If Naim did not exist, what would you have?

Posted by: Andrew Randle on 16 May 2001

Here's a game. Let's suppose "Mummy Naim" and "Daddy Naim" never met and you had to choose a final hi-fi system, what would it be?

Andrew

P.S. I would go for a Resolution Audio CD55, DNM 3C Six, 2x DNM PA3S, Living Voice Auditorium OBX.

Andrew Randle
2B || !2B;
4 ^ = ?;

[This message was edited by Andrew Randle on WEDNESDAY 16 May 2001 at 12:51.]

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by Top Cat
I have:

LP12/Cirkus/Lingo/Aro/Asaka
...would have ended up...
LP12/Cirkus/Lingo/EkosII/Asaka

and my amps:

Crimson 610/640D monoblocks
(chosen over Naim, but a difficult decision to make)

and my speakers:

Neat Petite III/Gravitas/Stentor I sub

all on a pile of lovely Mana.

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by bob atherton
If Exposure did not exist then Bryston, if no Bryston then early Quad.

If Quad never existed then there would be no hi-fi!

Bob.

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by Alco
Hmm, let me think. ...ehhh,

i guess i would hunt down an Onix OA-20 or Cyrus 2 or 3 (my previous amps before I got hooked on Naim)
My CD-player would probably be a Rega Planet or something like a cd-63KI. who knows..

Greetings,

Alco

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by Andrew Randle
Ah yes Alco, but I'm asking what your final system would comprise of. Unless you would be happy enough with a Rega Planet.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
2B || !2B;
4 ^ = ?;

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by woodface
I think I would go with the above brand. I was really impressed with them at the London Hi-Fi show. Although the products are very different to naim they do have similar holistic approach and are something of a classic brand in the US.
Posted on: 16 May 2001 by P
Andrew in answer to your original question....

I would still have my - veery hard earned - retirement nest egg wallowing in a high interest account somewhere or other.

I am a Yorkshireman - Born To Be ..... Cautious?

As it is, I'm still pleased that I took the decision to blow the lot last year on a rather expensive (let's face facts here Naim stuff is expensive right?) system and still I have no regrets at all.

Why compromise?

Why wait?

I wish you all luck with your endeavours elswhere but for me it is Naim all the way!

Now...'bout those new speakers.....

P.

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by Alco
Ah, sorry,Andrew.

you're right,I made a little mistake.

ehhh, my FINAl non-naim based system,eh....
man,that's hard to imagine...ehhhh.....

I give up..

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by Todd A
I find it difficult to imagine life without Naim, but if I had to:

Were I rich, without a question I would buy Spectral electronics and run them into Avalon loudspeakers. The best stereo I have heard was comprised of this gear. (Keep in mind I have not yet heard a CDSII / 52 / NAP 500 front-end).

Were I a little less rich, though rich all the same, I'd also consider some McIntosh gear. Whew those big monoblocks sound good. I'd probably couple them to Wadia digital gear and Vienna Acoustics or ProAc loudspeakers.

A little further down the ladder, but only a rung, I'd go for SimAudio electronics coupled to either Rega (Jupiter) or Arcam (Alpha 9) digital gear, and Vienna Acoustics or ProAc loudspeakers.

Fortunately, I do not need to make that choice . . .

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by Sproggle
If Naim had not existed then Linn would have been tempted to make an amplifier many years before they actually did. Without Naim to show them how it's done, Linn would have become the leading British amplifier manufacturer, and would have found it easier to remain true to their "purist" ideals with a limited but excellent range of products, developed much further than one might expect...

Hence my final system would consist of:

Linn LP12 Mk 2 [Replacing the LP12 in 1996, this surprise development includes a custom made direct drive motor and sensors that feed forward both noise picked up from the deck and accelerations of the Ekos III arm].

Linn Boingo [Microprocessor controlled active suspension for the LP12 Mk 2].

Linn Linnk Mk 7 [Phono pre-amp].

Linn Dingo [Digital phono processor that makes use of the feedforward data from the LP12, as well as applying user-adjustable real-time glitch/hiss filtering and phase correction].

Linn Karik Mk 1 [Without the CDS to inspire them, Linn finally introduce their first CD player in 1998. Linn are particularly proud of the fact that they've managed to make it sound as good as their prototype (codenamed "CD12") at 1/4 of the price the CD12 would have cost had it been put into production].

Linn Konga / 3x Activ Kaboom [active pre-power combination].

7x Linn SuperKap [You can guess what these strangely named Linn innovations do].

Linn Isobarikan [Replacing both the Kan Mk. 6 and the Sara Mk. 13, the Isobarikan makes the Kan sound slow, and the Sara bass-light].

PS The electronics, of course, are all on Linn Ku-Stands big grin

--Jeremy

"Time is an illusion - lunch-time doubly so."

[This message was edited by Sproggle on WEDNESDAY 16 May 2001 at 23:17.]

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by Jonathan Gorse
I'd have a stack of Marshall amps because my Naim gives me the nearest thing to a live concert sound!

On a more serious note:

Meridian CD
Keep the Gyro
Michell Orca pre and Alecto monoblock power amps
Kef Reference 4 speakers (or Maidstones if I was DBL rich!)

