New Naim gear at the Bristol show

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A Naim Audio equipment support! It had three legs with wooden 'triangular' shelves (with cutouts), on which sat glass shelves on some sort of steel ball / washer arrangement.

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Is that the patented Vuksanovic "Ball Nutter" then?

Tony.

Paul

[This message was edited by Paul B on SATURDAY 24 February 2001 at 06:55.]

is your post some kind of freudian slip? Third legs and such - sheesh. Take two soundstages and call the doctor in the morning.

Rico - all your base are belong to us.

Worth it?

Those new speakers are something else!!!

Credo style botttom half with an external sprung and spiked botttom stand suppporting a very NBL looking type curved dome type top box via 3 PIPS.
Still a scanspeak SBL driver but, I think if I remember what I was told correctly, a new tweeter.
Crosssover is still Credo sourced appparently.

They sounded absolutely superb - Really much bigger than they are and a BIG BIG improvement over both the Credo and, yes the SBL too.

I was told that the new ones will actually replace the SBLs and not the Credos (so take your foot out of your mouth yet again Mr Pig )

As for the new Naim stands - Cool

A bit more than mere ballbearings and cupped receptacles though at £500 for the base unit and £300 per shelf.
They appeared to be infinitly stackable too so that should keep the Mana fetishists happy.

I witnessed the DBL triple 500 at midday and I can safely say it was the finest thing I have ever heard. I was not dissapointed. (I would have liked to have stayed for the Forums event but I am really not a well bunny at all - you would not like what I've got at all!!)

I was disappointed with the 5 series. It looked rather fetching on the new stand in black but the over lively room killed the sound. To me it sounded a bit too shrill. Shame bout that.

Biggest bummer - Rega - first time at the show and not even a P9 to have a look at! I did get a cute little Rega booklet to come away with though.

Worst sound - Chord / Wilson Benesch - what a waste of money!

Biggest turn off - Linn - I had a listen in on their CD12 demo. Total crap. I also noticed an LP12 with the wobbliest looking felt platter mat I have ever seen. I will not be buying an LP12 when I do eventually decide to invest in a new deck in the near future.

Gotta go now

P.

sorry to miss you guys at the show, family crisis.

If any final modifications need to be done on the Vivo then a quick check for any resonances in the lower midrange may be useful. Other than that they are great - they even sound like a large version of the Kans (yes really !!!!!!!).

The tables look very well made and seem to allow the Naim electronics to strut their stuff. However, the tables are really big - too big for me.

Now for the DBLs, 'king amazing. Finally I managed to hear a demo that showed the capabilities of the DBLs (for me, I still personally prefer the NBLs). Naim, you're right, they do sound like huuuuuge Kans with even better timing.

Forum buddies, I hope you enjoyed my track (Fila Brazillia) as much as I enjoyed hearing your chosen tunes. That Stevie Wonder track was really really fantastic.

Other stuff
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The other "best sound" of the show was from the Living Voice/DNM room. A Resolution Audio CD55 was providing the source - an absolutely amazing player, IMHO it is the closest cd player to an LP-12 (really gets to the heart of the music and kicks it into touch). I will probably buy the CD55 after the getting the NAP 250.

Royd have some new 'speakers and have changed their styling. Good speed and expression, a bit of a small-scale sound from the RR1 'speakers.

Rega sounded weedy.

Linn was dismal. OK, Linn can be congratulated for the "front-end first" philosophy, but that's no excuse for building crap amplifiers (anti-klimax with AV-junk pre-amp) and loudspeakers.

Ruark have launched a supremely confident line of loudspeakers (CL range?)

Audio Note were pretty good for a valve manufacturer. They are also about to release some gorgeous looking bookshelf loudspeakers (looking like Royd Sintras) for a remarkable price of £199. Could be a great 'speaker for Naimies starting out on the cheap.

Finally, everyone I met from the forum, it was a pleasure. Maybe we'll arrange a full-on social event for Hammersmith.

