no choice but to use Philips, Sony etc transports and had few repair options when they went out of production. And these players are now very old. It's not terribly unreasonable for a manufacturer to say they can no longer support a thirty or forty year old product, especially a technology based one.
 
When I snapped a PCB suspension spring driving my Naim CDI back to Switzerland from Ireland in 2012 (my fault, didn’t lock out mech properly, no transit screws) I tried an email to Naim, not thinking they have anything. They sent me two :) CDI was released in what, 1995?
 
I checked the product history page on Naim www site: 1992

I believe I remember testing the front panels on some ATE on a summer back from college, I went to college 1991, so summer 1992 would be about right, though I suppose could be summer 1993, my memory is no all it could be :D
 
Mr Pig said:
It's not terribly unreasonable for a manufacturer to say they can no longer support a thirty or forty year old product,
Click to expand...

I was thinking the Black classic players, such as CD5XS or CDS3/psu, some of them discontinued 5-12 years ago, should be supported as they were indeed very very expensive.
It was just a matter of Naim had put money in extra stock of parts, they obviously didn't, even they had experience with Olive players and missing parts.
Focal ownership period, easy profit has priority.

I'm happy for a friend ditched his CDS3, facing the scenario, went for Rega Isis.
 
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