Reason For your HiFi

Originally it was that I didn't have the transport to get to many concerts (I lived in a remote part of the country), and also wanted to listen at times when I wanted, not just when local concerts were on.  Ever since school, I've found that music was really the only thing that could get me emotionally involved, so it became very important to me.

As I couldn't afford to buy a complete system I built my own amplifier.  When I bought a CD player I realised there was a flaw in my original design (and most commercial amps at the time, so I built Mk2 and, when paired with Spendor SP2 speakers, it was a revelation.  After going to some less than satisfactory performances at less than complimentary venues, I realised that a good recording of a great performance on my system just sounded more involving than a poor performance at a second rate venue.  I was hooked on the Hi-Fi improvement path - Upgraded capacitors, new cables, improved earthing, new speaker stands and two CD players later and I was still going...

Then I got married, and SWMBO didn't like the look (4 aluminium boxes) and inconvenience (no remote volume) of my home-brew amp.
Then we separated (but not related to her not liking my amp).

She needed a new system so we (both) auditioned a few - we both agreed the CD5i & Nait 5i were brilliant.

Then I retired and went streaming with an ND5 XS & Nait XS 2.
Now it's a 272 cuddly toy XPS and a 300(DR) (wow, what a system!)
I still use the same Spendor SP2s.

Just now over the last few months, the main thing is that, on occasion, the music is the only thing that can shut down the noise in my head.  Listening to all parts of a 5th specie counterpoint by Bach or Corelli (or many of their contemporaries) doesn't allow for the darkness to creep in at the edges, and the noise subsides.  I'll need this for the next year or so.

And it's still wonderful to just get lost in the music, even though I do now have a fuller range of emotions from other sources.  

Huge, I hear you.

MangoMonkey posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Well I was going to ignore this because as Haim says the answer is obvious.    But in reality for many the Hi-Fi is the end in itself.  

But Mango I posed you the question in another of your threads the other day "has this journey enhanced your enjoyment of the music"?

Regards,

Lindsay

@Lindsay - To the question, at it's face value, the answer would be  - the question does not compute for me - and I'm not entirely sure what you are trying to get at. I apologize, but it just isn't obvious to me. (Maybe that itself is answer enough).

The journey itself was terrible. In this case, it really wasn't about the journey. If anything, it's consequence was fatigue, annoyance etc. If I knew what the journey would have entailed, I would not have started. The end result was not with the years of pain, obsession, time sink, apprehension. Not fun at all.

A person that IMHO is a good judge of character called me a bulldog. Once I get my teeth into something, I can't let go. (Not sure if that's what bulldogs do - but you get the idea). That makes me successful in certain aspects of life  - but it certainly can be a liability if I get my mind set on something inconsequential.

So  - when I started off - October 2010. Bought a new home. Finally thought I'll get a nice system.

[Mind went back to ~30 years ago - when I first heard for the first time,  by my standards, a nice system. I was in 8th grade. Memories are obviously hazy and unreliable - I just remember the soundstage being wide.] 

Anyway - not looking for much. Bose would have been great. whatever. Didn't  know better. Did some rounds of Hifi stores. Here's  the funny thing - my PC, playing mp3s, a $100 sound card and some PC speakers did better than  most $1000 systems. Not suprising, in retrospect. 

Hey - just wanted a system that worked. Could fill the big room with music. Is that asking too much?

The next 5 years are documented in the forum. :-)

I just couldn't make the damn system sound any good. It just didn't sound right. Now like a bull dog, I held on, while I was being dragged by the car. Too stupid to let go. .. more later...

Dealer for help? I did call him in at the beginning- talking about aspects I did not like. Answer - FlatCap, Powerlines. I paid retail, and they did nothing. I din't want to take up any more of his time...

Anyway - 5 years later, after a crazy s/h driven upgrade path - nd5xs, naitxs, superuniti, ndx, 202/200, 282/hicapdr/250, supercap, 2 hicaps, back to 282/hicapdr/250, NDS... each step better, each step ultimately unsatisfying... somewhere  a unitiserve came in, better network cables, etc. etc, the various power strips... - Yes, I did go off the deep end... - throwing good money after bad?

Until finally..

Peace. system came together. got rid of synology. QNAP TS-453A. That plus TrippLite on the various network components in the house... A few weeks ago - this was the first time, the system rivaled a CDX I heard many years ago..

Having solved the problem - It's all good. I can go back to the core need from 7 years ago. Just want a nice system. Play some tunes. Kick back and relax. A ND5XS/naitXS would be plenty. But who am I kidding - now I'm spoilt- once you get used to the NDS/552 level of sounds, it's hard going back...

Come to think of it, that many years ago, should've stuck with the CD5XS/NaitXS. Tha was one helluva system. I haven't heard the latest incarnation of the network systems - maybe they finally sound as good as the cd players of yore...

 

Does that answer your question?

