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What's Opposite to the Naim sound?

Fin,

You need some free hifi in your life (well almost free!).

Buy some of the mentioned quality brands, second hand and in good condition and you can sell them on at little loss if you don't like.

A bargain for starters, Quad 34 + 306. 44 or 405-2. There are some nice grey units out there and are a joy to use.

Have to say though, I have a Naim system. I once heard a superior Naim set up into B&W. No no no no what is going on thought me, that can't be right!

Horses for courses and all our ears are different. I bet we could fix the Naim setup but to do the alternative can be relatively cheap so why not give it a go and compare side by side.
 
trancera said:
Fin,

You need some free hifi in your life (well almost free!).

Buy some of the mentioned quality brands, second hand and in good condition and you can sell them on at little loss if you don't like.

A bargain for starters, Quad 34 + 306. 44 or 405-2. There are some nice grey units out there and are a joy to use.

Have to say though, I have a Naim system. I once heard a superior Naim set up into B&W. No no no no what is going on thought me, that can't be right!

Horses for courses and all our ears are different. I bet we could fix the Naim setup but to do the alternative can be relatively cheap so why not give it a go and compare side by side.
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Thanks Trancera, and thanks to all for your replies. I will start searching for some used units as mentioned - although the market is small where I am but I am sure something will crop up.

Thanks again
 
Fin,
The classifieds here can be very good, being fairly easy to check the length of membership and interests of the people selling. There is also the good guys thread.

The usual auction site can be useful if you take care via feedback history and payment options.
 
Blzebub said:
B&W speakers are pretty awful. Try ATCs.
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+1.

Also they happen to be a really bad match with Naim amps. Just never worked, that metal dome tweeter and/and/and/and they need big gushy American style amps and even then....great at making sounds but musically never my thing.

But when I hear of someone who has Naim with B&W I just cringe.
 
manicatel said:
As an addition, I'd say the MOST important thing is that if you don't like the basic sound of a Naim amp, then GET OUT NOW!
Don't get sucked into the Naim upgrade path of " add a power supply/ Naim cable/ Fraim etc" & that'll cure it, cos it won't. It'll possibly give you more of the Naim sound but it won't fundamentally alter it.
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If you go fully active (ie no passive crossover filters with impedance oddities) the drivers become a very easy load and amplifier "sound" should largely vanish
 
Agree with this, in the past whenever I have heard naim gear partnered with b&w it has sounded thin and forward sounding.
 
Interesting that the focus is on the rather forward nature of the sound, without reference to the pace, dynamics, tightness, foot tapping or detail which are also characteristic. So the "opposite" would be slow, dull, unengaging, bloated etc etc. Anyone's system really like that?
I suspect a lot of people would be quite happy with Naim if the sound could be tweaked a little rather than a black and white like/dislike.
 
Disbeliever said:
The inaccurate sound is from Naim not B& W . The NAIM upgrade path IMO is a total clever marketing rip-off.
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I've never heard B&Ws sounding right, but maybe there's an amplifier out there somewhere that will do it. This problem of matching amp to speaker is circumvented by active systems.
 
Bub,

way back in the past, did you have Naim power amps before switching to ATC?
 
Blzebub said:
B&W speakers are pretty awful.
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That's one of the silliest generalisations I've seen on this forum.... but a matter for a different thread.

'Opposite to the Naim sound' in my living room - a) me, 10 feet away; b) my better half watching the TV instead; c) turning it off to talk to plumbers.
 
Blzebub said:
I've never heard B&Ws sounding right, but maybe there's an amplifier out there somewhere that will do it. This problem of matching amp to speaker is circumvented by active systems.
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I think the correct statement is that active speakers don't give you a choice of what power amp to use, the manufacturer has chosen for you.

Not saying ATC power amps are in anyway bad just that you have to use them.

Out of interest who designs their amps, is it an in house one?
 
FWIW I've a couple of friends with B&W floorstanders (CDM-7NT/CM9), I very much like the sounds - they're both using A/V receivers (Denon/Yamaha).
 
I heard that B&W range twice, some time ago. First was the CM7 with a Nait 5i and I wasn't keen at all. The second was CM9 with a Creek Destiny 2 and I was surprised at how lush and majestic this could sound. I don't think the Nait XS is bright from what I've heard, but it might not be an ideal match with those speakers. However the OP does not give any evidence that he has isolated the brightness problem to his amp, rather than his speakers or room.
 
wino2020 said:
Interesting that the focus is on the rather forward nature of the sound, without reference to the pace, dynamics, tightness, foot tapping or detail which are also characteristic. So the "opposite" would be slow, dull, unengaging, bloated etc etc. Anyone's system really like that?
I suspect a lot of people would be quite happy with Naim if the sound could be tweaked a little rather than a black and white like/dislike.
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You can, you can buy Exposure! In the mid 90s I was shopping for a decent integrated amp, heard the Nait 3, the Exposure, Linn Intek (ugh), Audiolab 4000/8000, you get the picture. The Naim was a bit shouty to my ears but the Exposure had all the pace but only half the edginess. I was very impressed and it struck me as a good compromise. I would have bought it but for a Quad 33/303 coming my way for loose change, it sounded great and that sent me on a different path.

You can also modify the Naim sound by using Avondale (and probably Teddy Pardo) components. If you talk to Les he can tailor the thing to your tastes absolutely. If you do this however it's no longer a Naim, it's an Avondale, and this may be important to you.
 
Blzebub said:
I've never heard B&Ws sounding right, but maybe there's an amplifier out there somewhere that will do it. This problem of matching amp to speaker is circumvented by active systems.
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Not always but in the case of your ATCs, yes. I can think of one active speaker where there has been no such circumvention.

B&Ws can sing on the end of a well set-up Naim system or with amps that have plenty of power and control. I agree that they can be otherwise quite unruly.
 
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