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Life after Naim

The thread (to me) shows that other people have experienced the same fall from grace with naim that I have

From being an avid green forum contributer and naim owner...to shunning the snobbish crap the forum has become ...and shunning the over priced, overcomplicated equipment that has spawned out of the once lovely CB and olive ranges

I'm not saying live in the past....but £3.8k for an interconnect when once they advocated a bit of mains wire with two Dins on it ?
 
Rack Kit said:
Not read the whole thread so sorry if someone’s already suggested it but why not just get your XS serviced since you must like what it does after owning it for 12 years?
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I probably should have said in initial post that until recently is was driving some efficient small Focal speakers. A recent room change and purchase of some Dynaudio Evoke 50 and I wonder if the little XS is now my weak point.
This thread certainly wasn’t about any kind of bashing. Naim and my local dealer have always provided exceptional service. I merely posted to ask of alternatives, from people that have previously owned and enjoyed Naim
 
suzywong said:
I have to say that I don’t “get” what is the purpose of this thread?

Some sort of reverse willie waving perhaps, or maybe posters believe they will gain some sort of “street credibility”……..

perhaps someone would care to explain it to me.
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I think a big part of it is that, like, say, Apple, Naim has developed a whole ecosystem in a sense and it is very easy and common to stay almost entirely within this ecosystem. That is, it's probably far more common to find people with all-Naim systems than for other companies (there are others though, of course, eg Linn).

One can clearly spend all of one's audiophile life buying and enjoying a series of Naim gear, to have an ever-evolving system that nevertheless remains almost entirely Naim. And that is fine and I don't think such people should be criticised because "to each his own." With that said, it is not unreasonable for someone "living in Naimland" like that to speak of stepping outside that world in terms of "life after Naim" and, indeed, as mentioned there are few other companies for which such a sentiment might make sense.

Personally I see the appeal in the Naim life and even with my humble gear I admit to still feeling that pride of ownership, even in the present company on pfm and otherwise without any of my real world friends knowing anything about it. But at the same time I'm too curious about all the other brands out there. So when fantasising about my next big upgrade, sometimes I think it's moving up the Naim ladder, sometimes it's about jumping off and settling on a different brand. I can see how further along people would weight more strongly the jumping-off option.
 
I had a life after Naim for a while as I got tired of DIN cables, multiple boxes, separate power supplies and so on...........but got back to it, more specifically with the chrome bumper line and this was "dictated" by my ears and nothing else.
 
jobseeker said:
I had a Superuniti that was really good for a one box system. I moved to a Mytek Brooklyn Bridge / Brooklyn amp combo with the same footprint.although now I’m in the process of tweaking again. I’ve gone a bit retro an have a Pathos Classic One Mk III integrated. The Rega Aethos was on my list though.I’m still mulling over the streaming and DAC side of things. ND5 XS2 is under consideration though. I’ve also changed speakers from Boenicke W5 SE to Audio Physic Tempo 35.
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@jobseeker I'm feeling the itch to try something new. The Mytek stuff looks really intruiging. How do you rate it against your Naim setup?
 
Ironic that that those who care about this debate, on both sides, have no realization of how bizarre it would seem to the vast majority of people. The whole concept of systematically and fervently upgrading a domestic appliance even when very large sums of money are required for tiny improvements is irrational. The only way it can be justified is by only talking about to other people who share this foolish addiction. Naim have done a fantastic job of creating a little rubber room for the afflicted to live in, isolated from scorn and ridicule. This new price and product structure looks like a change of direction which suggests that someone either really knows what they're doing or really doesn't.
 
Mr Pig said:
Ironic that that those who care about this debate, on both sides, have no realization of how bizarre it would seem to the vast majority of people. The whole concept of systematically and fervently upgrading a domestic appliance even when very large sums of money are required for tiny improvements is irrational. The only way it can be justified is by only talking about to other people who share this foolish addiction. Naim have done a fantastic job of creating a little rubber room for the afflicted to live in, isolated from scorn and ridicule. This new price and product structure looks like a change of direction which suggests that someone either really knows what they're doing or really doesn't.
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First, I fail to see any irony. Second, every hobby has such topics of discussion that make no sense to anyone outside of the hobby.

Also, this: "The whole concept of systematically and fervently upgrading a domestic appliance even when very large sums of money are required for tiny improvements is irrational." is not wholly unfamiliar to, say, PC gamers. Unarguably a much larger demographic than audiophiles. Yes, there is a different scope for prices but the same basic idea applies: massive diminishing returns on expensive gear to squeeze out a bit better performance.
 
