Avondale SE200 Announcement on FB
- Thread starter Richard Lines
- Start date
Update on the SE 200 and Grad I’ve always enjoyed sitting and listening to music but have struggled to feel that the stereo balance was right, one speaker seemed to overpower the other one (maybe my ears). Listening to various recordings I realised things are now in balance appreciate this is very much a function of the studio mix but recording seem far easier to follow, things in the right place I guess.
Plus I always felt I wanted more bass I’ve got that as well, maybe not as per active but pretty impressive for a relatively small 80 watt system
The old adage garbage in garbage out still holds very true not all my listening has made we go what the.. that’s new but there is an ease of listening when u find a good recording u can either turn up the volume or just enjoy the extra detail, as I’ve said before I feel I’ve a grown up system great sound stage, volume when needed and so much more detail. Without sounding trite Avondale have given me a grown up system for far less than the big boys prices and there’s so much more to go, but as someone once told me enjoy the music and bugger the upgrades thanks guys
Plus I always felt I wanted more bass I’ve got that as well, maybe not as per active but pretty impressive for a relatively small 80 watt system
The old adage garbage in garbage out still holds very true not all my listening has made we go what the.. that’s new but there is an ease of listening when u find a good recording u can either turn up the volume or just enjoy the extra detail, as I’ve said before I feel I’ve a grown up system great sound stage, volume when needed and so much more detail. Without sounding trite Avondale have given me a grown up system for far less than the big boys prices and there’s so much more to go, but as someone once told me enjoy the music and bugger the upgrades thanks guys
say it as it is
pfm Member
Not on FB what is the announcement
It was just some in progress build pics, and another one today about how Les has reorganised the workshop to help efficiency. No actual product announcements...
say it as it is
pfm Member
Cheers
Quick write up on a visit I had over the weekend to see Dazz and his SE200 with a Grad1/shunt PSU. Took with me my Grad1/TPX2 and NCC300s. As usual with these things it turned out not how I expected. First up, thx to Dazz for his hospitality, it was a good evening.
We listened firstly to his setup (test1), then swapped out the amps for the NCC300s(test2), then back to the SE200s and swapped out the pre's and their PSUs (test3). These are all my impressions coming from a NCC300 point of view...
Test1: His system has SWING! First thing that struck me, it really swings. The music feels really musical and has a lovely timing about it. Very easy to listen to, you could listen for hours with no fatigue. It seemed to have less detail/clarity compared to my system which I put down to his source being a straight forward laptop. He has subsequently changed it up for an Aurelic mini and found a nice improvement, but more on that in a mo....
Test2: These are all in comparison comments, not absolutes! NCC300 had less swing, a bit more detail, Dazz said it sounded more "hifi". At higher volumes less easy to listen to for long periods, but not a huge difference in "quality", more about "character". I would say it had 2 difference points out of 5 ie a made up number to give an idea of how different they were. Not hugely (to my ears)
Test3: This one surprised us both. We used my Grad1/TPX2 combo instead of Dazz's Grad1/shunt PSU. Quite a large difference, say 3.5 out of 5. Mine was highly detailed/clearer, again having a harsher edge at high volumes, Dazz's much softer but with that swing. It turns out we could have swapped the PSUs round to see if it was a Grad1 thing or a PSU thing but we didnt do that test.
Dazz may well have different take on the differences - these are how they sounded to me
Some music we listened to
We listened firstly to his setup (test1), then swapped out the amps for the NCC300s(test2), then back to the SE200s and swapped out the pre's and their PSUs (test3). These are all my impressions coming from a NCC300 point of view...
Test1: His system has SWING! First thing that struck me, it really swings. The music feels really musical and has a lovely timing about it. Very easy to listen to, you could listen for hours with no fatigue. It seemed to have less detail/clarity compared to my system which I put down to his source being a straight forward laptop. He has subsequently changed it up for an Aurelic mini and found a nice improvement, but more on that in a mo....
Test2: These are all in comparison comments, not absolutes! NCC300 had less swing, a bit more detail, Dazz said it sounded more "hifi". At higher volumes less easy to listen to for long periods, but not a huge difference in "quality", more about "character". I would say it had 2 difference points out of 5 ie a made up number to give an idea of how different they were. Not hugely (to my ears)
Test3: This one surprised us both. We used my Grad1/TPX2 combo instead of Dazz's Grad1/shunt PSU. Quite a large difference, say 3.5 out of 5. Mine was highly detailed/clearer, again having a harsher edge at high volumes, Dazz's much softer but with that swing. It turns out we could have swapped the PSUs round to see if it was a Grad1 thing or a PSU thing but we didnt do that test.
