Naim vs Devailet

ryder. posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

For what it's worth, I think Damon's post was totally appropriate and most useful. He was not pushing Devialet, just offering his experience. James N has no Naim boxes (only a Naim wire) nor does Innocent Bystander and a number of others. Do you want to throw them off the Forum in some form of Hifi ethnic cleansing? We should celebrate diversity. 

Love all these witty responses.

I think it's part of the marketing strategy of Naim. Every now and then they motivate somebody to be positive about the competition. As a guaranteed result the Naim devotees will attack the poor poster and tell him there is only one religion.

It strengthens the bond and makes the religion stronger. The only time where the strategy didn't work when they motivated somebody to write about the Chord Hugo......., the counter attacks where to weak and people started to lose faith.....

Bert Schurink posted:

ryder. posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

For what it's worth, I think Damon's post was totally appropriate and most useful. He was not pushing Devialet, just offering his experience. James N has no Naim boxes (only a Naim wire) nor does Innocent Bystander and a number of others. Do you want to throw them off the Forum in some form of Hifi ethnic cleansing? We should celebrate diversity. 

Love all these witty responses.

I think it's part of the marketing strategy of Naim. Every now and then they motivate somebody to be positive about the competition. As a guaranteed result the Naim devotees will attack the poor poster and tell him there is only one religion.

It strengthens the bond and makes the religion stronger. The only time where the strategy didn't work when they motivated somebody to write about the Chord Hugo......., the counter attacks where to weak and people started to lose faith.....

personally i don't think naim audio is the best of all the competition. I have also non naim gear and for me an all naim system is a little bright and agressive. I have an all tube ear yoshino preamp to compensate...

I have heard better digital sources than nds/555 dr, but they were a lot more expensive. Chord dave is a less expensive than nds/555 dr and it is very competitive, maybe better in some aspects.  But for me devialet is not so musical and very agressive in his advertising.  It is just my opinion and i can't say it is an undisputed truth.

The Naim board is very active, very knowledgable and very loyal, as it should be. I obviously have a Muso but have heard Naim gear up to and including the Statement played through Focal Grande Utopias. The dedication and commitment by Naim to music output is fantastic.

My main music driver at the moment is my Devialet 250 Pro the reasons for purchasing it I gave earlier. Today, I had the chance after the usual Saturday chores such as cutting the grass to sit down uninterrupted and listen to The Division Bell and Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd via Tidal and Audirvana+. For first time ever I heard every word of every song.

The precision, separation and clarity were wonderful, but the sound is very neutral, which you can interpret as positive or negative. The output seems to adhere to the production emphasis i.e. If there is a bass emphasis then you hear it, if it is more acoustic or orchestrated you get that too. Due to having spent loads on the 250 I am still playing my music through my 20 year old Castle Harlechs even if all the drivers have been replaced at some point. For me, they are still going a sterling job until I can squirrel away the wedge for some 802 D3s or maybe Focal Sopras.

Anyone owning a decent Naim setup in the Wiltshire area wishing to have a direct comparison, I could tuck the 250 under my arm and play spot the difference. 

Hi All,

My thanks to those who felt my posts were reasonable, at least in tone. That was certainly my intent. 

But back to the OP's question, I wonder if there is some value in looking at cabling - a change in cabling, to get to a smoother sound. I have only a little familiarity with PMC, and none with the 25 series so I have no idea about their sonic signature (A good friend and audio dealer, who does not sell PMC, rates the 25 series very highly). But the 'other' amps are IMHO, quite sensitive to cables and power quality; my own recent changes in wiring made a real difference in getting rid of a metallic sound, or sheen that I heard, especially as other parts of the system improved. 

My Naim gear always seemed happiest with the factory speaker wires. Jukemark; any other wires or connections in your system that you could swap around to tune things up, or down a bit? Or some room treatment? Just a thought.

Damon posted:

Hi All,

My thanks to those who felt my posts were reasonable, at least in tone. That was certainly my intent. 

But back to the OP's question, I wonder if there is some value in looking at cabling - a change in cabling, to get to a smoother sound. I have only a little familiarity with PMC, and none with the 25 series so I have no idea about their sonic signature (A good friend and audio dealer, who does not sell PMC, rates the 25 series very highly). But the 'other' amps are IMHO, quite sensitive to cables and power quality; my own recent changes in wiring made a real difference in getting rid of a metallic sound, or sheen that I heard, especially as other parts of the system improved. 

My Naim gear always seemed happiest with the factory speaker wires. Jukemark; any other wires or connections in your system that you could swap around to tune things up, or down a bit? Or some room treatment? Just a thought.

Hi again, what have I started here!

I have Chord interconnects and Nac5 speaker cable, but I have ordered a run of WitchHat cable to try instead of the Nac5.

Someone suggested in a past post about not toeing in the speakers. I have tried this and it has helped quite a lot.

These 25.24's are definitely a lot brighter than my previous 20.23's and 20.26's no doubt about that. Perhaps I need to go back to the 20 series...

Mark 

Hungryhalibut posted:

Eleven days ago, the OP stated that they would persevere with the 272. I mentioned before the thought of trying other speakers. There seem to be quite a few people having issues with the top end of the new PMC 25 series. Depending on how the period of perseverance is going it may yet be worth trying other speakers. There's no guarantee the Devialet would remedy the issue. 

It would be interesting to hear the OP's latest thoughts. 

I am now thinking the same...speakers. I think PMC have gone a bit over the top with the tweeters in the new 25 range.

I now have them firing straight across the room rather than angled in and they do sound better for sure. 

Today I am going to try them with the grills on...

Sloop John B posted:

I have heard neither product but I can categorically guarantee you that no matter what anyone says on this thread you are going to get the 220pro. 

However it's quite likely you are making the biggest audio mistake of your life to date, but sure it's one way to learn.

 

.sjb

 

 

Sorry, you were wrong!

Huge posted:

If you are having brightness / harshness problems...

1   first look to your room acoustics, it may simply need a bit more acoustic damping.

2   Are your speakers 'toed in', if so move them so they fire straight across the room.  Some speakers are designed to work with 0° toe in angle, and sound bright and hard when 'toed in'.

These options are a lot cheaper than an electronics swap.

I have worked on your second point and they do sound better, thank you. 

My room is fully carpeted with cloth furniture and lots of heavy curtains, and there is certainly no echo with the clap test so I really dont think its the room.

Mark 

If it's not the room it must be your ears. Maybe try some heavy curtains on them .

I was required to get a clap test to obtain my marriage license. Fortunately my spouse-to-be and I both passed.

In the end it might be easier to find a system and speakers that fit your room rather than modifying your room to serve the gear.

OTOH a 'well-acoustified' room allows for more options with gear that will 'work' and in the end there may be less leg work involved, but we all choose different routes to the same end.

joerand posted:

If it's not the room it must be your ears. Maybe try some heavy curtains on them .

I was required to get a clap test to obtain my marriage license. Fortunately my spouse-to-be and I both passed.

In the end it might be easier to find a system and speakers that fit your room rather than modifying your room to serve the gear.

OTOH a 'well-acoustified' room allows for more options with gear that will 'work' and in the end there may be less leg work involved, but we all choose different routes to the same end.

Ahaha! You have given me a Sunday morning laugh!!