Good game, good game...

Posted on: 16 May 2001 by Mike Sae
Frankly, I'd have a nicer car (Subaru WRX wagon maybe?) and alot more CDs.

Rega Jupiter, Cursa pre, Exon monos and Spendor S-100.

Not so much because it's the next best thing out there but because it'd be the next best thing at the dealer. Bonuses are that I'd be at the top of the upgrade path, would have spent less money and there's no power supplies to worry about.

Posted on: 17 May 2001 by Chris Metcalfe
Probably valves and LS3/5As, because that's what I was playing with in the mid-80s when I got my first Naim amp. I felt then that the Naim sound was the first I'd heard from a transistor amp that didn't sound thick and muddled. And compared to the valves at the time also had speed and consistency.

Maybe a Roksan TMS turntable and a Meridian 588 CD player as well.

Posted on: 17 May 2001 by NigelP
If Naim didn't exist I think that I'd end up with Chord's pre/power combo. The power amp sounds very good when connected to the 52. CD player would have been the Wadia. My B&W speakers would stay and I would have to pick another phono stage but don't know which one.
Posted on: 17 May 2001 by Steve B
"If Naim did not exist, what would you have?"

Answer:

Alternative therapy.

Either that or a breakdown!

Next.

Posted on: 17 May 2001 by Andrew Randle
There there Steve B, it was just a bad dream!

I love the idea of Jonathon sitting in front of a stack of Marshall amps (don't get the turntable too close, yah don't want any feedback!).

Sproggle also has a good point. Without Naim, Linn would probably be a very different beast.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
2B || !2B;
4 ^ = ?;

Posted on: 18 May 2001 by Eric Barry
I couldn't afford it in the near future, but the only equipment I saw at the High End show this weekend that made me want it was the 47 Labs PiTracer/Gaincard. Very immediate, vivid, and tonally resolving. And cool as all get-out.

The amp is Class AB with 9 parts per channel (excluding attenuators) and a signal path of 32 mm including parts. It has an external power supply, as do the cd transport and no oversampling or digital filter DAC.

Does anyone know the details of the amp circuit?

--Eric

Posted on: 18 May 2001 by John C
Paul, reliability, servicing, non-combustibility and actuality (the Stealth) aren't everything you know. Naim may be a risky option but you only live once.

John

Posted on: 19 May 2001 by bob atherton
"Meanwhile Mr Pigs Nap 250 has gone horribly wrong, and requires a doctor. I guess really it all depends on luck" P.D

1985, Radford Hi Fi, Bristol. We sold more Naim amps than any other make. We had fewer Naim amps returned than any other make.

I don't think luck had much to do with this fact.

Bob.

Posted on: 19 May 2001 by Top Cat
quote:
could the problem be Saras, when I had a Brief interlude with Saras the 250 would get very hot if you pushed it and I quite often got it switching off. I cant see that this does an amp any good , Mr Pig uses Saras , but never experienced a problem when he had Kans.

I have heard the Pig amp and can confirm that it's sick. I've also heard the volume at which Mr Pig plays the Saras and can confirm that a 250 should not keel over at those volumes even after protracted listening. FWIW, the problem we're talking about sounded to me like a slightly bad connection somewhere in the audio chain, which was only noticable during periods of either sustained, strong clear notes or mid-bass. I wonder if it's a simple matter of a connection needing to be resoldered?

The left channel of said 250 is fine, which makes me wonder if it could be something like a bad connection behind the RHS speaker outputs or even the preamp inputs - can anyone comment?

John, who is sitting on the fence on this matter.

Posted on: 19 May 2001 by Steve Toy
I only own a Naim CD player, the CD5, so the rest of my system would not suffer. I think i'd choose the Rega Jupiter. What I'd replace the Flatcap2 with I don't know! wink
Posted on: 19 May 2001 by Andy Moore
Ahhh.. I see.
Valves that are designed to distort at low gain settings and with a very narrow frequency range, through 12inch paper celestions with equally bad frequency extremes.
As a guitarist for over half of my life I will be the first to say that guitar amps and hi-fi are completely incompatible and incomparible.

A head and a stack of two 4x12s would make DBLs look wussy though! wink

Posted on: 20 May 2001 by Paul Stephenson
"FWIW, the problem we're talking about sounded to me like a slightly bad connection somewhere in the audio chain, which was only noticable during periods of either sustained, strong clear notes or mid-bass"

Thats why we have a service department! I believe this unit is quite a few years old and may be well overdue for a check up. I guess the amp is being used with a standard naim pre-amp and psu at the front? and all cables are standard.

Posted on: 20 May 2001 by Martin Payne
****Comment retracted, as I appear to have been mistaken****

Martin

[This message was edited by Martin Payne on SUNDAY 20 May 2001 at 12:56.]

Posted on: 20 May 2001 by Andrew L. Weekes
..a less musical Hi-Fi, I suppose,

or depression smile

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

Posted on: 22 May 2001 by Steve G
When I was last looking for amps and speakers second place (after the NAC92R/NAP90.3/Credo I bought) was one of the Copland valve hybrid amps with Sonus Faber Concertinos, so I'd probably have gone for those.