Andrew

P.S. There's a manufacturer at the show called 'T+A', what does 'T+A' stand for?

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

[This message was edited by Andrew Randle on SATURDAY 24 February 2001 at 22:12.]

[This message was edited by Andrew Randle on SATURDAY 24 February 2001 at 22:13.]

Arye

Ade

With all the respect for Naim -
If the price is 1,500 pounds for 5 tires - I think I prefer Mana (also I can't buy it now...).

Maybe tha Naim shelves supports are made of dimonds (or equivalent) ?

Arye

£500 for the base (which looks stackable and can also house a component)
£300 for each level (which comes in 2 heights - "standard" and "luck sod with a NAP 500").

Andrew

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

[This message was edited by Andrew Randle on SATURDAY 24 February 2001 at 23:47.]

Ade

[This message was edited by Ade Archer on SATURDAY 24 February 2001 at 23:37.]

[This message was edited by Ade Archer on SATURDAY 24 February 2001 at 23:41.]

Arye

Tim, John, and I headed off down to Bristol, enjoying a relatively uncongested M4. Parking in Bristol was no mean feat, but we got to the hotel in the end. Quickly headed to rendevous with "red bearded lady" to secure tickets for the 4pm forum session which Naim had this year called "The Big One" [CDSII/52/SNAXO+SC/3*500/DBL].

To keep the long story short, we toured many of the rooms (Naim first, of course!). Very impressed with the sound of the CDSII/52/135's/"New Speaker" room. Oohed and ahhed about the cabinetry, and were indulged a listen to some Grandaddy, which was well played overall... seemed to hit the room resonance at one point. John and Tim can expand on that. The 5-series system was sounding rather good too, and in fact not really shown up in the order of magnitude you'd expect by the bigger system accross the hall! I can certainly see what it is that the fans of CD-5 like about it. Mr Tucker seemed concerned that people were more focussed on the stand than the music, but I must correct on this point here - the Oscar Peterson was sounding damned fine! No surprises with the stand fixation though, given the nature of 50-odd percent of the threads around here lately...

Of the stand? Ok, you can't please everybody. The un-confirmed price strikes me as a little expensive; you need plenty of real-estate to site them, coz they're the 'wide-body' models. Still, if it kicks the ass of all the other racks in comparitive or tune dems, they'll definitely find a market, and wouldn't it be nice to go to your dealer and buy it all from the same van, so to speak. Quiet cheerful dems as usual from the folks from Naim.

We visited a number of other rooms, will list them in no partular order...

Linn
I reckon the company is run by interior designers these days... nothing wrong with good looking product, but the sound? Next. Ok, there's always the old "oh it's so hard to get good sound at shows"... we won't go there, ok? 10 points for actually having an LP12 there, working, no less! The chap obligingly played some vinyl for me, and with a bit of a nudge on the loud pedal, the system started to swing a bit more. Woke the boys up a bit, anyway. The Loewe telly's were nice.

Rega
Neat looking room, errr sorry no P9???? Better luck next time with the sound -like listening with two paper cups on your ears. WOuld be nice to the Rega as a regular attendee. The kit's looking good - I know it can sound better than what they had there!

Music Works (Audio Counsel)
Big developments in Music Works (Audio Counsel)'s implementation of the classic Quadraspire stand. If you have Quadra, or are considering buying it, you should investigate this. Confidently demoed by real enthusiasts. MW leads and blocks also made appearances. Comparative dems between Sound-org classic LP12 stand/Quadra stand/MW Modded Quadra Stand under the CDSII head unit - big changes, not subtle. CatMan, do you have yours yet? Syetem used was CDSII/82/180/JM Labs Mini Utopias. That's right - look folks, no *Cap!

Exposure
Sounded bloody good at the price, though not sure about the Vandersteen 2CE's in the context of that system. I thought the bass line on the Leftfield track has wandered off into the corridor. Great finish on the kit though, especially at the price. Wonder what the Vandersteens would sound like on a muscular Naim rig?

