The Fifth Element (Naim CD5)

Member Name: hvallian

Product:	Naim CD5
Date:	13/09/01 (5067 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Musical, Slam

Disadvantages: Compatibility

This is currently Naim's cheapest CD player, which may come as a shock to some as it costs £1125. If you read Which magazine regularly you may come across an article claiming that CD players essentially all sound the same and you might as well buy the cheapest one. Their rationale behind this went along the lines of 'because its digital, even cheap players get all of the information off the CD'.

Fortunately those of us who have heard different CD players know that they do sound different. Many of the differences are caused by the digital to analogue conversion and output stages in the CD players and a rather annoying thing called jitter. Having large amounts of jitter essentially means that the 'timing' internally is not quite perfect (it is usually measured in nano or pico seconds).

Now that i've convinced you all that CD players are very important I can tell you about the CD5. As with other Naim products the CD5 does not have a neutral sound. It sits right up and shakes you until you admit that you're humming along. This is not to everyones taste but boy can it rock. Some people have descibed Naim CD players as being almost analogue in that they sound very natural, but perhaps more important is the sense of rhythm and timing is complete.

When listening to this CD player (comparing it to other makes in the same price range) i found that it sounded a bit more musical but to be honest i can't give you a reason why, it just sounded more like a band. It did not emphasise one instrument too much (i found some CD players emphasised bass and treble missing out the midrange) or make vocals sound unnatural. The only area where this player is not as good as the competition is in the level of detail and separation of musical instruments, I did struggle to differentiate between similar instruments occaisonally.

It is important to be aware before buying any Naim equipment that they generally work best w
ith other Naim bits. They use different techniques (such as star earthing) which do not always sit happily with other makes and even use DIN style plugs and sockets (you can buy special leads from a company called Chord however). You should also be aware that there is no digital output so you cannot add a outboard digital to analogue converter to upgrade it, however you can add the Naim power supplies that power the analogue sections of the player and this brings a worthwhile, if expensive, improvement. If you use other makes you may well destroy the excellent timing that this player has. One last thing - you have to load it manually and drop a little puck on top of the CD - i didn't care but some people would.

If you like the Naim sound you will probably love this. It is not as raw and youthful as previous Naim products but it still stays true to its heritage.

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