spectral better than naim?

I'd say it's just a matter of taste. Having heard several Spectral set-ups, and a number of Naim set-ups, I can say that Spectral is one of the few brands other than Naim that I could live with. Spectral definitely has the speed thing down, and plenty of detail is on offer, but it still sounds musical, at least to my ears. I've never had the good fortune to compare the top systems from each company. I'd very much like to have both top systems to do, oh, say, three months of comparisons.

I've not heard the top offerings from Naim in what i would consider "optimal" conditions, nor have I heard Spectral's top boxes. But, I do have some experience with Spectral, and in my mind, $7k worth fo Spectral competes in every way with 6k worth of Naim. And does some other stuff besides. But, you can't find $2K worth of used Spectral that will compete with $2k worth of used Naim gear. Naim offers a better used value.

Still, if I were buying a new system and was thinking of spending in the 10k range, I'd very seriously consider Spectral.

Judd

I read that article and when I did I thought 'I wonder what he's thinking now that the 552 is out?' I've heard mezzo utopias on the end of a 52/500 and that was very nice indeed, so he could have got some of what he has now if he wanted with the added benefit of the 552.

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Hi Frank

I must admit to not having tried the 552 as it was not around when I chose my Spectral Amps but a friend of mine did do the comparison. It took him a very short time to choose the Spectral pre-amp. I trust his judgement and have no regrets about not waiting.

As the article said, I have no bad things to say about Naim and I'm not knocking their products but just that for me, and for others it may be different which makes life interesting, I am delighted with what the system does. It was also probably cheaper than the 552/500 at new prices I think, that was not really a consideration since I had the 52/500 already of course. The foundation level Spectral kit is 1/2 the price of mine which I think makes it excellent value. There is little if any second-hand stuff around which I can understand.

The article also mentioned that I was at a plateu in the system. Since the article was published I have actually ordered a pair of the new JMlab Nova Utopia speakers which use the new Beryllium (Be) Tweeter. I have been, and still am, amazed by the performance and effortless musicality that the Utopia's I have produce but I know that these Nova's will take me even further into the music. I really ought to spend the money on a pension but you only live once!

By the way, there are a few pairs of the Mezzo, still an awsome speaker, and of course one pair of the Utopia mentioned, available secondhand because of the introduction of the JMlab Be range.

All the best for Easter

Iain

SAD 1

[This message was edited by SAD 1 on THURSDAY 17 April 2003 at 14:26.]

Ok course there is an important factor here that we may be ignoring.

I think SAD 1 was a customer of Audioworks in Cheadle, South Manchester. This dealer was once a key Naim distributer for the area but for whatever reasons (see previous threads) no longer deals Naim gear. One of the new brands stocked by Audioworks is Spectral and clearly they will have taken some of their customers with them.

Now this isn't a critisism of Naim, Spectral, Audioworks or SAD 1. In fact Audioworks was an excellent and well respected dealer and many would have felt inclined to follow their path rather than abandon Audioworks in favour of Naim.

Appologies SAD 1 if this does not apply to yourself, but I noticed you are from Manchester and have mentioned Audioworks in a previos post.

quote:

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Originally posted by Paul Darwin:
Good afternoon Iain,

Buying a system on the basis of what a friend says ?, I thought you had more sense than that ! or perhaps that friend is a Spectral dealer !!

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Mr. Darwin,

Iain seems happy with his choice of Spectral electronics and so it is immaterial who suggested he use it. Or maybe I am missing something political?

quote:

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Originally posted by reductionist:

quote:

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Originally posted by Paul Darwin:
Good afternoon Iain,

Buying a system on the basis of what a friend says ?, I thought you had more sense than that ! or perhaps that friend is a Spectral dealer !!

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Mr. Darwin,

Iain seems happy with his choice of Spectral electronics and so it is immaterial who suggested he use it. Or maybe I am missing something political?

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Mr Reductionist,

If Iain used ferrous stands under the Naim possibly he might have been delighted with the transient performance of the system and it's sense of space an depth. Of course if hewas exciting some critical "room modes" while listening to Alison Krauss it might affect the result in a non-coherent time aligned way. What do you think?

Mr. Darwin,

Please accept my apologies. I obviously misconstrued your intent and did not appreciate that he was a friend of yours, rereading your post in this light illuminates it as a gentle ribbing.

Mr. B,

Exciting Alison Krauss via room modes or some more personnal contact, perhaps mediated by ferrous stands, should never be refused in my opinion.

quote:

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Originally posted by Paul Darwin:
Good afternoon Iain,

Buying a system on the basis of what a friend says ?, I thought you had more sense than that ! or perhaps that friend is a Spectral dealer !!

Bestest,

Paul

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Hi Paul

'Sense' that's not a word oft used in conection with me!!! In fact one of the common comments used in connection with the article by my other mates was "it makes you sound quite Sensible". As you can imagine this I took to be the ultimate insult.

Hope fings is good with you. Pop 'round sometime for a beer, curry and a good old blast of the music. Glad your sense of humour has not deserted you. It's a quality sadly lacking sometimes.

Iain

SAD 1

Somehow we have drifted from the original thread. I have had spectral equipment for more than 20 years. I have also had some Naim equipment. Neither the spectral nor the Naim that I have had has been at the upper-end of their respective lines. Over the years, I have listened to the upper end of both companies. Their priorities are VASTLY different and reflect differences at all price points. Spectral's development reflects the concept of "ultralinearity". When Rick Fryer, Spectral's president has talked about this, it has been used in terms of producing EXACTLY what is on the source. Nothing more/nothing less. Naim tends to optomize for PRAT and musical engagement. Spectral's design philosophy and curcuit typology/component selection, may as a by-products, achieve good PRAT or other Naim-like qualities, but agin, their major direction is toward achieving linearity. Trying to decide which is better is hopeless IMHO. They sound very different and have very different approaches to the recreation of MUSIC.


All the best,


Jay

I am really excited by the prospect of more articles such as these, with a Naim owner switching to a smorgasbord of products, Spectral in particular. Everything should be done to encourage the switch. It probably provides the only real chance of finding a 500 (or 3) second hand!