Sound of Naim cd 5i italic

You should also check out the new Creek Destiny player IMO. Very resolving and very toe-tapping.

I find the older Naim 5i a bit dark on top which might not work with some systems. I assume the new italic version is quite similar.

I have had many players in this price range. See my system page for more info and feel free to ask me questions.

You got yourself a great amp, by the way.

Arthur

In the post above, Arthur wrote: "I find the older Naim 5i a bit dark on top which might not work with some systems. I assume the new italic version is quite similar."

Based on my experience, I'd say that assumption is not accurate. I own the CD5i-2 (the "italic"), and owned the original CD5i before. The new CD5i-2 is a significant improvement over the original -- less of an electronic edge to the sound, warmer, fuller, more natural sounding, lively but not edgy. The difference surprised me -- I had both players on hand for a few weeks and was able to make direct comparisons. Maybe it has to do with the new DAC (Wolfson) in the later model? In any case, while Naim has only distinguished the new model from the old model by italicizing a letter, they have in practice produced (in my opinion) a significantly more musical and engaging CD player.

You might be surprised by the sound of the Music Hall 25.2 - certainly not in the $2000 range but a good player nonetheless!