Thats quite a journey and very good business for Naim Audio.  However do you remember what got you into music in the early days?  As I got older I started to get into HiFi and obsess about music reproduction.  But as a boy it was purely the music discovering the Beatles, Rock'n Roll, Elvis Presley, T.Rex and it was sheer magic!  I suppose it was the novelty  effect of hearing an exciting new piece of music for the first time; what an experience..!  Now I am older, more cynical I obsess  about HiFi, sonic effects, I would swap all that (and throw in the Statement..!) just to have that novelty experience of discovery over a piece of music and I don't care a flying /xxx if i t comes out of a small tinny radio or basic cassette player.

I was lucky to have the KEF Q50 speakers when I started adding Naim pieces.  I liked the Q50s before, but adding a 112/150/FC2X/CD5X really brought them to life.

Over the next 18 months, every improvement just worked.  I have tried and liked some other speakers along the way, but still prefer the Q50s, so they are staying, for now.

Nick

I have always loved music, but have no musical talent. Before getting married 35 years ago and focusing on making a living, I spent a lot time listening and going to concerts, but never owned high quality audio equipment.

A bit over a decade ago, a series for lower back surgeries caused me to give up most sports, and look for a new, more cerebral hobby. Converted an extra bedroom into a listening room, and after lots of reading and research, decided I wanted to try some BBC style speakers. None were being sold locally, so I phoned a dealer half a country away (I am in Minneapolis, he is in LA), and wound up with a pair of Harbeth C7s being driven by an old Pioneer amp. My dealer asked if I would like to try the brand new Naim XS...

So, I stumbled into this hobby and this brand and forum quite by accident. Looking back, am very glad I did! I value my setup highly, and use it most every day. And even though I don't post very often any more, I still check in here regularly, and I appreciate all of the regular contributors very much.

Yes, I know that it is "all about the music", but high fidelity adds to my experience. I enjoy being able to hear deeply into the recorded music, and to be able to listen to indidual voices or instruments or simply "as a whole" depending on my mood. My setup picks me up when I am down, and helps me stay calm during periods of high stress or ill health. And at very special times, it is a time machine that transports me back to my youth, to a first row balcony seat at the Uptown Theater in Chicago, watching pretty girls in flowered dresses twirling to the sounds of the Grateful Dead.

So for me, the considerable investment in money and time has been well worth it!

ATB.

Hook

Its a route to relaxation - either listening to the music, visiting shows to listen to other kit, visiting mates' places who I've met through hifi (and not just talking about hifi or music but life in general, have a few beers etc.), tinkering with the gear, writing about it, hoping to help others with their kit and/or helping other realise that music can be great in the home etc. etc.  And a gateway into discovering new music - a decent hifi has broadened my genre horizons.

None of the above bears any relationship to my work, hence the whole thing is a way to relax and forget about other more practical considerations.

Like everyone else firstly because of the Music and my emotional connection to it and of course if we are honest its because HiFi can be slightly addictive to some of us, those of us who can be a bit obsessive about stuff can quite easily find themselves caught up in the upgrade bug and neglecting the reason why we first wanted a decent stereo - playing and enjoying music.  I can be as guilty of this as the next person but I do still buy lots of music each month and try to listen to as much new music as I can via Tidal or Internet Radio.  If you can afford it and you enjoy it and it enhances your musical enjoyment then go for it.  I would still listen to the music I love on a cheap what they used to call Midi system  or a one speaker radio or via my phone the equipment is just the icing.

Sanity. 

Bob's comment just above reminded me of something, a long time ago I went into the Sound Organisation as Southwark with a bunch of albums under my arm, to audition a Roksan TMS as an upgrade to my Xerxes. One song we played was Richard Thompson's When Will I Ever Be Simple Again, a very tender acoustic guitar number. When it finished and we breathed again, Derek said to me "That would sound good on a Dansette". He was right, but I still bought the TMS as it got me closer to the music, I just reached a point where the joy I was getting meant I didn't look for any more upgrades. 

Always loved music. Listened on really crap all in one music centres as a kid and loved it. My dad had a pretty good late 60s system so was exposed to good sound but I hated his music. The bug was sown however.

Loved my period of obsession about the kit and sq. That finished in 2004 and not upgraded since apart from a recent LP12 thingy. I love what I have and retirement will limit me to servicing the boxes. Probably.

Why Naim? Dynamic, live and, to me, natural engaging sound.

Stu

money burning a hole in my pocket....

Must... resist... the... green... lights!!

Thank you... yes here's my credit card! :-)

Eloise posted:

Must... resist... the... green... lights!!

Thank you... yes here's my credit card! :-)

believe it or not my whole system is paid with cash $$$$$$

The short answer to your question is “to get closer to the music.”

