Carver: I wish. There are only two engineers: myself and Vic Richardson, who's been with me eight or nine years. Since right after the inception of the Carver Corporation.
Atkinson: That's not many creative people for a $25 million company.
Carver: Yeah. We should have more.
Atkinson: A change of subject: The last time you appeared in Stereophile's pages was in response to the amplifier challenge. What was the legacy of that whole business?
Carver: When I started that transfer-function…
There are over 50 "New Worlds" in the catalog. Whether you have every one of them or none of them, buy this one. It is fat with passion. The great conductor Jascha Horenstein had it; original engineer Kenneth Wilkinson had it; the Chesky Records…
Although George Bernard Shaw didn't have Naim Audio's founder Julian Vereker in mind when he wrote those words, they seem tailor-made for Julian's audio design style. Rather than make products that conform to what the rest of the audio world is doing, Julian builds them the way he thinks they should be. The result is often, shall we say, idiosyncratic.
Nothing exemplifies this thinking more than the Naim…
Overall, the CDS's massive and elaborate power supply is impressive. Further, the execution is superb, with a high level of craftsmanship. At Naim Audio, assemblers build an entire component themselves rather than repeating the same operation on an assembly line. This is a more expensive way to build electronics, but the CDS's beautiful, meticulous…
Description: Two-box CD player with 4x-oversampling digital filter. Frequency response: 10Hz–18kHz ±0.1dB. Output level: 2V at 1kHz, full-scale (0dBFS) signal. Phase response: linear phase. Output impedance: 100 ohms. Analog output: DIN jack. Protection systems: DC offset sensing, relay muting, laser current interlock.
Dimensions: 17" W by 3" H by 11.8" D (each box). Shipping weights: 19 lbs (player), 33 lbs (power supply).
Price: $7395. Approximate number of dealers: 25. Warranty: 5 years.
Manufacturer: Naim Audio Ltd., Southampton Road, Salisbury,…
The CDS has been my primary digital source for the past month, augmenting the Theta Data transport driving a Theta Generation III, Bitwise Musik System Zero, Kinergetics KCD-55p, or PS Audio UltraLink. Interestingly, the Theta Data/Generation III combination with ST-type optical interface costs exactly the same as the CDS ($2800 for the Data, $4400 for the Gen.III unbalanced with ST-type interface, and $195 for an Aural Symphonics or AudioQuest ST-type cable). All comparisons with the Gen.III and UltraLink were via their unbalanced outputs. The processors also saw…
The CDS put out 2.12V (left channel) and 2.08V (right) when decoding a full-scale, 1kHz sinewave. This is just slightly higher (half a dB) than the standard 2V output level. Frequency response was flat, though the treble showed some passband ripple from the digital filter. The CDS had no amplitude error when decoding pre-emphasized test signals. Frequency response and de-emphasis error are shown together in fig.1. The right channel is 0.16dB lower in output level than the left.
Fig.1 Naim NA CDS, frequency response at 0dBFS (top), and with de-…
It's in that spirit that we present our annual "Records To Die For" extravaganza. Each…