S1/S2; first opportunity to hear this in a domestic environment

Having inexplicably failed to win the Lottery last night, I've had to tear up my pending Statement order. Sorry Alastair old bean, perhaps next week?

Anyway, in the light of J.N's rather more comprehensive review of the S1/2 trio, I feel a frisson of guit for not contributing more than my one-word contibution regarding my own listening session. So three more words - amazingly natural presence.

J.N..... Just plug your Nait XS into your Titans for a day, then plug your 552/500 back in. Hey presto, all 'Statement Audio Memory' now re set...... maybe.

Ha Ha. I like it Gary. I sat there at Signals pondering that one can have a Naim amplifier in the form of the three vertical black beauties, or ......... somehow, all that gubbins can be shoehorned into a Nait 5i box.

Weird.

John.

I've not yet attended any of the big shows and been fortunate to hear the Statement amps as yet, so am very curious to hear what they are capable of! The 500 / Focal & Kudos / Active 300 systems heard at the recent Chester Acoustica show were certainly impressive. Can only begin to imagine the capabilities of the Statement. Thanks for sharing.

Don't forget that as much as you can push the envelop , it still remains stationary.

What speakers to use with Statement? That's an intriguing question. I'm a fan of the Titans & they certainly sounded magnificent on the end of the S1/2. But if you're into dropping that level of wonga on them, you'd want to look at all the options in a suitable price range.

I'd love to hear the Statement on my DBLs, and I floated the idea to Signals. Just pop them in the back of the car & I'll give 'em a spin I said. The chaps seemed strangely unenthusiastic...

tonym posted:

What speakers to use with Statement? That's an intriguing question. I'm a fan of the Titans & they certainly sounded magnificent on the end of the S1/2. But if you're into dropping that level of wonga on them, you'd want to look at all the options in a suitable price range.

I'd love to hear the Statement on my DBLs, and I floated the idea to Signals. Just pop them in the back of the car & I'll give 'em a spin I said. The chaps seemed strangely unenthusiastic...

Why, I wonder ...

Perhaps the Statement would show up the DBLs?

ATB from George

Probably show them at their absolute best George. I've never heard better.

Dear Tony,

My search is not for a horsepower of mono block amplifier costing as much as a small house, but just as much quality and able to produce the same quality at ten or a few tens of Watts into truly great speakers. No need for a sledge-hammer with great speakers, and I think you will already guessed - the original ESL. Max input of sixteen Watts. Just a persuader ...

ATB from George

I love ESLs. For a little while, say half an hour. Have you listened to the Statement George? No, guess not.

Yes, but did not post!

Took less than four minutes to decides what i thought ... Good, not great, and too expensive ... Better can be achieved with existing great speakers ... ESL originals of course, where over-power makes no difference ...

Best from G

Having heard DBL's with a Statement Pre and six pack of 135's, i'd say the DBL's would do a mighty fine job with the full statement, as would an Ovator S800. No thank you to Focal.

Dear George, it is a source of much amusement how, whatever the topic of the thread, you somehow manage to introduce your own preferred system into the proceedings ( these preferences, of course, being somewhat fluid). The Forum would be a lesser place without you!

The first rule of Forum Club, for dealers anyway, is probably to stay clear of circular arguments.  As for trying them at Tony's, the reluctance was mainly his. This was possibly on self preservation grounds . Mind you, moving around 400 kg of packed amplifier is not something we can undertake lightly either. 

As for other speakers to be tried, yes, we intend to. The amp has only been here since Tuesday evening and will still be settling in. The Titans were the most frequent partners for the S1 / 500 combo, so absorbing the changes wrought by the S1 power was interesting to us. Visitors have generally been most familiar with the Titans too. Besides, it sounds so utterly lovely that we've been reluctant to change things. It's not that we can sit around all day playing music either, sadly. Nothing we have currently will match it in outlay terms but we have Fact 12, Focal Sopra S2 and some Maggies. Even the Russell K Red 150s should be interesting since they matched the S1 / NAP 500 combo indecently well.

 I half wish Naim could have made less of the output power because it gives a misleading impression. Don't suppose they could have got away with simply claiming it to be 'adequate' in this spec-driven age. Sure, massive reserves are part of the S1 ability but the speed, transparency, lightness of touch, relaxed clarity and utter ease are qualities ascribed to some ultra high end low power valve amps (when driving speakers that suit them). One listener who was familiar with the Audio Note Ongaku from twenty years ago told me that the S1 pre-amp reminded him of its delivery.