I can think of no easily repeatable aesthetic experience that can make time stand still in quite the same way as listening to a well-recorded piece of music does. When something takes you out of yourself like this, not only is it delightful—which is a worthwhile end in itself—it’s also beneficial for your psychic and mental health. I can’t count the number of times I’ve put on a record at the end of a bad day and had my gloomy state of mind completely dispelled, or at least replaced with something closer to equilibrium.

When I think of the money I’ve spent on hi-fi equipment over the last three decades, I console myself with the thought that it’s still a good deal compared to psychotherapy or alcoholism.

Colm

I like straight questions, especially when answering is so easy – and the answer comes from years of personally led and paid for experiments.

1 - I can't leave without a stereo. Some can't do without cars, watches, whores, alcohol, cigarettes, porno and football: I can't leave without a stereo.

2 – Naim because I have tried all sort of alternatives, and they bore me or sound (or look) totally extraneous to my home.

3 – What am I going to get out of it? Interesting sound for the first week. The rest is perennial boredom, music is more or less the same, jazz is an overrated academic narcotic, pop is for children of all ages. Luckily, I have Mozart and a few others. Last night I was listening to – I don't even remember what, and I fall asleep. 

4 – But I don't want to live without a system. I think stereo systems have taken the place of women according to Socrates's famous quote: you can't live with them, you can't live without them. If it was Socrates – a famous football player, wasn't he?

Day off work today - so could stay up later last night.  Went to bed having listened to some Beethoven Piano Sonatas,  Eric C, and the amazing Jeff Beck Ronnie Scotts set.    Felt fantastic. 

I went to bed after listening to 'Thick as a Brick' and I can't get it out of my head....

G

Max, your answers form a seriously worrying pattern: "... Interesting sound for the first week. The rest is perennial boredom, music is more or less the same..."

At one piece per week Mozart will last you about two years, Beethoven even less; unless you get to like both the Bach family and Telemann, then you're probably doomed.

Will it be Socrates' cup of hemlock that you'll use?

It's just a platform to play the software.Have got 4000 + albums and 1500 c.ds and 1000 cassettes.At work stream off YouTube with my own playlists or other people's playlists into a Aiwa microsystem and it sounds really good.

I do get a buzz from my home systems.I have a vintage one in my study and a best system in the lounge.The best system with a Dartzeel NHB 108 Poweramp with a Nagra  PLL valve preamp  into Quad 2805 electrostatics is brilliant.Just so holographic in the way it conveys separation and acoustics in the recording.Cant see myself changing anything.Maybe try some Superlumina as I liked what it did when I attended a Naim Statement event. liked what it did with 552 -300 and then 552-500 into Focal Sopra 2.Before the 2nd half with Statement and bigger Focals.

Find audio design fascinating.Always loved music but having a good sounding system to come home too is the icing on the cake.But could live with my work Aiwa work system.Just less resolution but still enjoyable

Also, if you read this thread...

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...een-the-light?page=3      (starts half way down the page)

Then the answer has to be "To compare the flavour of different Lemon Drizzle Cakes".

Keeps us off the streets

Huge posted:

Max, your answers form a seriously worrying pattern: "... Interesting sound for the first week. The rest is perennial boredom, music is more or less the same..."

At one piece per week Mozart will last you about two years, Beethoven even less; unless you get to like both the Bach family and Telemann, then you're probably doomed.

Will it be Socrates' cup of hemlock that you'll use?

Huge,

no worries: while I exclude Bach (safe for a handful of pieces, none vocal, all short and instrumental), I still have the whole of Bruckner, some Šostakovič, Gershwin, Bartok, most Mahler, most Ives, a lot of Domenico Scarlatti, Debussy and Ravel (in carefully chosen prescriptions), Schubert (albeit in small doses and once in a long while), Stravinsky – albeit, I must confess, almost limiting myself to his output until circa 1940 – Richard Strauss in almost his integrity, meaning that I'll be happy to pay with his Sinfonia Domestica for the chance to listen to Ein Heldenleben at will; plus many others, the so-called minor composers of all epochs who, compared to most of the disciplined and willing young composers I examine personally several times per year, are all Mozarts.

I'll surely die before my reserve of listenable music will be over; as for the hemlock, I have think about this interesting question a lot of times: and have come to the conclusion that no, unless it will be something really atrocious, like ALS, I'll wait for my turn patiently.

Best

Max

And that is the reason...

Good old Frank��

Why?  Music moves me, and in various ways and dimensions.  I rule out no genre, but have my preferences, of course.  Good kit makes the experience more vivid for me.  Bass, treble, detail, slam, boom, mid range, sound stage, seperation as a few buzz word examples, are not irrelevant, but useless individually.  Only when it all comes together to make music to the extent that the hifi itself becomes entirely uninteresting in the moment, does any of that hifi-talk mean anything. That's how I judge a system, on whether I enjoy music when listening to it, if I don't, then it's no good, not for me anyway........Music via Naim I really enjoy.