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Moving from Naim

The ri-100 is a fabulous amp and doesn't give up that much to its sia-025 cousin. I've owned both and although I decided on the sia-025 it wasn't a night and day decision.

I've ordered the RI-100 (with DAC)...I should receive the amp in a few weeks...hopefully. Do you use the mains cable that comes with the Vitus or do you use another cable?
 
I suppose the marketing department has to earn its keep but copy like this would make me a bit nervous.

It’s still early in the morning. You feel the rst warming rays of the sun on your skin, while she appears on the horizon. Dew lls the racetrack with a mysterious glow. Test engineers remove the cloth of their creation. The silhouette of their statement cuts through the fog. Razor sharp. Ready to surprise everyone, to exceed his or her expectations. A moment of absolute silence. The world stands still, just for a brief moment. You can feel your heart beating. You’ve been living up to this moment. A loud roar brings you back to reality and it never looked and felt so good. You are right on track with the RI-100 Integrated Ampli er.

You have heard it before ordering haven't you?

.sjb
 
This really is amazing stuff


You want to go that extra mile. So what do you do? Raise the bar? Raise the stakes? Your cabin o ers a view of the world. It seems endless. You steer your yacht to the horizon, ring up the engines yet another time. That entire horsepower makes the propellers cleave through the water. Speed increases rapidly. Those few extra knots give you a sense of bliss. The sun re ects in your sunglasses. The vast water breathes freedom. Alone on the world? Not quite. The dolphins along the yacht exchange glances and con rm your determination. There’s only one way; the path to elevated performance. You’re sailing right into the direction of the SIA-025 Integrated Ampli er.

Where can I buy one of these?



.sjb
 
Bit disappointed with the Masterpiece series though


Finishing the case and bracelet that will hold a watch is extremely intricate work requiring a multitude of complex procedures. It’s just as important as the creation of the movement itself. Crafting a case is an extremely challenging job demanding the labor of about 20 specialists performing around 50 operations. Creating a metal bracelet also requires a large number of complicated processes. The exterior of a timepiece must re ect the excellence of the movement inside. They must be perfectly functional and ensure the ultimate in comfort and convenience. This is why such great importance is placed upon elegant forms, noble materials and the perfection of nishes and decorative techniques. The MP-S201 Stereo Power Ampli er is like a perfectly shaped chronograph: a precise, accurate and high-performance instrument.

.sjb
 
It always amazes me how so many audiophiles are blind to expectation bias, confirmation bias, and ignore the well known and researched aspects of how we hear and perceive sound - i.e. psycho-acoustics.

As far as I know, the Richard Clark amplifier challenge still stands - and no one has won the money - a comfy $10k

Better yet is the James Randi challenge - the sacred cow of cables. Here you can win 1 million dollars if you can prove that mega expensive cables sound better than relatively 'normal' Monster cables. Again, no-one has won the money.

I've personally dallied with different cables - construction and cost - and was quite sure I heard noticeable differences. But as soon as I introduced some sort of control - either getting a friend to change the cables so I was 'blind', or even sighted, listening on my own, but using an good SPL meter to precisely match volume levels - and the differences previously noted pretty much went away.

A telling comment I heard recently in conversation with an audiophile who had spent mega bucks on his kit and 'accessories' at a HiFi show I attended, in the B&O room auditioning the Beolab 90's, was that he had been a fervent believer in such things, until he put himself to the test and underwent a controlled test at matched volume levels and realised he could hear no difference.

A moment of great epiphany for him - he was seriously considering selling up all his previously 'amazing' kit and heading in the direction of a pair of Lab 90s.

And so it goes. I thought my Naim kit would absolutely wipe the face off the Sony AV amp I bought - but at matched volume levels and with some blind tests aided by friends, it was not the case.

Yes, there were some slight sonic differences, as the two were very different amplifiers in terms of design, but at matched volume levels they sounded far more alike than different. By far the biggest difference was the price....

So my point is that Naim is very good. Without question. However, don't think that by spending huge amounts of money you are going to get something hugely better, or for that matter spending far less, that you are going to get something vastly inferior.

With amplifiers, you will likely at best, given similar design, power and distortion figures, and provided you are not driving it into distortion, encounter subtle nuances in sound that will only be apparent in very well known recordings; "oh, the cymbal on that 30 sec part of the recording is clearer; oh, the bass is just that little bit better defined on that 32' organ stop."

