Those who have moved on from Naim.....
- Thread starter Sloop John B
- Start date
david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
Naim have not faltered in quite the same way as Linn
Both are incredibly small players in what is becoming an increasingly small playground.
Naim continue to keep to their core philosophy and make incredibly reliable , well built gear.
Many who leave go to valves in search of a warm soft three dimensional sound. And then return when they miss rhythm and dynamics.
Others discard the speakers and keep the bits that offer less compromise.
I could live with a 552/500 and 802 diamonds (if I had to)
Both are incredibly small players in what is becoming an increasingly small playground.
Naim continue to keep to their core philosophy and make incredibly reliable , well built gear.
Many who leave go to valves in search of a warm soft three dimensional sound. And then return when they miss rhythm and dynamics.
Others discard the speakers and keep the bits that offer less compromise.
I could live with a 552/500 and 802 diamonds (if I had to)
alan967tiger
pfm Member
In 2006-2009, I owned lots of Naim products, ended up with:
CDX2/555PS
552
NAP300
Naim Allaes
Moved onto other systems, very happy now with 2 boxes: Esoteric SA50 and Luxman 550a ii.
CDX2/555PS
552
NAP300
Naim Allaes
Moved onto other systems, very happy now with 2 boxes: Esoteric SA50 and Luxman 550a ii.
Weiss-Man
pfm Member
Had a lowish end 155/152/Flatcap/Dac, which was sold for a simple Qute2 (I believe their best product) and Dac V1/100. V1/100 now sold, and now have Valve Isis/Osiris. Wow, this is the sound and presentation that I have been after. I could never see the value in their higher end products, particularly the pre/power amps, and why does a company feel compelled to raise its prices yearly!
Struggling to let the Qute go though. It just does so much so well, for such little money.
Struggling to let the Qute go though. It just does so much so well, for such little money.
Whaleblue
Southbound
Naim 72/140/HiCap to (lightly modified) Quad 34/606.
If I could combine the speed/attack of the Naim with the organic quality of the Quads I'd probably have my perfect system
Still miss aspects of the Naim 'sound', so may end up running two systems in the end
John.
Oddly enough, that's pretty much how I'd describe my Vinyl front end through the TE to ATCs.
Maxbertola
pfm Member
My 'main' system has hosted 2/3 of the Naim catalogue (almost all 2nd hand, though) in the last 8 years or so. The gear sounds close to real music, each piece is compatible with any other one way or another, it's addictive in a decent sort of way.
The day I'll move on, though, it will only be to go after the typical 'hi-fi' qualities of music reproduction, and I'll chose tube amps and efficient loudspeakers.
(Presently AV2, Nap150x,NAC A5, N-Sats. Plus CB gear for sale.)
The day I'll move on, though, it will only be to go after the typical 'hi-fi' qualities of music reproduction, and I'll chose tube amps and efficient loudspeakers.
(Presently AV2, Nap150x,NAC A5, N-Sats. Plus CB gear for sale.)
I think I generally wanted to sleep around with different brands like I were a single man with no intention of settling down and hiring the occasional "very special friend", they all sound pretty good to be, just different levels of how much you pay for different experiences with said "very special friend" and to behonest they are all much of a muchness once you get past the initial skipping through tulips moment, then it's post orgasmic chill, that slight not-eye catching fidgety ness, escape and then searching for something newer and more exoticerynessful.
Nowadays I cannot stand to look at the stuff. Hide it away like a guilty secret. These days new "very special friends" are all kinds of flavours of ghastly overpriced over pimped rip off, so I think in the digital domain, about £100 ought to do you ok. Maybe budget a few grand more if you like a nice case.
So, cheap thrills and friends with benefits for me. I am quite done with boutique exotic pimped madness. Thoroughly fun exploration was had and no nasty rash either.
Nowadays I cannot stand to look at the stuff. Hide it away like a guilty secret. These days new "very special friends" are all kinds of flavours of ghastly overpriced over pimped rip off, so I think in the digital domain, about £100 ought to do you ok. Maybe budget a few grand more if you like a nice case.
So, cheap thrills and friends with benefits for me. I am quite done with boutique exotic pimped madness. Thoroughly fun exploration was had and no nasty rash either.
RPSGC
pfm Member
252/SC/200 - Sugden IA4
SBL's - Art Expression Stand mounts
Naim Hi-line - Chord Anthem reference
NDS/555/Fraim will remain
Oh, and coming out of vinyl and maxed the streaming out instead !
Reason - In my room, sound was too up front, wanted a warmer sound which the Sugden/speakers brought.
SBL's - Art Expression Stand mounts
Naim Hi-line - Chord Anthem reference
NDS/555/Fraim will remain
Oh, and coming out of vinyl and maxed the streaming out instead !
Reason - In my room, sound was too up front, wanted a warmer sound which the Sugden/speakers brought.
Been there and spent a fortune on loads of N Olive series but never found the sound I was looking for. Value proposition questionable when others IMHO, get way closer to the music for less coin. "Lets add another £2k PS to everything" is not good ROI in my experience. The switch to ATC 50As set me on the right path, adding Revel B15a subs and lifting the sub burden from ATCs (high pass) sent performance through the roof, now there is no N stuff here but Lovely Jeff Rowland Capri S2 and Auralic Vega = not changing anytime soon.
I have (admittedly very very classy 90s) hand me downs from a friend who gave me his Conrad Johnson mono amps, jacked into a Pi/DAC that is my main system. The ATCs are really a project studio thing and only really get used for that and surround sound noodling duties so I guess I have two systems but with different uses, both mulleted to the max... They all sound pretty good to me, I have never in 30 years heard a "broken system", or a hifi I did not like, you have to work really really hard to mess up a sound in the average hifi here. I have heard systems I like more but I listen to music in bed and I like valves, last night it was Rachmaninov, Schubert, an ECM book, Miles, Pärt and Duke Ellington and the smell of hot dust under a duvet until coma.
Never been happier. I'm just not that bothered with the name on the box, if someone put something else in its place without me knowing I doubt I would care except perhaps for the slight chill in the room and the lack of hot dust.
Never been happier. I'm just not that bothered with the name on the box, if someone put something else in its place without me knowing I doubt I would care except perhaps for the slight chill in the room and the lack of hot dust.
I went from Nait 3 to Leema Pulse, but would probably have been as happy with a Nait XS - it was just far too expensive secondhand compared to the Leema. I had the option of a set of NAC 112/NAP150/Stageline etc, but the Pulse gives me all that and a headphone amp in just one box.
Loved my Naim stuff. Started with 62 - 110 then 72 -140 then 72 Hi Cap 140 then 72 - Hi 250 then 82 Hi 250 somewhere along the line had a CD 3.50 then CDX also had SBLs after having ES14 Mk 1s for many years. Now I have all Teddy Pardo SBT TTouch Dac PR1 and MB100s and speaker wise moved to Shahinian Obs. My Wife says she enjoys a far greater range of music now and so do I.
Peter Stockwell
Back for more ...
I moved on via Teddy Power supplies to cottage industry products (Chevron Audio, Avondale, etc) and to T-amps.
I have amodified 72/HiCap/110 combo which I think is great, but I don't regret my 282/Hi/200 combo at all. to imprfeove that and stay naim, meant at least £6k extras spending, it's just not justified.
I have amodified 72/HiCap/110 combo which I think is great, but I don't regret my 282/Hi/200 combo at all. to imprfeove that and stay naim, meant at least £6k extras spending, it's just not justified.