I went from Naim to Valves, to Yamaha then back to Naim. Currently 252/SCDR, 500, Superline, NDX2/555PSDR.
I have a 552 itch to scratch but £25k seems steep so got eye out for 2nd hand.
I should probably look to upgrade my speakers before anything else though.
All Hifi will no doubt go up in price due to production issues, supply issues and costs of components etc
 
Ex-Naimee here. It all started with an audition of the original SuperNait back in 2009 or something. It ended with Naim DAC + Teddy XPS to SN2 + Teddy HiCap in 2019 when I pretty much sold everything and went active and simplified my setup with ATC SCM40A. I bought passive ATC SCM40’s in 2014 and after five years with Naim + ATC, wanted to hear what all the fuss about active ATC’s was. I haven’t looked back. Current setup is Linn ADSM/3 + ATC SCM50ASL. I still think that the best hifi is made in UK, been a fan since that SuperNait demo in 2009. The point where I was with Naim was difficult. Next step would’ve been separates with massive investments and growing number of black boxes in the rack. Going active gave so much more for the money invested.
 
Mr Pig said:
Ironic that that those who care about this debate, on both sides, have no realization of how bizarre it would seem to the vast majority of people. The whole concept of systematically and fervently upgrading a domestic appliance even when very large sums of money are required for tiny improvements is irrational. The only way it can be justified is by only talking about to other people who share this foolish addiction. Naim have done a fantastic job of creating a little rubber room for the afflicted to live in, isolated from scorn and ridicule. This new price and product structure looks like a change of direction which suggests that someone either really knows what they're doing or really doesn't.
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I agree with your thought but I would add others brands that seem to me on the same line. For instance the commercial policy that Linn conceived and adopted for the Linn Sondek, with an endless saga of ridiculously expensive upgrades far beats the Naim upgrade path.
 
unit said:
@jobseeker I'm feeling the itch to try something new. The Mytek stuff looks really intruiging. How do you rate it against your Naim setup?
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Very good, no doubt about that. As ever, not without quirks. Direct comparisons difficult because it all coincided with total changes of rooms, equipment etc. The current strange legal and manufacturing situations at Mytek make things a bit complicated. I’m mulling over the upgrade offer for current BB owners up to BB2.
 
Mr Pig said:
Ironic that that those who care about this debate, on both sides, have no realization of how bizarre it would seem to the vast majority of people. The whole concept of systematically and fervently upgrading a domestic appliance even when very large sums of money are required for tiny improvements is irrational. The only way it can be justified is by only talking about to other people who share this foolish addiction.
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But this is what all hobbies are like! They all look bizarre to the vast majority of people. My friend is buying a new £6k push bike as it’s a few grams lighter than his, what seems to me, already amazing bike. Another spends 4 figure sums on a fishing rod. And don't go anywhere near leisure ocean boats if you think Hi-Fi is expensive and bizarre.
 
suzywong said:
So why not simply title the thread “how my thinking has evolved over my fifty years of hobby hifi.”?
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Because the OP did not want to know the answer to that. The question he asked was what Naim users have moved on to. Not sure why you are confused as to the point of the thread.
 
Irrational or not, I followed the Naim upgrade process over about a decade. IME, each upgrade offered improved sound quality to my ears.

Started off about 14 years ago with a Naim XS, then moved to a 282/250, then 252/300, and now 552/300. Digital source went from NDX/XPS to NDS/555. Naim Ovator 400s replaced Harbeth C7ESRs, and I purchased my last DR upgrade about 8 years ago. Only my 300 PS remains original (non-DR). Last hardware purchase was about 6 years ago when I swapped out Naca5 speaker cable for Super Lumina. That's when I decided I was done, and that further improvements to sound quality would likely be missed by my aging ears.

Last audio software purchase was a lifetime Roon license along with a SonicTransporter i5. That was about 3 years ago. Done strictly for simplicity and convenience, but the Roon DSP has helped tame some overly bass rich albums that I otherwise enjoy.

For the record, I have never advocated that others follow a similar path. Mine was expensive and time consuming, but each step was fun, and the setup has brought me many years of daily joy. Needless to say, there were countless other paths to get to this same place, but I have enjoyed this one. In other words, I have not "moved on".
 
The weird thing is that it is only after I'd spent the money that I thought it might be ridiculous; it was a fun journey though.
 
roach said:
Used to have Nait 3 then 72 Hi 140 back in the day. Now got a Rega Elex r that I really like but am thinking of trying a Rega Aethos next.
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Do it! Had the Elex until I heard the Elicit r, but the Aethos was a massive improvement over the Elicit in terms of control, separation, and dynamics
 
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