@ hifi experience tott ct rd, london, england
Posted by: ken c on 06 February 2002
on my way back from foyles bookshop today, i passed through hifi experience. as i entered the basement where all the dem rooms are, there was a wadia 86i+classe amps + BIG b&w system playing in the reception area. the mono power amps are BIG -- could be more thana foot high -- and those b&w's --- my god!
the wadia 86i looked rather cool, so did the classe pre-amp.
i was so impressed i immediately negotiated a trade in of my entire naim system for that exact one. nirvana at last!!....
you bet!!!
with as open a mind (and ears) as i could muster, i tried hard to be impresses. and i was. with the stereo imaging. and that was all. where was the music??? for such as (i assume, i didnt ask) exprensive system -- all it it was draw me to how the treble sounded a bit unrefined compared to my humbler set up.
lookswise -- this setup looks serious -- will definitely impress friends -- but i am not sure someone who is used to naim can live with it. this is yet another occasion when i have not been impressed with a b&w speaker system. will keep trying.
i dont know whether these guys have ever tried a naim system in there... could have suggested it, but hey, none of my business. (i also saw a rather miserable pair of sbl's while i was there -- rather nice finish though)...
enjoy
ken
Posted on: 06 February 2002 by sonofcolin
.. they have an entire Naim dem room right at the far end! Usually it is up and running and rocking.
I've had a dem of 3.5 vs CDX vs some marantz things (which was a sort of pink colour). Think they were put through 82 hi 250 credo. Guess which player won?
Colin
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Tony Lockhart
Bought my Headline and napsc there 4 years ago. The place seemed friendly and knowledgeable enough. And while they were sorting the packaging out they let me and my wife experience their Meridien digital home cinema set-up. Wow!
Went back last year with my brother to demo some home cinema gear, and again very friendly, etc.
I thought the basement demo rooms were a great idea for the centre of London.
Tony
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Simon Matthews
Last time I went in there was a pair of intro's with the tweeter pushed in, a nait 3 with the volume button missing and an assistant who really didn't have a clue. 50 yards over the road is the cornflake shop - no contest IMO.
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Peter C
I agree with Simon, the Cornflaske shop is better than Hi Fi Experience for Naim Demos and Gear
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Peter C
I agree with Simon, the Cornflake shop is better than Hi Fi Experience for Naim Demos and Gear
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Don Atkinson
ken c,
When I popped in a few weeks back, the Naim gear appeared to have been ejected from its No 1 Listening Room position and was languishing rather dejectedly on tired shelving in the loudspeaker carousel area. Don't recall what had taken over the No 1 slot but it looked big and beefy.
Rubens, who seems to be the Top Salesman, and possibly the manager, used to work for KJ West One in New Cavendish Street. IMHO, Hifi E would benefit from a clean-up and tidy-up to compete with others in London and, as others have said, from some serious training of more staff in more of their product range.
The guys in Cornflake were positively alive, by comparison.
Cheers
Don
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by sonofcolin
..and they don't sell Linn!
I dare you to go in and ask for an LP12 demo!
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Andy Moore
I went there quite a while ago to try out the Naim 5 series stuff and the sales assistant strongly recommended that I listen to Musical Fidelity instead. We compromised and I listened to both.
Guess which I preferred? Yes, the MF!
No really, I did.
The Naim shreiked and distorted at me. After just a few minutes of Medeski, Martin & Wood I had to chage to the MF which was much more pleasant, and even got my toes tapping!
Its obvious that the sales assistant was not at all keen on selling the Naim. Although I had given 24hours notice, the Naim kit was not properly set up and the choice of B&W speakers was not a good one.
Since then I have had some awesome Naim demos at Auditorium (who do sell Linn) and wouldn't look twice at MF.
Andy
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Happy Listener
Andy,
could be due to the reputed (nice) margin on MF!
Whilst it gets good reviews, and I have had some early MF (Dr Thomas et al), it's feeble by comparison but can be shifted quickly and with minimal fuss.
Phil
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by ken c
yah, they used to have a "dedicated" naim room, but when i was there yesterday, that room had other kit.
the only naim kit i saw as i said was looking miserable in the "pre-loved" speaker area than donA mentioned...
enjoy
ken
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by ken c
Rubens, who seems to be the Top Salesman, and possibly the manager, used to work for KJ West One in New Cavendish Street. IMHO, Hifi E would benefit from a clean-up and tidy-up to compete with others in London and, as others have said, from some serious training of more staff in more of their product range.i agree. it is such a prime location isnt it -- so much space!! all those dem rooms!! however, i suspect they do shift a lot of boxes(unlikely naim) which could explain why they have been in business for quite long time - i guess they know the type of customer they are targetting -- i.e. not us lot.
i must say i was very surprised first time i saw that they were naim dealers -- but why not??? i guess naim need "support" from wherever they can get it to generate revenue.
have you ever heard this classe amplication?
enjoy
ken
Posted on: 10 February 2002 by nodrog
I used to use this shop just up the road from Hi-Fi experience and it was immeasurably better. Staff extremely friendly and enthusiastic. The manager was a trendy older gut with two young assistants. They gave me a demo of a top-of-the-range Naim setup which was the best I'd ever heard. I only bought some Nac A5 from them in the end. I wonder what happened to them?
Peter
Posted on: 11 February 2002 by ken c
I only bought some Nac A5 from them in the end. I wonder what happened to them?the owner, colin welford(?) was a true music enthusiast -- and a really nice guy. i bough my nat02 there -- the most trouble free component of my whole hifi system.
sonet unfortunately shut show, but i gather one of the ex-sonet guys set up at thomas heinitz (not sure about this??). if this shop is operating like sonet, then its definitely worth a visit... probably takes you far far away from tott ct, -- a good thing in my view...
enjoy
ken
