Hi,
Ok, let's be politically incorrect here : Can other than Naim and a LP 12 gear make music?
So sad to read something like this, almost hard to believe that its been typed out (and I mean this in the nicest possible way, I am sure you are a very decent person etc.). It's living proof of just how brainwashed and just how the narrow and restricted the uk market has been for the past 4 decades or more. From my standpoint, its akin to someone stepping into a forum and asking "is there more to life than blowing yuorself up or flying big planes into tall skyscrapers ?".
Do you honestly think that the likes of Burmester, Densen, Croft, Ayre, Avalon, ARC, Conrad Johnson, Classe, D'Agnostino, magico, Wilson, Avalon, Esoteric, Kondo, Shindo, Lamm, Soulution, MBL, McIntosh, ModWright, Dynavector, Pass labs, Shroeder, Vitus, Plinius, Einstein, Technical Brain, Sonis Faber, Vanderstein, Reimyo, Dartzeel, Revel, mark levinson, Davin Benning, Jeff Rowland, Brinkman, Amazon, Kharma, Magnepan, Meridian, Rockport, Spectral, Karan, VTL, Wadia etc. can't make music or can't do rhythm, timing, drive and lack the ability to involve ?
In the last 3 years I've lost count of all the hundreds of bits of kit I've listened to whether that be in my own walls or at customers houses. I honestly can't remember the last time i heard anything that didn't have 'prat'. Sure, there was the odd treacley lemon or a poorly designed system here and there but in most instances I could hear music and it was musical and enjoyable and involving and made your foot tap. In fact if anything, I would say that it's some of naims modern pieces which made themselves conspicious for lacking pratt, with some of the classic range for example being a curious blend of a new world sound with a bit more soundstage, tone and dimensionality whilst still partially retaining the old Vereker era ethics. I have to say the result can be fairly bland in some instances and very much 'neither fish nor foul'. I heard a 4 box wadia stack the week before I went on holidays through Audio research pre and power and a set of Wilsons. It had dynamics, drive, speed and sheer kick in the teeth energy that would embarrass an active DBL setup, and that's before you start talking about transparency, tonal colour, soundstaging and holography (the ARC's strengths and stuff that the naim system wouldn't know about).
As for the modern day LP12, it's a good turntable of a certain flavour. Another set of compromises and a resultant solution. There are worse turntables than it, better ones and different ones. It most definitely does not have any monopoly on prat or involvement. If you listen to a good Garrard, a Kodo Beat or a 3 motor raven AC for example it will positively out-prat an lP12SE rendering it almost lifeless by comparison. Go back 30 years and the Xerxes did the same with far more energy and speed. This, from someone who sells in excess of 50 secondhand LP12's a year. Go figure.
Like any manufacturer, they make good and bad, gems and rocks and when all is said and done, they are just another 'sound' that may or may not be to your tastes. They don't have any monopoly on Prat or involvement or musicality. Go onto Wigwam and you will find out that the people who like linn and naim you can count on one hand. Many folk there hate its sound with a passion and worship at the altar of barnds like Kondo instead.
Now comes the footnote. When some people talk about prat, they are actually not sure what they are referring to but are in reality talking about the sound of vintage naim olive and chrome bumper amps. This is not a reference to the theory of hifi or an acceptable term that can be applied to other equipment, it bears zero relevance to the wolrd of musical replay. It's just a direct reference to the old naim voicing, one manufacturer out of many hundreds, many many moons ago. This was a very specific sound, a very old one now which naim have partially moved away from themselves. It is a sound that is tuned to favour a sharp, fast leading edge at the expense of a notes decay and duration, timbral information and out and out resolution. The midband is emphasised and the bass pulled back to pronounce the details, speed and tune of the sound with an overall lean presentation. When you know how Julian Vereker listened to his music and what he listened to the jigsaw fits together and you can better understand how this was the sound he believed in and developed. The day he passed away the bean counters came in and they made a big move away from that core philosophy. If that's what you mean by 'Prat' and that's what you look for in hifi then IMO stick with it. I am not against that sound, hell I sell it everyday, and I completely agree with Gaius in that a lot of those classic 80's/90's systems are still tremendously enjoyable. But do not be misled into thinking that its the only way to listen to music, the pinnacle of home replay or the only way you can have large amounts of involvement, musicality and emotion. As hugely enjoyable as the old 205 GTi was, cars didn't stop there and if you happened clear your misty eyes, wave away the nostalgia and get a test drive in say a current day Ferrari F458 I think you'd be in for a bit of a shock as to what else is also possible these days.
So to answer the original question, yes, loads of gear can and does make music. In fact, to enhance musical enjoyment, involvement, suspension of disbelief you have to actually acquire the very facets of sound reproduction that the flat earthers so strongly negated. Yes, you need the drive and rhythm thing, no question about that and its a given, but there are whole other levels to reach... not least removing distortion, hardness, glare, bleached tones, truncated notes, grain etc. that exists in almost every solid state system you care to mention.
Honestly, spoken from the heart. It's in my interests to BIG UP lp12's and naim but I engage with this place neutrally and honestly. Naim make good and bad. Some folk like it and plenty of folk don't. It's the same with pretty much all brands.
Listen to all you can, choose what you like and be happy.
