Gervais Cote
Predator
Too bad they are 240V, won’t fit my "Canadian" 115 volt outlet !
Maybe I should ask a Canadian DYER’s to build me one ?
Life after Naim
- Thread starter cayorob
- Start date
Maybe I should ask a Canadian DYER’s to build me one ?
Too bad they are 240V, won’t fit my "Canadian" 115 volt outlet !
Maybe I should ask a Canadian DYER’s to build me one ?
They are not difficult to build. Particularly as you can buy the different components ready made ie power supplies etc. Didn’t realise you were across the pond.
zipperheadbanjo
pfm Member
I’ve been up and down the range. Started with a SuperUnit which paired with Totem Aro’s was great… moved to separates… 282 / 250… then up to 252 / 300 DR… 552 / 300 DR. Divorce forced a down grade and I’m now at 282 / 250 DR which is likely as high up the range I would go (although I may consider a 300 DR again if funds permitted and I found one used at a good price). I’ve bought all my gear used and have generally been able to sell it for close to what I paid for it.
My latest changes are moving on some of my Naim Power Supplies for Teddy Pardo equivalents. Much better value for money, and I like the sound signature. My sources are NDX2 and RP10 / Superline / TP Supercap. I had a XPSDR on the NDX2 but sold it and bought a used Hugo TT and pocketed about 3K. I think the TT is pretty special. Best digital I’ve ever had from my rig by a long shot.
My latest changes are moving on some of my Naim Power Supplies for Teddy Pardo equivalents. Much better value for money, and I like the sound signature. My sources are NDX2 and RP10 / Superline / TP Supercap. I had a XPSDR on the NDX2 but sold it and bought a used Hugo TT and pocketed about 3K. I think the TT is pretty special. Best digital I’ve ever had from my rig by a long shot.
say it as it is
pfm Member
I have went full circle with this started building to all naim then quickly got seduced to Avondale power supplies then power amps and effectively away from naim with different cards in 32.5 and 72 (NJ, Avondale, RSL).
Only naim speakers i tried were mk1 Intros and just did not work for me.
Enjoyed a Naim CD3 up until it broke.
System currently is a Frankenstein lash up but so much fun that I am in no hurry to dig out the SBLs and the whole pre power and various supplies.
Rotel RCD 955 ( lots of modifications from last owner S-Man of this parish )
Naim nait XS
Ruark Templar
Very basic but it is extremely enjoyable not the deepest bass or minute detail or huge expansive sound stage, but have that toe tapping effect and draws you into the music.
The nait XS is decent yes but with the little Ruarks it comes alive, likewise the Rotel sometimes considered shy of bass or outright clout is giving a very full and enjoyable sound.
Very much an accidental find and only bought as the speakers need some TLC and the amp was a px for some other bits I had laying around. Was meant to be a very short term solution but it's staying for now and the little Ruarks will get some TLC.
Only naim speakers i tried were mk1 Intros and just did not work for me.
Enjoyed a Naim CD3 up until it broke.
System currently is a Frankenstein lash up but so much fun that I am in no hurry to dig out the SBLs and the whole pre power and various supplies.
Rotel RCD 955 ( lots of modifications from last owner S-Man of this parish )
Naim nait XS
Ruark Templar
Very basic but it is extremely enjoyable not the deepest bass or minute detail or huge expansive sound stage, but have that toe tapping effect and draws you into the music.
The nait XS is decent yes but with the little Ruarks it comes alive, likewise the Rotel sometimes considered shy of bass or outright clout is giving a very full and enjoyable sound.
Very much an accidental find and only bought as the speakers need some TLC and the amp was a px for some other bits I had laying around. Was meant to be a very short term solution but it's staying for now and the little Ruarks will get some TLC.
wulbert
pfm Member
I'm interested in what you said there. I have a few CD's and I like the idea of being able to copy them and bin the plastic discs to free up space. What does the Zen do? E.g. what else needs to be connected to it, in order to play a CD, listen to Tidal, play a file I have bought? Does it need a DAC connected to it? And an amp? How do you control it? Another screen device?
I've read a couple of reviews but they assume so much pre-knowledge that it's hopeless for me. I always want to know...how does it work in action? Not details about operating systems etc.
I am really sick of lots of cables, boxes, dust collecting items. One of the reasons I ditched my Naim gear was all the proprietary cabling, it just seemed perverse and annoying.
In order for it to work it needs a wired connection to your router, my dealer installed a cable under my floor boards & it only took him around 30 minutes. There are ways around this as I understand.
Once it is connected to the internet you can plug it into your amp either from its analogue outs (it has a built in Dac) or via an external one. In terms of how it is controlled, very simple, you type ‘my Innuos’ into your browser & it detect your unit. CDs can be burned direct to it hard drive or you can connect with your streaming service of choice.
If you have a smart phone you can download the ‘Sense’ app which replicates the ‘my Innuos’ pathway as outlined above.
It’s really very simple, it can also be upgraded with a separate Linear Power Supply.
