Naim Cd 5 Si Hi Fi Choice Review Issue 336
Our Verdict
Production of the Year, Awards 2013. Features may be minimal but the CD5si is as musical as they come up at this toll
For
- Dynamic, enthusiastic delivery
- Confident handling of rhythms
- Musically spot on
Against
- No digital outputs
- No upgrade path
What Hi-Fi? Verdict
Product of the Year, Awards 2013. Features may be minimal but the CD5si is as musical as they come up at this price
Pros
- +
Dynamic, enthusiastic delivery
- +
Confident treatment of rhythms
- +
Musically spot on
Cons
- -
No digital outputs
- -
No upgrade path
MORE: Meet all our 2013 Award winners
Naim may be racking up brownie points with its ever-building range of outstanding music streamers, just it hasn't forgotten about the minor CD player.
Which is only as well considering its range of players is really good.
Build and pattern
The CD5si, though, is a particularly exceptional case of Naim combining a superb sound with great value for money – its Product of the Year 2013 condition can vouch for that.
An enhanced version of the CD5i, the 5si is cased in the company's standard black finish and simple pattern.
Most of the Naim trademarks nosotros know and love are nowadays, but the 's' brings upgraded digital-to-counterpart circuitry, improved analogue filtering, a more than stable clock, and a longer-lasting transport machinery to its admired manual swing-drawer organization.
It'due south similar tacking an 'S' tile onto a high-scoring discussion in Scrabble to get a slightly higher score, and we admire Naim for continuing to seek improvements on what is already a class product.
What we are less taken with though, are the features on this role player because, quite just, there aren't any.
The absenteeism of digital outputs is fairly typical of Naim, but no trace of an upgrade path seems out of grapheme.
For the competition and (usually) for Naim, upgrades are the norm.
Audio
Withal, this is i of the best players we've heard nether the £1000 mark and has been a favourite of ours since information technology took the crown from long-reigning champ the Audiolab 8200CD last year.
The CD5si bends over backwards to deliver an exuberant and enjoyable performance, and it was its unmatched enthusiasm and physical bulldoze that we took to instantly.
The What Hi-Fi? Audio and Vision team listened to this player for hours, and we still enjoyed sitting dorsum to a wholehearted rendition of Red Hot Chilli Peppers' By The Mode.
In terms of musicality and cohesion, it's spot on.
Naim has batted away potential rivals on many occasions – and with relative ease. To see if it could all the same exercise so, we lestened to The Steward of Gondor from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King soundtrack.
Equally ever, the Naim delivered a hearty functioning. Detailed and confident with dynamics, information technology embraced the quieter parts of the piece gracefully before climbing up to the crescendo with explosive drama and intensity.
If anything expresses the calibration of this track's grand magnitude, it's the CD5si.
It might not bargain with the effectively threads of item or manage quite the clarity of rivals such equally the Cyrus CDi, merely the Naim is a highly capable performer with an authoritative grasp of rhythms and enough punch and ability to actually transform your music collection.
Its rich tonal residuum promises a solid, concentrated performance for most anything you play through it.
Then, if you value animation and free energy over absolute insight and detail, this is the piece of kit for y'all.
Verdict
As its Award-winning condition suggests, the CD5si isn't easily ruffled past rivals – and rightfully so.
It's a truly terrific player with a winningly enthusiastic approach to music.
Unless rigorous authenticity and attention to detail are high on your list of must-haves, make certain you give this Naim an audience.
Review updated on 20.02.14
See all our CD histrion All-time Buys
Follow whathifi on Twitter
Join whathifi on Facebook
Source: https://www.whathifi.com/naim/cd5si/review
0 Response to "Naim Cd 5 Si Hi Fi Choice Review Issue 336"
Postar um comentário