I have had a number of CD players including several Naim player. I have had a Gamut, Arcam, Linn, Classe, Creek, Quad and a half dozen other players over the years. I think the Naim players in general are extremely good. The CD5, CD5x and CDS3 are laid back at the same time very dynamic and involving. The CD5 is probably the bargain of the group. I owned but did not care for the CDX2 which I found too agressive and somewhat "shouty" compared to the 5 series or the CDS3.
The Naim 'sound'
i have an accuphase cdp which on the whole i like a lot but sometimes i wish it was more dynamic in its presentation of the music. overall though i feel it gives me plenty of detail and a real sound. i have also thought about a naim cdp but for every person who seems to love the Naim 'sound', there seems to be someone else who hates it with a passion and thinks the 'sound' Naim creates is false. the main criticism seems to be that yes, it does give you a very dynamic explosion of sound and is very fast but that it misses a lot of the musical and that the naim 'sound' is actually quite artificial. i would be interested to hear if people agree or disagree with this argument. i have not done a direct comparison yet between an accuphase cdp and the naim cdx2(which is the player i would be thinking about)but whilst i might sometimes crave a bit more dynamism from my accuphase, i would not want to sacrifice the accuphase genuine sound for something that may be slightly artificial