Dazz may well have different take on the differences - these are how they sounded to me
Some music we listened to
Mynamemynaim
38yrs a Naim owner
Great write up on what sounds like a nice day
OzBrit Audio
pfm Member
Here's another SE200 build. Loaded my pic on imgur and got the URL, I'm not sure if this is going to display though?
Early days to post on the sound quality, I haven't optimised the component quality yet but what I will say it is already sounding very good.
What it does is take out any harshness in the mid range. The results are a much more natural presentation with a better coordination in the sound stage and more detail. To all the traditional Naim lovers all the slam dunk is there but presented in a more organic manner if that makes sense. Instruments stand out, vocals sound more real.
I do a full write up when I've optimised the build and spent more time listening
Early days to post on the sound quality, I haven't optimised the component quality yet but what I will say it is already sounding very good.
What it does is take out any harshness in the mid range. The results are a much more natural presentation with a better coordination in the sound stage and more detail. To all the traditional Naim lovers all the slam dunk is there but presented in a more organic manner if that makes sense. Instruments stand out, vocals sound more real.
I do a full write up when I've optimised the build and spent more time listening
OzBrit Audio
pfm Member
Why is posting pics on this site so difficult. So far tried URLs from iCloud and imgur.com Both failed?
OzBrit Audio
pfm Member
How did you manage that Richard. What link did you put in?It only works with the actual image link, go figure
laverda
pfm Member
Here's another SE200 build. Loaded my pic on imgur and got the URL, I'm not sure if this is going to display though?
Early days to post on the sound quality, I haven't optimised the component quality yet but what I will say it is already sounding very good.
What it does is take out any harshness in the mid range. The results are a much more natural presentation with a better coordination in the sound stage and more detail. To all the traditional Naim lovers all the slam dunk is there but presented in a more organic manner if that makes sense. Instruments stand out, vocals sound more real.
I do a full write up when I've optimised the build and spent more time listening
Pay special attention to R28, I used the Charcroft Z foil but I've also had good results with the Audio Note tantalum resistors (none of them are cheap) and R11. You are rewarded with a nice sonic lift (more musicality and better timing) by doing so.
Your original original link pointed to the image with Imgur interface, seems that it's better to open just the image in a new tab (via right click) and then select the link to this new page (with .jpg file) to point to.
You probably mean the feedback resistors. Input resistors could be are also candidate for upgrade.
BTW, the power resistors (TO220 ones) seem so weird, I mean their round legs, IIRC very expensive Z foils, right ?
laverda
pfm Member
Yes the feed back resistors but I've found the feed back to be more beneficial IMO than the inputs but any gain is win. Yes the Z foils are £20 each by the time P+P and vat are added. eeek.
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dazz lee
Active Member
Ive had hectic week or two (with added turmoil ) thank you Mark for your time and input (great to meet you) those 400's are going to be stunning .
So the se200's are still great i mean really great atm im sat here with the New 230 dual mono and its better in every way from se 200 its a big step up .
ive also gone back to my sowter passive pre amp, i would very much like to hear a later Gard with the shunt psu as Marks (later) Grad was way more dynamic than the one ive been trying with the shunt psu.
So for now i think my money will be spent on some se230 boards as this seems the the biggest bang for the buck .
This was just supposed to be my second general use system lol its a les's fault .
So the se200's are still great i mean really great atm im sat here with the New 230 dual mono and its better in every way from se 200 its a big step up .
ive also gone back to my sowter passive pre amp, i would very much like to hear a later Gard with the shunt psu as Marks (later) Grad was way more dynamic than the one ive been trying with the shunt psu.
So for now i think my money will be spent on some se230 boards as this seems the the biggest bang for the buck .
This was just supposed to be my second general use system lol its a les's fault .
The 230 must be special...say it as it is
pfm Member
All this SE talk getting me jealous lol.
OzBrit Audio
pfm Member
Can I ask what you had in place before you upgraded R28 to foils?
I've got a vishy/dale low noise for R28 at the moment. I will change R11 to the same but wondering how much difference the foils will make for the cost?