News just in!
Posted by: Steve Toy on 14 November 2002
Naim made a great sounds in Stafford. Paul Darwin and Doug were there. The room acoustics were just fine too.
I'll reveal more later when I've had some sleep.
Regards,
Steve.
It's just a pleasure to hear music as it was intended to be heard.
I'll reveal more later when I've had some sleep.
Regards,
Steve.
It's just a pleasure to hear music as it was intended to be heard.
Ok, The demo kicked off with a standalone CDX2/202/200/Allæs.
This sounded good in itself with no real sonic nasties that just had to be ironed out. What followed was simply a case of giving you more of the same.
Adding a NAPSC to the 202 seemed like a must-upgrade for £225 and it makes you wonder why Naim don't include it as standard given the magnitude of improvement derived from its inclusion. My answer to that is that the Naim upgrade path is an education in itself. If potential customers aren't left to discover for themselves the benefits of this small and relatively inexpensive off-board power supply, they may be less likely to open their minds to the potential benefits of some of the considerably more expensive PSUs further up the hierarchical ladder. The NAPSC made a solo female vocalist sound more intimate, focused, and exhibit more lyricism and inflection.
Adding a Hi-cap to the 202 was for many in the audience more subtle than adding the NAPSC at four times the price. Personally I noticed an increase in soundstage depth and height as a result of this PSU upgrade, but I may have been more sensitive to such round earthness as I was seated on the front row.
Connecting the XPS to the CDX2 was quite subtle at this stage, thus I believe it may have shown its benefits with greater magnitude if it had been left until later when the ever growing mullet would have been found wanting…
Swapping the 202 for the 282 was quite a leap in performance notably in areas such as refinement and separation, but it didn’t have as much impact as replacing the Hi-cap with a Supercap.
I noticed that with each upgrade from this point on, the soundstage was getting bigger and bigger and the increased depth made me begin to wish that I was seated a little further back so as not to become lost in it. The speakers were positioned 4 inches from the rear wall, so all the image depth of field was projected in front of them. To me it makes absolutely no difference where speakers may be situated within the three-dimensional soundstage that was growing ever bigger with each successive change.
After beer break the Allæs had been replaced by the SL2s which didn’t make a lot of difference in my opinion at the point they were introduced, but no doubt they paved the way for what followed.
Upwards and onwards to bigger power amps via the 252 replacing the 282 for preamplifier duties, bringing even more refinement and now added authority.
The leaps in performance from 200 power amp to 250, then to 300 were quite subtle, perhaps highlighting the need for preamp upgrades to keep the pace. Substituting the 252 for the 552 didn’t make a huge difference, but swapping the 300 for the mighty Nap 500 was for me the biggest leap of the whole show. I suspect that the 552 would have taken that particular title had it been left until last.
I think there is a huge gap in performance between 252/300 level and 552/500, but this is reflected in the price difference!
It was in all an excellent demonstration of the new Naim gear, and the CDX2/XPS combination was not embarrassed performing source duties even at the very end. I look forward to hearing the CDS3 when it’s got its bits inside.
Thanks to Naim-audio for a great evening. With Naim you now get cake with icing: PR&T, tune, refinement, image and soundstage in ever increasing doses as you spend more money.
I hope I haven't left anything out or put anything in the wrong order. I didn't take any notes as a) I didn't want to look like an anorak
b) I wanted to concentrate on the music, and c)I had a jolly nice pint of Marstons Pedigree in my hand to drink.
Regards,
Steve.
It's just a pleasure to hear music as it was intended to be heard.
[This message was edited by Steven Toy on FRIDAY 15 November 2002 at 14:17.]
This sounded good in itself with no real sonic nasties that just had to be ironed out. What followed was simply a case of giving you more of the same.
Adding a NAPSC to the 202 seemed like a must-upgrade for £225 and it makes you wonder why Naim don't include it as standard given the magnitude of improvement derived from its inclusion. My answer to that is that the Naim upgrade path is an education in itself. If potential customers aren't left to discover for themselves the benefits of this small and relatively inexpensive off-board power supply, they may be less likely to open their minds to the potential benefits of some of the considerably more expensive PSUs further up the hierarchical ladder. The NAPSC made a solo female vocalist sound more intimate, focused, and exhibit more lyricism and inflection.
Adding a Hi-cap to the 202 was for many in the audience more subtle than adding the NAPSC at four times the price. Personally I noticed an increase in soundstage depth and height as a result of this PSU upgrade, but I may have been more sensitive to such round earthness as I was seated on the front row.
Connecting the XPS to the CDX2 was quite subtle at this stage, thus I believe it may have shown its benefits with greater magnitude if it had been left until later when the ever growing mullet would have been found wanting…
Swapping the 202 for the 282 was quite a leap in performance notably in areas such as refinement and separation, but it didn’t have as much impact as replacing the Hi-cap with a Supercap.
I noticed that with each upgrade from this point on, the soundstage was getting bigger and bigger and the increased depth made me begin to wish that I was seated a little further back so as not to become lost in it. The speakers were positioned 4 inches from the rear wall, so all the image depth of field was projected in front of them. To me it makes absolutely no difference where speakers may be situated within the three-dimensional soundstage that was growing ever bigger with each successive change.
After beer break the Allæs had been replaced by the SL2s which didn’t make a lot of difference in my opinion at the point they were introduced, but no doubt they paved the way for what followed.
Upwards and onwards to bigger power amps via the 252 replacing the 282 for preamplifier duties, bringing even more refinement and now added authority.
The leaps in performance from 200 power amp to 250, then to 300 were quite subtle, perhaps highlighting the need for preamp upgrades to keep the pace. Substituting the 252 for the 552 didn’t make a huge difference, but swapping the 300 for the mighty Nap 500 was for me the biggest leap of the whole show. I suspect that the 552 would have taken that particular title had it been left until last.
I think there is a huge gap in performance between 252/300 level and 552/500, but this is reflected in the price difference!
It was in all an excellent demonstration of the new Naim gear, and the CDX2/XPS combination was not embarrassed performing source duties even at the very end. I look forward to hearing the CDS3 when it’s got its bits inside.
Thanks to Naim-audio for a great evening. With Naim you now get cake with icing: PR&T, tune, refinement, image and soundstage in ever increasing doses as you spend more money.
I hope I haven't left anything out or put anything in the wrong order. I didn't take any notes as a) I didn't want to look like an anorak
b) I wanted to concentrate on the music, and c)I had a jolly nice pint of Marstons Pedigree in my hand to drink. Regards,
Steve.
It's just a pleasure to hear music as it was intended to be heard.
[This message was edited by Steven Toy on FRIDAY 15 November 2002 at 14:17.]
quote:
Originally posted by Steven Toy:
I said,quote:
To me it makes absolutely no difference where speakers may be situated within the three-dimensional soundstage...
Regards,
Steve.
_ It's just a pleasure to hear music as it was intended to be heard. _
Steven,
From the above post are we to concluded that you enjoyed yourself
and from reading between the lines, that you feel the 'Old style' Naim is obsolite?, in being the 'Original' as I understanding it, was very PRaT related with little or no soundstage and image? As from your above post this is not not the case? the 'Revoiced' Naim equipment is more to your liking? and has a more 'Different approach' to it's musical presentation yes? so in essence then having your cake and eating it is very 'Oval earth' for want of a better term! as you are a great advocate of Densen amplifiers, want is your assment of the new Naim amps in comparision? I would be intrested in your thoughts.Kind Regards David
Well Balanced Beings Promote Harmony In Music and Soul