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Life after Naim

My entire Naim system & Linn's will be going out the door at somepoint, and I will regret nothing. The reasons are not aesthetics or taste, it is purely circumstantial - a house move and a financial need primarily.... but... and this is what flaws some people. The Naim system is my third choice for listening to music on. Ahead of it is my dual music studio monitors setup - Yammys and Rokit 5's then it's my turntables via a LEAK 30w & rega's.... are they better?? they are certainly different in both timbrality and convenience. With audio perception being so subjective i have little to no interest in making value judgements or showing brand loyalty, i primarily have my ears for melodic enjoyment. ( I draw the line at phone speakers tho ) As a musician i do not really understand the world of high end hifi - but i can easy drop a few grand on a unique synth..
 
8bitmax said:
My entire Naim system & Linn's will be going out the door at somepoint, and I will regret nothing. The reasons are not aesthetics or taste, it is purely circumstantial - a house move and a financial need primarily.... but... and this is what flaws some people. The Naim system is my third choice for listening to music on. Ahead of it is my dual music studio monitors setup - Yammys and Rokit 5's then it's my turntables via a LEAK 30w & rega's.... are they better?? they are certainly different in both timbrality and convenience. With audio perception being so subjective i have little to no interest in making value judgements or showing brand loyalty, i primarily have my ears for melodic enjoyment. ( I draw the line at phone speakers tho ) As a musician i do not really understand the world of high end hifi - but i can easy drop a few grand on a unique synth..
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What a refreshing post, thanks. It's a huge bunch of bullshit this hifi malarkey. Chasing the impossible :)
 
mega lord said:
What a refreshing post, thanks. It's a huge bunch of bullshit this hifi malarkey. Chasing the impossible :)
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Thanks, but my aim is really not to trash a love of hifi tho, merely question it or be analytical. I get it if its a passion, a desire. It burns brighter in some people and hey if it stops you being a serial killer, thumbs up - it just ain't my thing like its your thing. My opinion is not religion, but in true evangelistic style i can be bought, or perhaps my naim could be your naim..
 
Few years back I went to pick up some lovely proac speakers , it was being played by an ancient chrome bumper naim system ....my my it was good .would beat much of the more recent stuff !!
 
I’ve had a 62/110 for twenty years or so and they’re still doing fine so I don’t think I need any new stuff.
 
hifinutt said:
Few years back I went to pick up some lovely Proac speakers , it was being played by an ancient chrome bumper Naim system ....my my it was good .would beat much of the more recent stuff !!
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The bottom line is that Hi-Fi shops need people to keep buying new stuff. Expensive audio is a fairly niche market so one-off sales just don't bring in enough cash to make the business thrive. The perpetual upgrade game does.

They also want you to believe that new stuff is better than old stuff because it's the new stuff they want need to buy. But is it? Is an amplifier built today really much better than one built ten or twenty years ago?

Another thing that they rarely mention is that there is a huge amount you can do to improve the way a system sounds in your home without spending very much, if anything. How a system is set up and other room details can make the difference between great and terrible but most of the time your dealer doesn't even know how well your system is set up. If you walk in the door asking for better they won't say 'Maybe we could talk about the set up'. They'll show you the next box up the line.

It's not about vilifying dealers, or Naim. These people are in business, they want and need to make money, but you need to understand that and do what's best for you.
 
8bitmax said:
Thanks, but my aim is really not to trash a love of hifi tho, merely question it or be analytical. I get it if its a passion, a desire. It burns brighter in some people and hey if it stops you being a serial killer, thumbs up - it just ain't my thing like its your thing. My opinion is not religion, but in true evangelistic style i can be bought, or perhaps my naim could be your naim..
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It's not my thing either. I prefer playing my drums to worrying if my cable lifters are in the right place or my capacitors are wearing out. I loved your post cos this business is full of OCD control freaks who do think their opinion is religion.
 
Mr Pig said:
The bottom line is that Hi-Fi shops need people to keep buying new stuff. Expensive audio is a fairly niche market so one-off sales just don't bring in enough cash to make the business thrive. The perpetual upgrade game does.

They also want you to believe that new stuff is better than old stuff because it's the new stuff they want need to buy. But is it? Is an amplifier built today really much better than one built ten or twenty years ago?

Another thing that they rarely mention is that there is a huge amount you can do to improve the way a system sounds in your home without spending very much, if anything. How a system is set up and other room details can make the difference between great and terrible but most of the time your dealer doesn't even know how well your system is set up. If you walk in the door asking for better they won't say 'Maybe we could talk about the set up'. They'll show you the next box up the line.

