What did you end up with?
A good suggestion. If I was starting afresh I’d certainly go for active speakers, possibly the Dutch and Dutch 8c or if DSP puts you off then the new ELAC actives designed by Andrew Jones which use an analogue crossover.Spend most of it on S/H big active ATC's. Job sorted for power amps and speakers. Plenty of cheaper but good options for the rest such as MDAC and a Bruno Putzeys balanced pre kit. Or DCS if you want to throw money at it.
I believe you would have to hear the Naim £60k system and the Kiis together in he same room and at the same time to have a really valid opinion of their relative merit.Keith is right: A pair of Kii Threes.
I auditioned them not really expecting to be seriously interested; just to see what the hype was all about. Once I'd heard them, I couldn't do without them and realised quickly that, being active, I could get rid of all the Naim stuff and not have amps cluttering the place up as they have for teh last 40 years. My descision wasn't driven by "downsizing" or "de-cluttering" however. It was purely audio - I heard far, far more with the Kiis. Their simplicity is a bonus AFAIAC. Front end is a simple RPi3 with Digione. I guess I'll upgrade it at some point but everytime I listen to it, I can't imagine anything sounding much better. And the TV is great through them as well.
Having said that, I went to a dem a few months back with my brother-in-law who is a big Naim fan; he was looking for - guess what? - another Naim PSU with which to "upgrade" (to add to the several he has already). That system sounder better than mine at home but we then totted up the damage: Over 60K...
They just have an upgrade path, it is not 'marketing hype'. Most hifi companies have a range which you can upgrade through. You may or may not like the naim sound & that is entirely down to personal taste.I’m not familiar with Naim nomenclature other than wary of the continuous marketing hype of never ending upgrades and beefy power supplies promising greater audio nirvana.
Prefer manufacturers that build something properly in the first instance and stick with it for at least 5 years although that may reduce sales to those who must have latest so called upgrade.
The OP may in the long term benefit from jumping off the hamster wheel.
Just the usual anti-Naim nonsense we have to suffer on Naim threads Mr Woodface, best to just ignore it.They just have an upgrade path, it is not 'marketing hype'. Most hifi companies have a range which you can upgrade through. You may or may not like the naim sound & that is entirely down to personal taste.
At the mo it seems like all system change or rebuild questions result in the same answer - active speakers! I tried ATC 40 actives and whilst they sounded effortless at high volumes, they weren't really my cup of tea esp at low volume.
Thanks for all the replies people, some very interesting points raised. Will be interesting to hear some of the newer gear over time. It'll have to be astonishing to prise me away form the Olive sound though.....