George is onto something right here, if we all purchased original ESL w/matching amplication back then in the 60'ies, most music lovers would have lived ever happy since.* The original ESL 57 is still among the (midrange) reference speakers as of today, personally I'd choose these against 63 and many others, their looks untold

*Sure some hifi fanatics will demand more

And to those still reading but can't or won't afford S1/S2, just wait, Naim will launch S3/S4 Statement & Statement Integrated within shortly - exiting hmmm.

gary yeowell posted:

J.N..... Just plug your Nait XS into your Titans for a day, then plug your 552/500 back in. Hey presto, all 'Statement Audio Memory' now re set...... maybe.

I took the more drastic approach of powering down my amplifier, removing the speaker cables and going away for a long weekend. At least I can look forward to some more SL cables at some stage and perhaps a 500. So, if any of Alastair's customers is thinking of trading up to the S2 power amps.......

i'm very happy that Signals is quite a drive from where i live, otherwise risk of  'slippery slope' and all that...

Good read, again,  J.N.. For a moment, the photo you attached looked a bit like your setup...

enjoy...

ken

Dear Tony,

Thanks for your kind vote of confidence! With Fate on my side, I might be able to report a complete system again tomorrow evening. 

Fingers crossed! And wish me luck!!! 

As it goes the journey is tied into deliveries in the right area for a collection to become viable without much of a dog leg on the way home from Saint Albans. 

Currently I have a bit of thing going with Mozart’s thirty-third symphony, so I guess that will be the first thing to play. Klemperer and Philharmonia, recorded about 1960, so suitably vintage recording as well!

ATB from George

PS: Not Klemperer, but Mravinski in the same music, also from 1960:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyfW_byAuoU

b_lund posted:

George is onto something right here, if we all purchased original ESL w/matching amplification back then in the 60'ies, most music lovers would have lived ever happy since.*

*Sure some hifi fanatics will demand more

Great solution - but not for those who just don't find the ESL's qualities sufficient to impel ownership.

And said without any 'hifi fanatic' hat on.

I can't see the point of listening to the statement, as 99.9 percent of us will never own one unless the lottery comes up,l would love to own them but think it all becomes a bit to serious sometimes it's just about playing music and enjoying it on a good quality system,most of my pals think lve lost it anyway for what my system cost anyway.

I'll never own a super-expensive sports car, but that didn't stop me from enjoying a spin in my mate's Maserati when he offered, and i don't see why it should be any different with HiFi. It might take little bit of time to 'come down' from the experience, but you soon re-engage with your own system again.

I think it depends on one's nature and psychology. 

Personally I'd be worried I'd hear something that I'd forever hear my system was lacking and consequently be unhappier as a consequence of hearing something I could never afford. 

For me ignorance is bliss. 

Obviously there are stronger individuals out there. 

SJB

So if you own a Classic Naim system, does a Muso in the kitchen sound unbearable? That's the sort of combination many can live with on a daily basis, never mind a one-off demo. Not that there are any rights or wrongs here in the asylum.

Bob green posted:

I can't see the point of listening to the statement, as 99.9 percent of us will never own one unless the lottery comes up,l would love to own them but think it all becomes a bit to serious sometimes it's just about playing music and enjoying it on a good quality system, most of my pals think lve lost it anyway for what my system cost anyway.

We have lost it Bob, but what the heck, as long as we enjoy it.  The same logic applies for that 1%, their friends think they are crazy spending over a quarter of a million on music, when they could have a Super Nice 36 footer, baby yacht for that price. 

Premare Pre 30/ Arcam P1 mono Blocks/ Vienna Acoustics Baby Grands   Family Room!

Cdx2/282/HCDR/3 x 250.2/    Living Room!

In Fact Bob, anyone on this Forum, has lost it!  LOL 

Allante93

Almost a week since I stopped by to have a listen to the S1/S2 system. And that was to lend my speaker cables. Since then my system has been silent, but we were away for a long weekend in (mostly sunny but shockingly depressed) Ramsgate so the system would have simply been humming away to itself.

Today I am returning to collect the speaker cables and borrow a set of SL pre-power interconnects.

I shall have to avoid the temptation to ask for a little listen, especially as I heard the system without the correct pre-power interconnects in place on the S1/S2.

Do I have the will-power?????? It's an addiction this hi-fi thing, so the most probable answer is "no."