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Twelve years after Naim revolutionised the design of Compact Disc
players, the new CDS3 sets an impressive standard for high quality
Compact Disc replay.
All the trademark features of a Naim player are brought
together in the CDS3 along with a host of new and innovative engineering
solutions pioneered during the development of the flagship NAC552
and NAP500 amplifiers. Together with the elegant styling, the
result is a truly stunning, thoroughly satisfying musical performance.
The CDS3 features the latest generation Philips CD10
transport using a high quality hall motor disc drive VAM 1250
mechanism. The crucially important suspension system for the transport
consists of three precisely tuned leaf springs to optimise servo
operation. Two further independent suspension arrangements isolate
both the digital and analogue circuit boards from the environment,
using optimally damped spring decoupling.
The Naim-designed e.f.m signal "eye pattern"
processing filter precedes a Philips CD10, SAA 7324 servo controller
chip which is responsible for transforming wave patterns into
digital data, error correction and all transport drive functions.
Following this, the digital data is routed to a 24-bit - 8 times
oversampling digital filter with HDCD decoding. The data is then
sent to two (one per channel) Burr-Brown PCM 1704-K, 24-bit mono
D to A converters. HDCD decoding is only activated when playing
encoded discs.
A separate, fully optimised master clock controls
digital to analogue conversion and the clock circuit configuration
and layout are engineered to minimise jitter that is further reduced
by special Naim designed data re-clocking circuitry. A seven-pole
analogue filter follows the DAC to remove spurious noise. The
current to voltage conversion stage and all analogue filter stages
use discrete transistor amplifiers to optimise performance.
The CDS3 has 26 low-noise, regulated power
supplies on the main circuit board, fourteen on the analogue output
board and four on the servo board. Power for the whole machine
is provided by the XPS power supply, which has six separately
regulated, very low-noise outputs. Thus all critical circuitry
is triple regulated.
Naim research proved that divorcing the main
power supply in this way is wholly beneficial, whereas the more
common arrangement of housing the converter circuitry in a separate
box causes many problems.
To minimise coupling of external vibrations
from the housing to the drive, as happens in the vast majority
of players that use a drawer loading mechanism, the CDS3 has a
simple and straightforward top loading system. Discs are held
securely to the drive spindle by means of a low-inertia, resonance-controlling
magnetically attached disc clamp, a technique that ensures rigid
coupling (and mild damping) without adding to the task of the
drive servo mechanism by increasing rotational inertia.
Worthwhile user features have been incorporated
in the CDS3: in addition to a clearer layout of the back panel,
an RC5 port has been fitted (with the further option of an RS232
port), allowing seamless integration into even the most complex
of home installations. In common with the flagship NAC 552 preamplifier,
the CDS3 has user-configurable outputs, offering a choice between
the preferred DIN or RCA phono outputs, allowing the CDS3 to be
used with a wide range of other manufacturers' cables and components.
All the main control functions of the CDS3
are handled by a microprocessor running software written by Naim.
Every aspect of the SAA7324 servo controller/decoder
functionality is under software control with the Naim-written
code allowing all areas of performance to be maximised. For example,
the machine optimises the transport parameters for each disc as
it is loaded. In addition, care has been taken to ensure that
the player/user interface is as logical and intuitive as possible,
with extra features such as Display Off (providing improved sound
quality) and Program Cancel, whereby the listener can quickly
select tracks not wanted to be played.
The CDS3 is close to the top of Naim's CD
hierarchy, which allows someone to purchase a CDX2, to upgrade
by adding an XPS and then trade up to a CDS3 with the XPS. The
highly sophisticated power supply features a toroidal transformer
and 6 power regulators, ensuring complete stability of the ultra-sensitive
circuitry.
The Naim CDS3 delivers truly rewarding musical
reproduction, providing the involvement of the very best analogue
sources combined with tremendous consistency and reliability.
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