Naim CD5 XS CD Player

Naim CD5 XS CD Player

Naim Audio has a special place in British audio, thanks to it's founder and inspirational leader Julian Vereker, a hugely talented mechanical and electronic engineer with a passion for, amongst many things, music. Founded in 1973, Naim has always had a firm philosophy of music first, measurements second - each Naim product is extensively auditioned as part of the product development process to make sure that it delivers clear, emotional music making ability. Naim products are designed to bring the closest facsimile of a live music event into your home listening environment, to give you maximum pleasure from your music collection.

For music lovers who wish to enjoy the full recorded detail of their CD collection Naim audio engineers have designed a high end CD player of enormous musical talent in the CD5 XS, a true high end machine capable of extracting the full artistic performance from both red book CD's and HDCD's. During the re-design phase from CD5 to CD5 XS, only the toroidal transformer and disc mechanism were carried forward from the old machine - everything else including servo control, digital and analogue power supplies, master clock, digital to analogue converters and decoding have been re-appraised for ultimate audio performance.

This hefty unit casts a familiar shadow for Naim enthusiasts - it's custom alloy casework is non-magnetic and successfully shields the sensitive analogue and digital circuits within from the potentially degrading effects of electro-magnetic radiation which surround us all in the 21st Century home. The matte black finish and familiar green backlit Naim logo evoke an understated yet serious look.

The left hand side of the front panel is home to Naim's long favoured swing out CD loading tray - you'll also find a puck inside to place over the centre hole of the loaded CD which aids disc stability, and therefore sound quality. Remember when first setting up the CD5 XS to remove the transport locking screw located on the underside of the chassis. The centre of the fascia is dominated by the familiar, green back lit Naim logo. To it's right is a simple green seven segment display to indicate presence of an HDCD disc,  track number/ elapsed time, repeat and program modes. Further right still are four green back lit push buttons to control CD playback - previous track, next track, stop and play - all indispensable when you either lose the infra-red remote control down the back of the sofa, or the batteries run flat.

On the extreme left rear panel is the mains on/off rocker switch, which keeps the front fascia neat and clean in appearance. An IEC socket allows a choice of mains cable upgrades, we absolutely swear by the AudioQuest NRG-2 which gives extra bass depth and even more neutral mid-range. A mains fuse carrier is also conveniently located here, enabling you to experiment with upgrade fuses - yes they really can make a difference!

At the same time a welcome but also an unusual feature for a Naim CD player, the CD 5 XS features a digital S/PDIF output via locking 50 ohm BNC socket, isolated via a high frequency transformer - ideal for those who wish to upgrade in the future to an even higher quality external DAC. Very useful custom installation control features are also present - infra red in and RS232 allow a range of remote control options, should they be required.

The CD5 XS delights even in standard form with it's over engineered internal power supply, however for a big step up in all aspects of sound quality, the option to connect a range of separate Naim power supplies really gives room for many upgrade possibilities. Add the XP5 XS, XPS, or 555 PS for ultimate audio performance from this already outstanding CD player. A connection socket on the rear panel accepts the DC output of any of the above PSU's to enable the transformation to be achieved quickly and easily.

Long gone are the days when the only audio output option was the favoured Naim five pin DIN socket - joining this are the industry standard RCA phono sockets, allowing easy connection to third party equipment.