Mikey and 552

I think he liked it.

Just to balance up the picture a bit.

"But I'm fairly certain that the Naim NAC 552 has set new standards in my listening experience for low and midbass performance and overall dynamic drive. The rest of what it delivered, in every sonic parameter, was also of exceptionally high caliber. I never listened and thought "This is dark" or "This is edgy" or "This is grainy" or anything like that. All I thought was "This is music." If you like warm and bloomy, you probably won't go for the 552—but you'll never be able to say it sounds "solid-state."

Most important, the sonic vision of the Naim designers was clear and coherent, and they delivered what they set out to achieve—the NAC 552 provided an exceptionally coherent and cohesive sonic, and especially musical, picture. Add to that its high build quality, convenience, flexibility, and, for the most part, glitch-free performance, and you have an expensive product that, when you look at, touch, and hear it, quickly lets you know you're in the presence of audiophile greatness."

"Becuase I no longer believe expensive multi-box amplifiers (in particular) provide any real musical advantage".

His opinion, certainly not naims.

"Besides they take up too much space".

Maybe he should get a portable mp3 player if space is his principle selection criteria.


"It's a fantastic pre-amp, but ultimately doesn't make the music any more enjoyable"

- Unless you have functioning ears