Nirvana reached, so goodbye!
Posted by: Elsa on 15 October 2012
Now I read and read and listened and listened and GOD so many opinions there are about naim equipment! 
The joint summary is:
1. That many here is completely stuck in the upgrade hell! 
2. That naim sounds like naim sounds, not like the music does! 
Therefore, I have now given up my naim system and bought something that sounds like it should sound, like music!Audio Research Vaccum tube preamp, Vaccum tube power amp and a CD8. All from the Reference Series. And this comes together witha pair of second-hand Wilson Audio Sofia 2.
Really nice and sounds like heaven! 
Sooo Goodbye all Naimianer and good luck in the quest for nirvana!Tip: If you want to reach nirvana, change brand!
/Elsa
Yes, I WAS going to thank Elsa for "buying American" 
McIntosh got 'swallowed up' by Fine Sounds of Milan only very recently, I think.
When I started my hi fi shopping, I started with McIntosh. I thought I was going to get one of their integrated amps, but then I stopped into the other good dealer in my area, saw and heard Naim and Devore, and never went back to that other shop.
No one brand is for everybody, and we all hear things differently. It is too bad that Elsa felt the need to thumb her nose in this direction on the way out. Perhaps she was going for humor, and something got lost in translation? Or maybe not. Don't really care one way or the other.
Hook
hear, hear!
enjoy
ken
ARC makes world class audio equipment, and has a very long and interesting history. Bill Johnson started out modifying old Dynaco's in 1949! They are now owned by Fine Sounds of Milan, Italy, the same company that owns Sonus Faber, Wadia Digital, Sumiko and McIntosh.
For many years in the US, the choice for audiophile "traditionalists" came down to either ARC or McIntosh. When McIntosh abandoned tube technology, ARC became the last bottle standing (so to speak). Pretty amazing to think when you look at today's broad landscape of tube-based designs. Also, ARC and Naim do have one thing in common: a strong commitment to customer service. Like Naim, any ARC amp built since the company's start in 1970 can still be serviced today.
And oh yeah, full disclosure: ARC is my home town team. They are still being built a few miles from where I live, so of course I would stick up for 50 or so Minnesotans still making them!
About four years ago, I was all but ready to "buy local". But before joining the crowd, I decided to try a few other brands. Naim had no local representation (and still does not), so I called three remote dealers and left voice mails. Two never returned my call, but a dealer from LA did...and I am very glad that happened! At that time, I compared the newly introduced Nait XS to an ARC VSi60 (costing twice as much). Needless to say, I preferred the Nait XS by a significant margin. I was also very attracted to the idea of stepwise improvements through the Naim upgrade path. Upgrade hell? IME, the last four years have been quite the opposite! Each incremental step has brought me a new and improved listening experience, and I have never been disappointed from a VFM perspective.
Lastly, ARC and Wilson seem to go together well. Last I looked, ARC was using Sasha's for most of their internal listening tests, so obviously they feel it is a fine combination.
No one brand is for everybody, and we all hear things differently. It is too bad that Elsa felt the need to thumb her nose in this direction on the way out. Perhaps she was going for humor, and something got lost in translation? Or maybe not. Don't really care one way or the other.
Hook
Really well written Glenn! Man I enjoy your writing.
Dave
For someone who only joined on the 25th August is this long a goodbye really justified ?
There's nothing wrong with wishing anyone well . . . BUT . . . this "Elsa" was relatively rude "herself" on the way out. Yet still, taking the higher road doesn't cost anything but a few pixels or keystrokes
Well put Bart.
...and I kind of understand her "keep your toys, I found something better" outburst. The response she got to some of her earlier attempts to find out what Naim really is in order to decide what would be best suitable products for her was not all that nice and constructive one could have hoped.
Ron,
A bit of the old St Andrews coming out there.
Stu.
Tony: Not trying to be argumentative, as I know this, like every other set of forums, no doubt has members who can be described as the south end of a northbound horse. I myself have encountered none of those--oh, a couple who were a little rough-edged, but what the hell, that's OK. Nor do I think Elsa encountered any such obnoxious behavior--other than, perhaps her own--and if she did, I would have hoped that she would direct her less than genteel remarks to those specific individuals. My last remark on this subject is the title of an old Country Western song in the U.S: "Thank God and Greyhound She's Gone." (Greyhound is a public transportion company.)
Russ
Russ,
Any argument is good argument in my book. Keep the neurons happy.
KR
Tony
Elsa, sorry to hear that Naim did not fulfill your expectations after all. However, it is good that you in the end found the equipments that suit you. Happy listening sessions and good luck!
Thanks osprey, nice to meet you and good luck with everything and hope you have luck fishing next time you're in the big woods between Finland and Sweden! PS, It was not that difficult to annoy the English guys, humor is probably not their main page /Elsa
/ElsaI'd disagree with that. We watched some old episodes of "Little Britain" the other day. Hilarious. Overall, I very much enjoy British humour. But I can't say that I have ever actually encountered any Finnish or Swedish humour. Probably a language thing. I'm sure these are very funny countries indeed.
A little off the subject, but I suppose there is less reason to feel guilty about hijacking the thread to talk about humor, given that the declaration of the OP never to return. So let me just say that there is nothing and I mean NOTHING on the face of this earth funnier than British humor. Much of what Tony Lockhart and others post on the Padded Cell board, pass well over my Colonial head, mostly due to the local topical nature of the content--but when you look across the landscape of British humor, nothing is drier, nothing is more outrageous, nothing is funnier. American humor has largely evolved into subtle variations of the "F" word.
Years ago, I owned over a hundred copies of "Punch" from the 'fifties and before. One cartoon pictured two ancient gentlemen in a baronial drawing room, sipping drinks and smoking cigars. There are mounted African game heads all over the wall, and one is a huge male lion, snarling, with a twisted rifle in its jaws. One old gentleman is motioning up toward it and he says: "And so I had it mounted. I believe Virginia would have wanted it that way."
And then there was the elderly gentleman who called his upper-class friend and said: "Sorry to hear you buried your wife, old chap." Whereupon his friend replied: "Had to, old thing--dead you know."
Sometimes I wish I were a Brit--but then, most Americans do!
Cheers,
Russ
Hi Russ.
You display great warmth and humour in your post replies, no worries you are absolutely fine old chap ! Just a shame about the cupboard thing....... ! Best wishes Peter. Shame you and Glenn are at such a distance !!
And then there was the elderly gentleman who called his upper-class friend and said: "Sorry to hear you buried your wife, old chap." Whereupon his friend replied: "Had to, old thing--dead you know."
Sometimes I wish I were a Brit--but then, most Americans do!
Cheers,
Russ
You are being far too kind...that is a W.C. Fields line. I wouldn't argue with your wish though.
Winky, I don't know about the Swedes but Finnish people are quite humourless or at least seen as such by foreigners. This video explains it if you have patience to watch it till the end.
Hahahahaha, den var riktigt bra, underbar humor! Länge leve skandinavien!
(translation: nice!)