I now have my entire CD collection on hand, easy to browse & I find myself listening to more of my collection.
wulbert
pfm Member
Nice one Woodface, thank you for that reply. It sounds a lot easier than I imagined. I'm assuming that it will also stream music to the amp via it's ethernet connection. For some reason I have a bit of a mental block understanding what all the bits in a digital set up actually do.
It connects to your amp via normal RCA’s if from its own DAC. My pre-amp has a built in DAC so connects via a USB.
quickie
pfm Member
Too bad they are 240V, won’t fit my "Canadian" 115 volt outlet !
Maybe I should ask a Canadian DYER’s to build me one ?
Looks like it might be dual primary windings on the Toroids, so could change from series to parallel for 115V
Jonboi
Because Music Matters
I purchased a new Naim CDI as my first CD player when the new medium of CD was introduced, and when Naim finally started to make CD players.
Auditioning competing players at a simple A/B level was very difficult, as most players that were 'lauded' by magazines at the time as a shortlist to audition, were only available at different retail establishments.
I bought the CDI as it almost sounded like 'analog' given the tendency for many CD players at the time to sound bright and harsh. Within a year a 72/Hi-Cap/!80/SBL setup followed; the electronics to complement the CD player, and the speakers to complement/match the overall system.
It was always an 'exciting' and 'impressive' aural presentation of music - if at times a little hyped and unnatural sounding on some material.
Over the ten-odd years that I had it, I was very happy with the system as a whole; however high maintenance, leaving on/warming up rituals, the incredible rudeness and arrogance of some of the Naim cult followers proved both tiring and very off-putting, and as my interest in adding AV capabilities to my system grew, so I started looking in other directions for solutions.
AV add on came by virtue of some Sony 9000 ES components, which surprised and shocked me by actually outperforming the Naim kit on serious two-channel music listening when the assessment/measure was "which is the closest approach to the original sound' or "which could fool me into believing this is a live performance", - speaking as a classical musician.
So after ten years of satisfactory use and where I genuinely enjoyed the system most of the time, the Sony 9000 ES kit proved to be the usurper of the Naim system, which was sold off within a year.
In time, as the Sony 9000 ES kit lacked modern digital connectivity such as HDMI etc, a fully active B&O system was purchased and resides to this day, providing enormous musical and movie satisfaction to an equal level in both audio disciplines.
Two-channel audiophile companies have long touted the idea that you cannot have one system to do equal justice to both music and movies; however, in my experience, this is simply a rearguard action by such companies to understandably try and not lose sales.
As such, and looking at the overall picture and what Naim has to offer today, whilst I enjoyed my time in the main with Naim (pun intended), it is not a product/sound/marketing philosophy that I would wish to return to anytime soon.
Kind regards
John...
Auditioning competing players at a simple A/B level was very difficult, as most players that were 'lauded' by magazines at the time as a shortlist to audition, were only available at different retail establishments.
I bought the CDI as it almost sounded like 'analog' given the tendency for many CD players at the time to sound bright and harsh. Within a year a 72/Hi-Cap/!80/SBL setup followed; the electronics to complement the CD player, and the speakers to complement/match the overall system.
It was always an 'exciting' and 'impressive' aural presentation of music - if at times a little hyped and unnatural sounding on some material.
Over the ten-odd years that I had it, I was very happy with the system as a whole; however high maintenance, leaving on/warming up rituals, the incredible rudeness and arrogance of some of the Naim cult followers proved both tiring and very off-putting, and as my interest in adding AV capabilities to my system grew, so I started looking in other directions for solutions.
AV add on came by virtue of some Sony 9000 ES components, which surprised and shocked me by actually outperforming the Naim kit on serious two-channel music listening when the assessment/measure was "which is the closest approach to the original sound' or "which could fool me into believing this is a live performance", - speaking as a classical musician.
So after ten years of satisfactory use and where I genuinely enjoyed the system most of the time, the Sony 9000 ES kit proved to be the usurper of the Naim system, which was sold off within a year.
In time, as the Sony 9000 ES kit lacked modern digital connectivity such as HDMI etc, a fully active B&O system was purchased and resides to this day, providing enormous musical and movie satisfaction to an equal level in both audio disciplines.
Two-channel audiophile companies have long touted the idea that you cannot have one system to do equal justice to both music and movies; however, in my experience, this is simply a rearguard action by such companies to understandably try and not lose sales.
As such, and looking at the overall picture and what Naim has to offer today, whilst I enjoyed my time in the main with Naim (pun intended), it is not a product/sound/marketing philosophy that I would wish to return to anytime soon.
Kind regards
John...
Mike Hughes
pfm Member
I’m in the process of gently moving on from Naim but I’ve no desire in doing so to be overly critical of them or their products. I still find their amplification to be terrific. I loved my CDX2 for 20 years but eventually I found that I needed something different. I don’t find any of their newer sources especially compelling but there you go. The world is full of other choices.