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[Exasperated sigh]. The solo Naim CDX2 has got to be the most finicky CD player I've witnessed since the old Sony D-10 Discman.Despite the swing out drawer and metal case, this thing is sensitive to vibration. Not only does the quality of the rack matter, but so does placement within that rack! Regardless of which rack I used, the CDX2 does not like to be on the bottom shelves, where it is prone to feedback from the loudspeakers. The CDX2's treble disappears, when placed on the lower shelves.
I've tried countless pucks, rubbers, plates, woodies, cones, squares, sandboxes, platforms, et. al. Each effects changes, but those changes don't mean improvements. I just get a different sound with each. In general, the softer materials suck the life and air from the CDX2, so either choose a hard material, or simply dispense with these tweaks all together. When pressing buttons and handling the tray, users often displace the CDX2. Thus, you might need something to anchor the unit firmly to the shelf. Gluing little metal cone cups (which accepts the CDX2's points) to the shelf is a simple, cheap solution.
Never before have CD greenbacks made such a difference. Fans of these and the AudioPrism Blacklight will jump up and down with glee. But again, I must caution that these changes don't necessarily translate to improvement. I only marginally accept fiddling with the magnetic puck. Adding a CD greenback further and unnecessarily complicates matters. Who wants to fumble with these things, while eager to get on with the music? Just as I did away with anti-vibrational tweaks, I've done away with CD greenbacks. But do note that if you like the not-so-subtle changes wrought with CD greenbacks, you may rather like using these tweaks.
The solo CDX2 is sensitive to both powerline conditioning and aftermarket powercords. Many powerline products tamper with tonal balance, movement, transparency, and dimensions. Avoid these products. Find the ones that allow the CDX2 (and anything else plugged into them) to perform as it should.
I don't know about DIN interconnects, but the CDX2, like all good high-end pieces, is sensitive to RCA interconnects. If you get a sufficiently neutral interconnect, you will quite easily discern the solo CDX2's true character. Tonally, it is off. True deep bass is attenuated. The unit unnaturally places treble instruments 2 feet off the ground. Regardless of speaker I use, the CDX2 loves to put cymbals near the floor. It's as if I'm looking down on cymbals. That also means that soundstaging is majorly screwed up. Finally, instrumental texture is washed away. Everything sounds buffed with steel wool. There's no difference in texture between a new violin, a recorder, Belinda Carlisle, Ozzy Osbourne, a Steinway, a Casio keyboard, Bonham's Ludwig drums, Lars Ulrich's Tamas, Reb Beach's late 80s Kramer guitars, or George Lynch's ESPs.
The display is among THE WORST I've ever seen. You scroll between track number, elapsed track time, and display off. It really sucks not to show remaining time. In a product that retails for over US$5300, this is simply inexcusable.
The remote sucks. The buttons are not laid out logically. Even in broad daylight, you have a hard time telling which way is up.
I compared my unit with a well-worn unit and a brand new unit. From what I can tell, the CDX2 takes a looooooooooooong time to burn in. The new unit, which now has over two weeks' worth of playing time, still does not sound as open, tactile, and free as the well-worn unit. It's like the difference between using a public restroom and your own. The new unit is like the public restroom, where you're afraid to touch things, skittish to sit down, even after you've lined the rim with paper. The well-worn unit is like being in your own bathroom, where you just put the seat down, drop your pants, and sit down.
If you only audition the CDX2 by itself, you may have a hard time coming to conclusions. But when you compare it to others in its price range, like those from Cary, BAT, Krell, Ayre, Arcam, Simaudio, Meridian, Linn, and so on, the solo CDX2's pluses, minuses, and mediocrities are clear.
Even after compensating for all these players' various output voltages, it's amazing how different they sound from each other. I guess this is a good thing. The variety gives us more to choose from. Somewhere out there is a player that fits your budget, sonic needs, aesthetic style, and ergonomic preferences.
Playing around with the solo CDX2 reinforces the fact that, other than room/speaker interaction, the source, because it sets the table, is of utmost importance. Screw up the source, and nothing we do downstream can ever recover the lost music.
-Lummy The Seahorse
Follow Ups:
Thanks for sharing, Luminator!
Before I bought my present CDP I seriously considered buying a naim & I called NANA in Chicago & got terribly lousy service! Finally took the initiative to call a dealer nearest to me & got fair service from him but while on the phone felt that the sooner the call concluded the better the dealer would have felt as he could clearly see that all I wanted was info @ that time & he didn't want to waste his time w/ me. All this even after NANA told me that they prefer the dealers to talk to the end customers rather NANA talking to the end customer! Ha!
Well, guess which CDP I did not buy!Anyway, thanks for letting us know about the sound of this expensive 2nd-from-top CDP. I've read several Bob Neil's AA posts praising the Naim CDPs (I think it was the CDX w/ & w/o the separate power supply unit). After reading those I felt that I was really passing up on an excellent CDP. Your experience is diametrically opposite to his!
(I've no experience & so am reading all reviews & experiences & making my own decision, just FYI).
*Anyway, thanks for letting us know about the sound of this expensive 2nd-from-top CDP. *Well, it's actually the third from the top. ( 2nd would be the CDX2/XPS2 combo )
*I've read several Bob Neil's AA posts praising the Naim CDPs (I think it was the CDX w/ & w/o the separate power supply unit). After reading those I felt that I was really passing up on an excellent CDP. Your experience is diametrically opposite to his!*
iirc, he had a CDS2/XPS ( a predecessor to the current flagship CDS3 ) which sounds a lot more natural sounding than any 'X' CD players.
I'd agree with most of that ..on top you can add dull and plodding with no imaging. Thats why I went for the Quad 99cdp [with the added benefit of a preamp as well]
I have the CDS3 and it shares the same idiotic remote control and the primitive display "features," but I do not find it to be particularly sensitive to power cord choice (perhaps the separate external power supply accounts for this). Console yourself by realizing that you are getting all that shitty ergonomics at only 1/3 the price of the CDS3!Like ALL players it is sensitive to external vibration, but I think the effect is more dramatic when the machines are detailed and resolving because the differences don't get lost in the mush.
I place my unit on a Symposium shelf and use some smaller Symposium thingies (look the the shelves but they are much smaller) on top of the player.
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