Play unfamiliar material and especially at matched volume levels and it will be very difficult to hear differences at all. That is not to say that difference don't exist, but rather they are so subtle under controlled listening to not be an issue for any sensible audiophile.

And lastly, even moving your speakers a few centimetres further apart, or away from the back wall, or corner, of moving you listening seat in the context of the listening room, or room treatments themselves, will all affect/alter the sound far more than any obsessing with cables and racks, let alone swapping out amplifiers.

Call me stupid, berate me for not being a 'dyed in the wool' audiophile, lol.. but, I've been there, and done that, which is why I've personally forsaken the hit and miss, trial and error method of system building mixing and matching with separates, and gone fully active from a one make solution.

Of course that's not going to suit a hobbyist who likes mixing and matching and tweaking, and I have no wish to denigrate that experience - but again after having been there, and done that, I much prefer the fully active route, speaking purely personally of course.

And as such, for the Naim owner wishing to move to something else, I could scarcely not recommend a fully active system (insert your brand of choice) highly enough.
 
I suppose the marketing department has to earn its keep but copy like this would make me a bit nervous. .sjb

It's certainly descriptive; almost inspired (by some heady stuff, maybe). Just hope this doesn't extend to the design engineers, though !:)

Kit of quality doesn't need hyping, but maybe the Danish have to bring in the hyperbolical bacon. Sounds more like a travel ad.:)
 
I suppose the marketing department has to earn its keep but copy like this would make me a bit nervous.



You have heard it before ordering haven't you?

.sjb

That is the most amusing marketing puff I have read for a while, thanks for posting, Archimago compares his Emotiva to one on his site.
Keith
 
A bit of googling about the Randi challenge and it all seems a bit of a mess. That's the trouble with the internet, so many views are put forward as fact, but when you do a bit of digging it's never quite so clesr cut.
 
It always amazes me how so many audiophiles are blind to expectation bias, confirmation bias, and ignore the well known and researched aspects of how we hear and perceive sound - i.e. psycho-acoustics.


...And as such, for the Naim owner wishing to move to something else, I could scarcely not recommend a fully active system (insert your brand of choice) highly enough.

Do I sense some expectation bias that any brand of fully active system is going to be fabulous?
 
My favourite was the properly conducted blind test done by pfm'rs between an unserviced Nait and a recently serviced 72/hicap/135s during the pfm 'all amplifiers round the same' wars. The results were hailed as a victory for the subjectivists as two of the panel (the amps owner and his mate) miraculously could reliably identify which was which. Obviously these amps were no-where near the same spec so one would assume it would be obvious. However the rest of the panel couldn't differenciate and on the 'prefer' question they were split as to which they preferred.

All from memory so I may have some detail wrong no doubt someone will be along to proffer the facts.
 
tough ,really tough finding a better way to 'communicate' music as Naim does which won't cost an eye and a leg.
Others may be better at focusing your attention on how single parameters change/improve as you climb the ladder, none in 'feeling' the whole bigger picture as with any Naim based set-up.
 
tough ,really tough finding a better way to 'communicate' music as Naim does which won't cost an eye and a leg.
Others may be better at focusing your attention on how single parameters change/improve as you climb the ladder, none in 'feeling' the whole bigger picture as with any Naim based set-up.

Sorry, that's entirely too broad a statement. Plenty of other gear allows music to communicate music on an equal or superior level to what Naim does.

Do you work for Naim?
 
A bit of googling about the Randi challenge and it all seems a bit of a mess. That's the trouble with the internet, so many views are put forward as fact, but when you do a bit of digging it's never quite so clesr cut.

So what isn't a fact about the Randi challenge?
 
Sorry, that's entirely too broad a statement. Plenty of other gear allows music to communicate music on an equal or superior level to what Naim does.

Do you work for Naim?

As someone who has recently moved from high Naim to all valves, either Naim stuff isn't particularly rich in communication or there are very many forms to suit different perceptions, as said above. I favour the latter.

Mind you, I'm not sure if this was a s/s versus valve thing, but my power amp's were valved with the 552 anyway, so little functional change but considerable sonic change.
 


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