i oredred a cds3/555ps some 4 weeks ago - seems there's been a problem with production so it took a while to arrive. i was travelling this week whilst it was installed on monday and set running on repeat for the week.
....i have spent only 30 minutes listening to some of the disks the cdx2/xps2 really presented to brightly to me.....this has been a revalation....eva cassidy fields of gold is now emotional and mind blowing......this combination is in a different league. i know there are those that love the forwardness of the cdx2....but i have found my space alongside the lp12....next step nac 552 ....gulp
Strap a 552 on and it'll take you a couple of weeks to drag yourself away and write a post - guaranteed. BTW halibut, better steer clear of the Polar Bear party going on over at the My CD555 thread - they look bloody hungry to me!
Did you try the 555PS on your cdx2 before you went to the cds3? The reason i ask is i am in a cdp change place right now. I have been trying to get SteveS1 to try 555PS on his cds3 for months I have one thing to try on my CD5X ,Well two things that have never been done before. Before i make my mind up.But the move to a CDS3 and 555ps is nice.Enjoy your weekend of music. Stuart.
Posts: 10039 | Location: Cammell Laird Social Club | Registered: Tue 25 April 2006
I have one thing to try on my CD5X ,Well two things that have never been done before.
stuart - what're you thinking of trying?
Please do share -- I'm thinking of moving on from my cd5x/fc2x, but can't afford a cds3 yet and not entirely convinved if I can live with a cdx2 (rest of the system is 202/hicap/250.2/b&w804s).
My big issue is that on complicated pieces of music it seems to lose the plot a bit and get mushy... stringed instruments blur together, etc. One thought was moving my hicap from the 202 to the cd5x and supercapping the 202, as a stepping stone to a 252. Would that help things? I do like the basic voicing of the cd5x.
My dealer once let me spend several hours playing with a cds3 for the fun of it... quite, quite magical. halibut - enjoy...
Posts: 101 | Location: New York / Bombay | Registered: Thu 28 February 2008
I cant live with the cdx2 but with the 555ps i could, But my main source is now vinyl. If you want to mail me Kartik its in pro. It still a all Naim thing but dont want to say until i have tried it. Stuart
Posts: 10039 | Location: Cammell Laird Social Club | Registered: Tue 25 April 2006
I'm running the cds3 with the 555ps into 252 and 300. While I am quite certain that the 552 would do everything stated by others in these forums, the results I'm getting now are stunning and are allowing me to plan some travel as opposed to another black box. Some day please... David
Originally posted by mogul: I'm running the cds3 with the 555ps into 252 and 300. While I am quite certain that the 552 would do everything stated by others in these forums, the results I'm getting now are stunning and are allowing me to plan some travel as opposed to another black box. Some day please... David
David travel ,you are well safe with what i am trying. I have a 202/200/cd5x/but the lp12 has taken over .I have over 1000 cds and i would like to listen to them not just as background music without going to where you are with your cd replay.I might have to go up the Nac road though and it might save me some money in the long run . But i am going to try this thing with my cd5x first. Stuart
Posts: 10039 | Location: Cammell Laird Social Club | Registered: Tue 25 April 2006
I'm using a CDS3/555PS into 552/300, and must agree with the statements about the CDS3; it's great enough to stand side by side to a top LP12 without embarrasing itself.
The CDX2 is, in my system at least, in an all together lower league, with or without the 555PS instead of the XPS2. It's nothing wrong with it, I must admit that it's great in most systems; but when moving up to 252 or 552 level, the CDS3 really starts to show it a clean pair of heels. It simply has so much more unstressed naturalness and several layers more of information; things that need a top system to surface, but then things that the CDX2 merely hint at.
However; I would recommend a bit of caution when matching the CDS3 with 282/250.2; I've had this combination too, and I'm not sure that the synergy needs to be great.
I suspect that most people that might prefer the CDX2 to the CDS3 (not many I hope) have heard it on a system where the CDS3 doesn't get to "breathe"; CDS3 really needs one of the top preamps and top amps to actually show all of it's potential. Imo.
I have a lowely 82 hicap 140. The CDS3 was one of those emotional experiences rather like the first time you listen to a good hifi. The Linn server was also very good but totally different. The CDX2 didnt even come close to either. So even with my lowely system there are clear differences in presentation. For me its CD then amp. By the way what do people think of lavardin as an amp?
Posts: 6 | Location: London UK | Registered: Sun 25 September 2005
By the way what do people think of lavardin as an amp?
Not had one myself, but somebody I know is using the integrated with an LP12 and CDX2. They like it a lot, and it sounded good to me on a short listen.
Steve
Posts: 3275 | Location: Weald | Registered: Sat 05 November 2005
I owned at both cds2 and cdx2 at one time. Both were fabulous players to my ears. I could be very content at that level. For me, opportunity knocked and I moved up but I could live very nicely with the other models. In my experience, any level of Naim can provide very enjoyable music.
However, I went from a bare CDX2 to CDX2/555PS and that was a huge leap forward. However, swapping the head unit to a 555 was extraordinary. And because there is no further upgrade path I have been new CDs instead. It is, to coin a phrase from long ago, Jaw-droppingly good.
And yes, 552 kind of essential to wring the last ounce of performance from it.
Posts: 3310 | Location: Middlesex, UK | Registered: Thu 20 January 2005
what a weekend - i think i'm officially in boy heaven....new naim front end and a new 4 wheeled toy to the collection (i think that's for another forum though)
the cds3 is a revelation.....the right description for me is openess and naturalness....the sound stage is broader deeper higher, the detail is still there in spades over the cdx2 but it is so much more polished....i am now listening to whole cd's like i listen to whole records on my LP12. i can't wait for the 552.
abbeydog - how many burndies does it take to 'strap on' a 552 in your world? wrt 555 i promised myself the only 5 series i'm going near is the 552....i know my limits
stuart - apologies i feel like a boy in a sweet shop who couldn't contain himself.....i went straight from cdx2/xps2 to cds3/555ps - so can't help with the middle options.....i think you may have got the sense that i'm becoming rather 'edouard-esque' in my enthusiasm....if your anywhere near surrey your most welcome to come and listen
ROFT - no maybe just deeper pockets....i know my limits
Hardy....oh yes....naim nirvana is getting crowded
Vidar - great assessment vs cdx2....you have my target naim solution (later this year) - what pre did you have before the 552?
Originally posted by halibut: Vidar - great assessment vs cdx2....you have my target naim solution (later this year) - what pre did you have before the 552?
...i feel a 2008 pic update a comin'...
atb ...richard
Richard; I had the 282/HC/250.2, then upgraded to the 300 and then the 552. I've also heard the CDX2 in 202/200-level systems, where I feel it is most at home.
I think my 250.2 was holding the CDS3 back a bit; it strikes me as really not transparent enough for this level of source; with a slightly heavy and dense sound (at least compared to the 200 and 300), although a very entertaining one. The jump to the 300 was to me a really great one, actually perhaps even more impressive than the jump from 282 to 552. The 300 is so much more "naked", in a positive sense of the word; it portraits tonal colour and life with much more verve, and its lightningfast sound comes as a real revelation after the 250.2 imo.
I have a LP12/Aro/Lingo2 with incoming SuperLine and a DV XV-1S, and although this certainly is a more accomplished source, my CDS3/555PS is so good that I don't mind using it next to this lovely vinyl source. The CDX2 would not be used too much, as it lacks the naturalness of both the LP12 and CDS3 I feel; but that has to do with its much lower price, not that its not a good one at the price
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