Stereophile HE show

It was a good show............

Marc

Having never listened to any of this kit before was as much an advantage as it was a disadvantage.

The 252 has lost the hashness that is apparent in the 52.

The SL2 tweeter assembly is simply sublime...
Never have I heard a more open and accurate tweeter.The timing of this speaker is amazing..The presentation reminded me of an ESL....
The CDS3....Holy CRAP BATMAN!!!!!
This kit puts the CDS2 to SHAME!!! A HUGE leap!!
It presents the music in a much more organic way. Much more texture and not a hint of digital...You just want to spoon with this thing..
The price $13,500 is a steal. Its worth more...

The 552/500/300/CDS3 Wilson video system was in the other room..
Could not get into it..The DVD thing is not for me. The Wilsons(imho)can't play music...

I look forward to hearing the 552 in a different enviorment........

Best to all,

Marc

The CDS3 room was set up with Wilson-Benesch (Chimera in Front, Arcs in back), not Wilson. It was very hard to listen critically, because there was so much noise from the very busy hallway, and the door was swinging open with loud chatters every few seconds. I watched a few minutes of a Diana Krall DVD which looked and sounded pretty good given all the chaos in the room.

Steve

Steve,
I have to say that before anyone was even there,I was ablw to put on a couple discs without the Arcam dvd playing.

I truly believe whatever speaker that was...There was no coherence. The timing was off and the tune was absent....
There was a CDS3 in each of the rooms. I would go from room to room and would want to take the 552 out of the other room and put it on with the SL2s and the 300. I could not stay in the video room for more than a few moments.

When Ken C. would put one of his discs on, it was a wonderful experience in music. It was all there. PRAT!!! Coherent from top to bottom...

Just my take on things.

Marc

Even with all the noise I think you are right--the base sounded all boomy and fluffy. I was surprised, because I have heard the Wilson Benesch Discovery with a CDX2/XPS2/282/250 and was very impressed. Oh well...
Steve

HE2003

I also found it was a good show. I mainly visited the 2 channel rooms. Luckily these are mostly not too terrible at this show since the general idea seems to be to try to make vinyl, tube amps and ported speakers of all shapes and sizes (all using enormous cables though!) sound like a CD. Didn't here anything that sounded much like music though. Almost every room seemed to be tubes (apart from Naim).

The sound of the CDS3 and SL2s was truly superb, if anyone is complaining about bass with these speakers they have a setup or source problem. When Naim's own discs were playing I wasn't sure if the fine sound was due to the CDS 3 or the recordings, but yesterday we heard a Lyle Lovett track which I hadn't heard before - "She's already made up her mind" - and had to go out and buy a copy. The different layers of this recording came through so well, all in tune and with such perfect timing. Very emotional.

I found the Diana Krall video a bit irritating for various reasons although when the door first opened I was convinced there was a live crowd in the room! We then saw/heard a Talking Heads video which was enjoyable except I didn't care at all for the speakers (WB), but then with the SL2's next door that's not surprising. It was fun to hear Naim equipment in this sort of setup though, even with a regular DVD5.1 (AC3?) track, and definitely better than listening to MP3 audio alone. But then it could be that anything you played with a Naim amplifier (552/500 in this case?) would sound good as a couple of people commented at the show! Maybe the boomy and fluffy bass was the DVD video disk? A Naim based multi-channel/AV setup is well worth experiencing if you get a chance - there's definitely something in it for a live recording.
On Saturday night in the Ballroom Richard Thompson played a solo acoustic set - he is probably the best guitarist I have ever heard - which included a version of Britney's "Oops"!

and eminem closed the show thru the 552/300 in the nana room...wicked,
had KC bobbing at the sl2
thanks to all arrangements by DG,CK,CW and PS.

I've been a tube guy for some time now, but after hearing what I heard in room 619, I'm ready to sell everything and go Naim!

33 1/3
Yahoo! Stunning first post.

With the 552, it adds just the lightest, most delicate hint of tubiness, like eggs beatened with a fork which tines have been lightly wiped with a garlic clove rather than big chunks of the stuff added...