Royd
Only got a short listen to the new range, but Man, were they impressive! The minstrel replacement (RR1?) is truely astounding. Top end seemed a bit sharp... we'd intended to go back for a serious listen, esp on the Naim rig in place of the Densen (no slouch itself), but the Bar was calling... and then was the dem at The Big One. These deserve further investigation. Interesting to note a Bedini CD Clarifier in use! I knew I couldn't be the only one using one of these!

Where to see the pix? Take a look

here.... 'hope you enjoy it.

And afterward, Andy's system blew us away. top stuff - that really rocks.

Rico - all your base are belong to us.

[This message was edited by Rico on SUNDAY 25 February 2001 at 11:03.]

The rooms were generally excellent (for a show). It was interesting to hear that several manufacturers are boycotting the Heathrow show because the Novatel rooms are so appalling (Naim probably has the best one in the corner).

Finally, I bought my first copy of Hi-Fi+ (the new issue 10). What a great magazine, with more classiness than Hi-Fi News and lots of interesting products. I love the way they go for the best sounding kit at every price point (and not wasting paper by including crap kit). The record reviews are great too. Kevin Scott (Living Voice), at the show, was over the moon about receiving a Product of the Year award and a 3-page interview in issue 10.

Naim also justifiably receive a Product of the Year for the Series 5 - nice!

Andrew

P.S. Great pictures Rico (particularly the one of Tim "breaking the sound barrier")

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

[This message was edited by Andrew Randle on SUNDAY 25 February 2001 at 11:49.]

nice pics. Didn't know naim made cd-stands!!

Steven

PS. I wouldn't call the first pic in the fiat speeding. Now this is speeding, although technically it's fully legal in germany.....

I'd like to address the first pic - it is neither a 'oh wow we went this fast' pic (although I have been known to smile when viewing such images), nor is it any way meant to be a representation or glamourisation of the mid-speed driving that many enjoy from time to time either on controlled or public highways. The title has more to do with the camera shake than anything, and it's contribution to the impression of speed, rather than any actual velocity! There, enough of the 'please don't try this at home' & 'be a responsible citizen' business.

And as to manners - did I thank Naim in my earlier post for convening once again a Forum session at a show - thanks! It really is neat to meet up together, have a listen, and get in a bit of Q&A with Naim (now matter how much is on or off record!). I did note that with much of the listening material supplied by us punters, it might have seemed a bit like 'The patients have taken over the asylum', but our hosts handled it with their usual aplomb - even to the point of Procol Harum. Yes might have become a sort of standing joke amongst us at these occasions, but that must now take the cake!

Sorry you couldn't make it PS - hope all's well.

I certainly had a good time, and noted how fast it went by, and how few people I got to catch up with. I think next year I'll stay over, and so could attend an evening meal (how did that go?).

Oh - is this where I say "nice one"?

Rico - all your base are belong to us.

You seem to have been up north lately. Beware of the speed traps!

Laxton

This was done in germany on the autobahn A7.... no speed restrictions, perfectly legal.

Steven

The only things that seemed to make music to me were:

• The DBL system
  
• DNM/Living voice (about 10k UKP worth)
  
• CDS2/52/500/Dynaudio (about 5k UKP speakers)

In the "quickest way to waste the most money" category we had:

• Linn CD12 system
  
• TAG Mclaren system (with the 14k speakers in)
  

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And afterward, Andy's system blew us away. top stuff - that really rocks.

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Thank you - nice of you to say so. Hopefully, your ears have recovered from Sepultura

Andy

I think the new speakers are going to be a huge success. As for the new stands, for me the jury is out until I have made comparisons with the usual suspects.

Thanks again,

Bob.

You are absolutely right & there was me thinking that we heard Superstition. I used to play covers of both in a band once, hence the confusion.

I'm glad I didn't bet my shirt/ house/ hifi on that one!

Bob.