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WigWam Scalford 2014 pics etc

onlyconnect said:
The odd thing was that the difference seemed to vary slightly during the day possibly due to slight volume differences, possibly source dependent, or possibly movement of the stars :)



Overall it was roughly 1/3 preference for the Naim 1/3 Yam 1/3 no difference, with most but not all considering the difference small.



I would say though that of those who expressed a strong preference it was almost always for the Naim - just 2 or 3 people.



Obviously not scientific but a fun experiment and one that surprised quite a few.



The little Quads went down well too.



Tim
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I hope the Naims were not playing in that configuration with pre and PS sitting on top of the power amp.
 
Bob McC said:
I hope the Naims were not playing in that configuration with pre and PS sitting on top of the power amp.
Click to expand...

I've been there - every box on its own acoustic table. Difficult to do A/B comparisons of course, as it involves moving boxes and you have forgotten exactly how it sounded by the time you are ready to play again, but I concluded that the audible difference is small. Who knows, perhaps it sounds slightly better like that but given constraints of space I'm now happy with anything that is stable and does not hum :)

The arrangement of the boxes is one of many reasons why the demo was only for fun and interest. Absolute accuracy in volume matching was another and to my mind bigger one. I could have done it with a sound level meter and some white noise but another issue is that some digital sources are much louder than others (cf loudness wars) so I had to adjust the volume from time to time. And I wanted to spend most of the time playing music not measuring levels.

But if you think the arrangement of boxes would severely damage the Naim's sound quality - well who knows, you might be right.

Tim
 
onlyconnect said:
But if you think the arrangement of boxes would severely damage the Naim's sound quality - well who knows, you might be right.

Tim
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Or Naim make shabby,fussy, difficult products?

I suspect not. I imagine you could stack them how you like.

( this is not a cue for a cable type discussion)
 
merlin said:
How did people find the quadraphonic setup?
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Really odd is how we found it - just didn't work at all, not even slightly. I sat in a few positions and wherever we sat all the voice came out of the front right speaker and there was no sense of atmosphere or holographic projection. Presumably there was some sort of technical fault.
 
Regarding the Snell J speakers...

Am I right in thinking that these have been manufactured under a different brand in recent years ? ( might have been a Turntable Manufacturer .... :confused: )

iirc I heard a fantastic sounding system at the Scottish Hi-Fi Show 5 or 6 years ago, it was held in some Golfing/Spa Hotel on the outskirts of Edinburgh. it used these speakers just jammed into a corner with no particular attention to detail regarding placement etc... sounded fab tho.

This scalford Hi-Fi show looks to be more 'Honest' and down to earth than any other.
 
onlyconnect said:
The arrangement of the boxes is one of many reasons why the demo was only for fun and interest. Absolute accuracy in volume matching was another and to my mind bigger one. I could have done it with a sound level meter and some white noise but another issue is that some digital sources are much louder than others (cf loudness wars) so I had to adjust the volume from time to time. And I wanted to spend most of the time playing music not measuring levels.
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Ah that would explain changing impressions! If critical comparison is your aim, then accurate level matching should be even further up your list than blind listening.
 
Sid and Coke said:
Regarding the Snell J speakers...

Am I right in thinking that these have been manufactured under a different brand in recent years ? ( might have been a Turntable Manufacturer .... :confused: )

iirc I heard a fantastic sounding system at the Scottish Hi-Fi Show 5 or 6 years ago, it was held in some Golfing/Spa Hotel on the outskirts of Edinburgh. it used these speakers just jammed into a corner with no particular attention to detail regarding placement etc... sounded fab tho.

This scalford Hi-Fi show looks to be more 'Honest' and down to earth than any other.
Click to expand...

Audio Note J. Peter Qvortrup bought the rights to Snell designs after Peter Snell's passing (in fact he bought up a lot of the existing stock, including cabinets before manufacturing himself). Drivers are I understand from Seas manufactured specially for AN.

They also make the "E" and the "K" but not the "A"
 
onlyconnect said:
I've been there - every box on its own acoustic table. Difficult to do A/B comparisons of course, as it involves moving boxes and you have forgotten exactly how it sounded by the time you are ready to play again, but I concluded that the audible difference is small. Who knows, perhaps it sounds slightly better like that but given constraints of space I'm now happy with anything that is stable and does not hum :)

The arrangement of the boxes is one of many reasons why the demo was only for fun and interest. Absolute accuracy in volume matching was another and to my mind bigger one. I could have done it with a sound level meter and some white noise but another issue is that some digital sources are much louder than others (cf loudness wars) so I had to adjust the volume from time to time. And I wanted to spend most of the time playing music not measuring levels.

But if you think the arrangement of boxes would severely damage the Naim's sound quality - well who knows, you might be right.

Tim
Click to expand...

That's been my experience. I would imagine that Naim setup would sound pretty poor compared to if it was setup better.
 
onlyconnect said:
I've been there - every box on its own acoustic table. Difficult to do A/B comparisons of course, as it involves moving boxes and you have forgotten exactly how it sounded by the time you are ready to play again, but I concluded that the audible difference is small. Who knows, perhaps it sounds slightly better like that but given constraints of space I'm now happy with anything that is stable and does not hum :)

The arrangement of the boxes is one of many reasons why the demo was only for fun and interest. Absolute accuracy in volume matching was another and to my mind bigger one. I could have done it with a sound level meter and some white noise but another issue is that some digital sources are much louder than others (cf loudness wars) so I had to adjust the volume from time to time. And I wanted to spend most of the time playing music not measuring levels.

But if you think the arrangement of boxes would severely damage the Naim's sound quality - well who knows, you might be right.

Tim
Click to expand...

Moving a Naim pre amp the optimum distance from the power amp is clearly beneficial.
Power supply even more so.
I'm surprised you don't notice it.

If the owner wasn't that bothered it makes the Yamaha comparison rather a waste of time doesn't it?
 
darrenyeats said:
Ah that would explain changing impressions! If critical comparison is your aim, then accurate level matching should be even further up your list than blind listening.
Click to expand...

Right, but it was easy to distinguish Kans from Quad speakers irrespective of precise level matching :)

Tim
 
Joe said:
Or Naim make shabby,fussy, difficult products?

I suspect not. I imagine you could stack them how you like.

( this is not a cue for a cable type discussion)
Click to expand...

Naim specifically advise against it. Saying it will be deleterious to sound quality.
 
Bob McC said:
Moving a Naim pre amp the optimum distance from the power amp is clearly beneficial.
Power supply even more so.
I'm surprised you don't notice it.

If the owner wasn't that bothered it makes the Yamaha comparison rather a waste of time doesn't it?
Click to expand...

I enjoyed it. But if anyone has time/patience to blind test Naim amps in different arrangements of boxes, I'd be interested in the results.

Tim
 
Bob McC said:
Moving a Naim pre amp the optimum distance from the power amp is clearly beneficial.
Power supply even more so.
I'm surprised you don't notice it.

If the owner wasn't that bothered it makes the Yamaha comparison rather a waste of time doesn't it?
Click to expand...

Do straws being clutched make a sound ?
 
John said:
The worse the setup the more things sound alike. If that satisfies some, great!
Click to expand...

I don't disagree , but the optimum citing of amplifiers will not have miraculous effect on SQ .So attempts to invalidate this test [ and I make no comment on its validity ] by citing poor positioning are somewhat absurd .
 
Had a great day out yesterday some really nice systems to be listened too. I thought the Wilson Audio speakers were truly wonderful, very refreshing and open sound with wonderful image placement
 
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