I think I am aware of how 'Naim' works; and I mean not a brand or a piece of gear, but how a kind of 'world' is.
I bought my Nait in 1984/5, don't remember. A guy in the trade had started to sell them, I took advantage of a second hand unit. Its build, the clarity of the circuits, the essentiality of its concept was praised. We all came from Japanese HiFi, or Nad, Proton, or big costly boxes.
To be honest, I was not fully aware of what sucked me into it: I was a graduated musician with also a certain experience in pop and rock, but never consciously associated Naim – or any other brand – to truthfulness in music. I had spent long years in the cult of Acoustic Research, but it was mainly the ads with classical musicians in it, the smooth sound that the press opposed to the JBL's; in a way, it was like with Beatles and Rolling Stones.
I don't know what made me stay into Naim: I moved from the Nait to a 42.5, came a SNAPS and here I was, facing the Power Supply Thing: probably, a very clever mix of technical objectivity and marketing ability. There could be no rational doubt that upgrading the PSU would better the performance, so I did hear a better performance - even when better performance meant more or deeper bass or a slightly more focused image, two things not necessarily related to music.
I've been away from Naim for some years, then came back ten years ago. In these ten years I seem to have made up for the hiatus in excess, having bought and sold a foolish number of things, including the repetition of a few purchases; it has been like if I wanted to explore the most of it, what my funds allowed, what my curiosity required. I think I have probably made a fool of myself a number of times here or on the Naim forum, but I don't care: this is not like if it was Foreign Politics or Global Economics, it's just one of those innocently mad addictions that keep some people tied to a band, a car, a comic character, a beer: who cares?
Now I have decided to free myself a little from all this – all this including my presence on the Naim forum, which – despite the average PFM vulgata – is full of smart, clever, cultivated people who love music and good reproduction of it, and where I have learned good english and a lot of interesting things. I have received unimaginably good customer service, and my feelings about NaimWorld are still very deep. Only, I want to loosen the leash a little.. A leash that none will ever be able to tell if it's been made by me or by them.
Do I really care about Naim's sound quality? Do I really compare it to real music, to other brands? Last night I took my recently bought rega Apollo to a friend's place, we listened to music on his Croft pre and Albarry 408s into Marten Design Monks, finally comparing it to his CDX2 (I have had three CDX2s): well, there was no doubt that they were different – the CDX2 was clearer, more 'open', more flat, less 'analogue', and a tad less 'listenable'. I wasn't shocked. I have bought a rega Brio 3 and an Apollo as a 'mental back door' for this moment of uncertainty and for the future. Last night I took my 202/200 to another friend, and it was extremely enjoyable on his Harbeth SHL5s, so I could choose to keep them and buy Harbeths. Who knows? The moment we let just our ears decide, we discover new things. When I have removed the HiCapDR and the NAPSC from the 202, I have suddenly found it did sound as pleasant as before, perhaps better..
Forced resignations, escapes, sharp cuts are always a sign of doubt. Freedom is more - er, free.
My opinion only
M