Four years after the CDS's stunning debut—and three years after their introduction of an…
search
By no means could I undertake a survey of candidates for Your Last Perfectionist-Quality CD player—so far, my ongoing series of reviews has focused on models from Audio Note, Bryston, EAR, Luxman, and Metronome—without including Naim Audio. After all, it was Naim that brought to market the first really good-sounding CD player of my experience: the two-box CDS, introduced in 1991 at a then-staggering price of $6999. In doing so, they convinced me that a digital future might not be so bad after all.
One more thing: To prevent the swing-out drawer from swinging out all over the place during shipping, and thus damaging the transport, Naim fits to the bottom of the CD5 XS's casework a transit bolt—as they've done with all their players equipped with such transports. I'd warn you against using the CD5 XS without removing its transit bolt, but because it isn't possible to do so—if you can't open the drawer, you can't insert a disc—I won't bother with that, either.
Listening
One thing in particular that characterized the pre–break-in Naim CD5 XS—and, if I recall correctly, the CD3—was…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: CD player. Analog outputs: 5-pin DIN, 1 pair RCA. Digital outputs: 1 BNC. Frequency response: 10Hz–20kHz, +0.1/–0.5dB. Maximum output level: 2.1V RMS at 1kHz (fixed). Output impedance: 10 ohms maximum. THD+N: <0.1%, 10Hz–18kHz at full level.
Dimensions: 17" (432mm) W by 2.75" (70mm) H by 11.85" (301mm) D . Weight: 13.2 lbs (6kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 418407.
Price: Originally $3050, now $3995. Approximate number of dealers: 100.
Manufacturer: Naim Audio, Ltd., Southampton Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 2LN, England, UK…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301 turntable; EMT 997 tonearm; EMT OFD 15 & TSD 15, Ortofon SPU #1S, Shindo Laboratory SPU pickup heads; Denon DL-103 cartridge, with/without MusiKraft body.
Digital Sources: AudioQuest DragonFly, Halide Design DAC HD USB DACs; Apple iMac computer (late 2015) running OS 10.12.1 & Roon v.1.2, Build 165; Sony SCD-777 SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 & T2 step-up transformers; EMIA Phono transformer (copper); Sentec EQ11 phono preamplifier; Shindo Laboratory Masseto & Monbrison (2017…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Like the Hegel Music Systems Mohican and Bryston BCD-3, which we reviewed in the May and August issues, the Naim CX5 XS has no digital inputs of any kind. This limited my measurement of its technical behavior to using 16-bit test files burned to a CD-R. I tested the Naim with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It").
The Naim's error correction was adequate—no interruptions were apparent in the player's output until the single gaps in the data spiral on the Pierre Verany Digital Test CD reached 0.5mm in length, when there…
Prelude
The setting of the Prelude to our opera, The Margules Saga, is the California Audio Show, in August 2012. There, on first hearing Margules Audio's tube electronics, I wrote in my notebook, "great inner vitality, warm but with a welcome and appropriate bite." An encounter the following January inspired me to write, of a system that included an earlier version of the company's U280 amplifier, "The sound? Beautiful and warm. I've heard these electronics at two shows, and each time, I've left the room feeling good."
The setting of the Prelude to our opera, The Margules Saga, is the California Audio Show, in August 2012. There, on first hearing Margules Audio's tube electronics, I wrote in my notebook, "great inner vitality, warm but with a welcome and appropriate bite." An encounter the following January inspired me to write, of a system that included an earlier version of the company's U280 amplifier, "The sound? Beautiful and warm. I've heard these electronics at two shows, and each time, I've left the room feeling good."
Enter Julian Margules, owner and chief designer of Margules…
Also on the top deck are blue LEDs to indicate the power tubes' bias and operation. These light up only after several minutes, when autobiasing is completed and the U280-SC is ready to be used, and change intensity with the output level. If an LED's illumination remains constant, dims, or is rarely activated, there's likely a problem with the associated tube.
Act I: Where's the Soprano?
The U280-SC Blacks arrived the same day that John Quick and Brad O'Toole of dCS stopped by with review samples of the dCS Vivaldi 2.0 and Network Bridge. As I prepared lunch for our starving fish and…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed stereo power amplifier, strappable for mono, with selectable output transformer taps (8, 4, or 2 ohms) and modes (Ultralinear, Triode). Tube complement: four 12AU7, four KT88 (or 6550, KT99, KT100, KT120, KT150). All measurements at 8 ohms 1 khz input voltage 127V AC. Rated power output before clipping: stereo mode, 50Wpc Ultralinear (17dBW), 25Wpc Triode (14dBW); monoblock mode, 100W Ultralinear (20dBW), 55W Triode (17.4dBW); Inputs: 1 pair unbalanced (RCA). Outputs: 2 pairs binding posts. THD at 7V RMS output: 0.08%. Power consumption: 170W…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: dCS Paganini SACD/CD transport & Rossini DAC & Scarlatti Clock; Oppo Digital UDP-205 universal BD player; Apple MacBook Pro with Intel i7, SSD, 8GB RAM; external hard drives, USB sticks.
Power Amplifiers: Pass Labs XA200.8 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia, Harbeth M40.1.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Diamond (FireWire, Ethernet), Wireworld Platinum Starlight Cat8 (Ethernet), Nordost Odin 1 & Odin 2 & Valhalla 2 (USB). Interconnect, Speaker, AC: Nordost Odin 2.
Accessories: Grand Prix…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured one of the the Margules U280-SC Blacks (S/N B-50003950517) using my top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). With two modes of output stage—Triode and Ultralinear—three choices of output-transformer tap, and the option of having its two channels strapped for mono operation, the Margules U280-SC is actually 14 different amplifiers in one enclosure. Although Jason Victor Serinus exclusively used the amplifiers as a pair of monoblocks, I performed a complete set of measurements for all 14 mono and stereo modes…