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What to do with a Naim CD3

VTA

VTA

pfm Member
Many (probably all eventually) Naim CD3's die. These players have no digital in but digital is taken from the CD drive into the players DAC. Is there any way a CD3 can have its drive removed and a digital signal provided in its place? Many of the streamer boards in units like the iFi Stream and Cambridge Audio units are getting very small. Even just adding a coax in on the rear would be great.

I know most of us who are not educated in such a level of electronics (myself) think it probably can not be done but does anyone who actually has the technical knowledge to do something like this able to give an idea of just how complicated this might be (or not?). Would love the ability to convert old players like this to streamers.
 
I agree with your approach. If you really like the sound from your CD-player, why not convert it to accept another data source?

Essentially, you are asking to have a DIGITAL INPUT installed.

My guess is that this would NOT be too difficult for an audio engineer with some experience.

If you are handy with electronics yourself, you could even try searching somewhere like diyAudio. I bet they have already covered this topic and you will be able to read through pages and pages of “how to”.
 
Either get it repaired or sell it on ebay as 'for parts or not working' you'd likely be surprised by how much it fetches.

If you want a standalone TDA1541 based DAC then buy one. Don't butcher a nice CD player.

An Arcam Blackbox 1 and 2 or Marantz CDA94 would fit the bill nicely.
 
I have an Arcam Black Box 2 I'd consider selling (BB2 has optical input as well as coax otherwise its the same as the original). pm if interested. One of it's nice features is it has two levels of analogue output - 0.8V and the now standard 2V. Means if you have efficient speakers you can use the lower one and get more range on your volume knob. One of the reasons I kept it for so long (I've had it since mid 90's).
 
VTA said:
Many (probably all eventually) Naim CD3's die. These players have no digital in but digital is taken from the CD drive into the players DAC.
Click to expand...

No, sell it as spares or repair when it dies and buy a DAC. TBH most modern DACs will outperform it anyway
 
marshanp said:
Er... at the moment it's a dead CD player.

Those of us without audio engineering nous see such decisions somewhat differently.
Click to expand...

Surely if one has no audio engineering nous, then the chances of converting one’s CD player to a DAC is even less likely than repairing it!
 
Er... you don't. You find someone with nous.

A CD is merely a digital data storage medium. There is nothing magical about the silver disc, shiny as it is...
 
It's a lovely sounding player with the kind of sound that's hard if not impossible to find with most current DACs. It really grooves with jazz and rock, but a little overly 'coloured' perhaps for some on Classical. The CDM9 is one of the best mechs ever made and most common issue is dropping of the platter, which often sees the mech declared as "dead", whereas it's actually a relatively easy thing for just about anybody to fix. Even if that's not the issue there are plenty of affordable players out there that used the CDM9 and can offer up their mechs. Get it fixed and enjoy it.
 
IF it plays disc at all, it is easy to add a digital output so you can use this as a transport to drive an external dac.
 
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