It's not about vilifying dealers, or Naim. These people are in business, they want and need to make money, but you need to understand that and do what's best for you.
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Talk about stating the bleeding obvious, shows how dumb you think most of the posters here are that you feel the need to post such patronising drivel!
 
tiggers said:
Talk about stating the bleeding obvious, shows how dumb you think most of the posters here are that you feel the need to post such patronising drivel!
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A bit unfair tbh! It's true to say though, that the audio industry wouldn't get rich on people like me, who tend to keep equipment for a long time. It's just as well that some people like to upgrade the equipment, because it helps to keep the wheels of industry going! The fact remains, that some people have more disposable income available than others; stating the bleeding obvious again!
 
wylton said:
A bit unfair tbh! It's true to say though, that the audio industry wouldn't get rich on people like me, who tend to keep equipment for a long time. It's just as well that some people like to upgrade the equipment, because it helps to keep the wheels of industry going! The fact remains, that some people have more disposable income available than others; stating the bleeding obvious again!
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Audio dealers are kept in business by custom installs & corporate; I doubt many would exist on retail alone. All business have to make a profit, naim are no different. I do think many posting on here have very little grasp of commercial reality.
 
I used to own Naim. I liked it. I could have easily moved through the upgrade phases to see how I could better the performance but it would have taken time having neither the finance nor the commitment really. My older Naim system was much more expensive than the system I use now but I don’t feel I’ve lost anything. I did wonder when I sold it on but I needn’t have feared. Financial pressures were behind the sell but it simply opened up the rest of the hifi world to me.
Now I’ve gone retro because good sound remains in the past. I’ve had chance to purchase and listen to those now classic pieces that excited me when I flicked through the mags as a youthful follower. I find others on this forum that share this pleasure which is exciting and reassuring. There are rarely night and day differences between the equipment that I can afford and listen to. They’re often so small that they’re very hard to discern really. Even when I listen to my FLS megabucks set up I think I get the same satisfaction from my own modest cobbled together stack. My god, my whole system costs less than a one pair of his interconnects!When he listens to mine I often find him looking closely at it, surveying the speakers etc., looking a little ‘bewildered’.I know what he’s thinking.And so am I. It’s bliss when you find your sweet spot.
 
I enjoyed my time with Naim and retain a fondness for the brand though mixed with a sadness/disappointment with their current pricing policy. I started off with a 62/140 and traded up to 52-SC/2x250s/Snaxo-SC/SBLs all mostly bought 2nd hand on this very parish. Naim 2nd hand values made this reasonably easy to achieve.

I then dipped my toe in Teddy Pardo waters trying one of his excellent Hicap alternatives and was very impressed. So much so that I ended up with 4 x MB100s, supercaps etc. It was a lot of black boxes though and at that stage I think it’s faith to say that I’d got more system orientated than with music.

At a demo evening at my local dealer I listened to a comparison of Naim’s 500 series and Rega’s Isis/Osiris. Much to my surprise I preferred the Rega! So cutting a long story short I ended up with a used Isis/Osiris (an IOS reference helped sweeten the deal) replacing 10 boxes with 2 and a much healthier bank balance to boot. This was quite some time ago and I’m very, very happy with this setup and just listen to music now and don’t have any interest in box swapping. Can’t say I’ll not change anything in the future, it’s a very seductive hobby, but for now I’m content.

Best
David
 
DCA said:
I enjoyed my time with Naim and retain a fondness for the brand though mixed with a sadness/disappointment with their current pricing policy. I started off with a 62/140 and traded up to 52-SC/2x250s/Snaxo-SC/SBLs all mostly bought 2nd hand on this very parish. Naim 2nd hand values made this reasonably easy to achieve.

I then dipped my toe in Teddy Pardo waters trying one of his excellent Hicap alternatives and was very impressed. So much so that I ended up with 4 x MB100s, supercaps etc. It was a lot of black boxes though and at that stage I think it’s faith to say that I’d got more system orientated than with music.

At a demo evening at my local dealer I listened to a comparison of Naim’s 500 series and Rega’s Isis/Osiris. Much to my surprise I preferred the Rega! So cutting a long story short I ended up with a used Isis/Osiris (an IOS reference helped sweeten the deal) replacing 10 boxes with 2 and a much healthier bank balance to boot. This was quite some time ago and I’m very, very happy with this setup and just listen to music now and don’t have any interest in box swapping. Can’t say I’ll not change anything in the future, it’s a very seductive hobby, but for now I’m content.

Best
David
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Similar story for me but ended up with Yamaha via NAD. Most impressive solution for a fraction of the money. And now it’s the same for me, not much motivation for box swapping really.
 
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