CD/SACD-проигрыватели и транспорты — Naim CD5SI

The CD5si is a CD player from Naim, the British electronics company from Salisbury, launched in 2012 and now discontinued. Limited to Red Book CD playback, it was developed as a successor to the CD5i, with changes to the clock, power supply, filter, transport and laser. Its drawer mechanism is based on the one used in the higher CDX2, and its DAC is closely related to the converter in Naim's NDX network player of the same period.

Key specs that matter

Conversion uses a Burr-Brown PCM1793 DAC. The player reads CD, CD-R and 16-bit 44.1 kHz material. Outputs are a five-pin DIN socket and an RCA pair, both at a fixed 2.1 V RMS at 0 dBFS, with a maximum output impedance of 10 ohm and a minimum load of 10 kOhm. THD+N is below 0.007% from 10 Hz to 20 kHz at full level, and frequency response runs from 10 Hz to 20 kHz, 0.6 dB down at 20 kHz. Naim gives the analogue gain as 29 dB. The output is linear phase and absolute phase correct. Power consumption is 15 W in operation and below 0.3 W in standby, and the player runs on 100, 115 or 230 V at 50 or 60 Hz. It measures 432 x 70 x 301 mm and weighs 5.9 kg.

Engineering and use context

Compared with the CD5i, the CD5si gained a more stable clock, higher-voltage power supply rails, a revised analogue filter, a new CD transport and new laser optics. A steadier clock lowers jitter at the DAC, and higher supply rails give the analogue circuits more headroom. Digital and analogue sections have separate power supplies, so noise from the servo and digital processing is kept away from the output stage. The case is a rigid aluminium extrusion. Linear phase means that all frequencies pass through the output filter with the same time delay, and absolute phase correct means that the polarity of the original recording is preserved. The DIN output follows Naim's system convention and connects directly to Naim amplifiers, while the RCA output serves amplifiers from other makers. The fixed output level makes the player a standard line source for any amplifier input.

Pairing

The CD5si was designed to work with Naim integrated amplifiers and preamplifiers of the same period, connected with a DIN interconnect. Any amplifier with an RCA line input also works. The minimum load is met by practically all line inputs, and with the low output impedance, interconnect length has little influence on the signal.

Alternatives

The Naim CDX2 is the higher CD player whose transport mechanism served as the basis for the CD5si drawer.