Atom review

What nonsense. Having worked in consumer magazine publishing for many years, I can assure you there's a healthy professional tension between editorial and advertishg departments. Yes, there's a prsssure from ad teams to ensure their double page spread client gets a good word, but they know they cannot expect that. And often the client does too for that matter. 

Surely these magazines have their place. It may be popularist. It may be grazing, not gourmet. That isn't a bad thing it's just a thing. It is easy reading. I've tried to digest some articles in the more 'high falutin' (?) hifi magazines and been left confounded. Never been confounded by What Hifi. 

Rarely been confounded by Focus or How It Works magazines. Marvellously dippable. New Scientist is equally marvellous but in an entirely different way. 

I can enjoy all for what they are. If that stops I'll refrain from reading the offender.

s.

What Hi-Fi was the first magazine I always read when first getting into hifi.   The thought then of spending £800 on Speakers and £500 on a CD player was pretty radical for me. The magazine covered this area in a straight forward way that was jargon lite and gave light to what the average punter is looking for on a budget.   

The Atom is a very complicated beast compared to what was on offer back then.  I'm sure if they dwelled too long on the technical aspects and if I was in that same position again -  I might have been put off.

I don T blame whf but their claims as above. I don T believe at all those regarding ATCs unless they have issued something on par with a Classic 200/250 I ll do my penance. But won T happen I m pretty sure.

For me what the WTH review gives me is that the Nova is quite flexible to streaming, on board amplifier is class A/B and does the Naim thing/sound with more clarity, and it may highlight textures a little better then before.  The confusing part is that its a 40 watt per channel into 8ohms and it powers ATC SCM50 reference speakers with headroom to spare.  Then why does it have an option for a Power amp connection?  What did the Naim designer have in mind as to the type of speakers the amp is to drive in a typical situation..?  My music tastes is quite wide which includes Classical music, the review is silent in matters relating to soundstage, imaging and depth which is  frustrating.  Of course the best solution is to audition the Nova.

Richard Dane posted:

Iconoclast posted:

Magazines are mostly good to stir up interest and help find out what is available. I can't help but question ANY magazine that has a glowing review on one page and a paid advertisement on another.

Well, think back to when What Hifi? appeared on the scene.  It was part of a new wave in magazines and reviewing where the emphasis shifted to demystifying hifi and concentrating on the subjective - i.e. what something looked like, felt like, how it operated, and of course, how it performed.  Yes, it could be concise, but boy it could also be brutal too.  They were never afraid to say what they liked and what they didn't like. - plenty used to get the single "blob" out of four for some area or other.  And of course they were one of the mags who first really got behind the idea of the record deck making the most difference to a system - particularly the Rega Planar 3 and Linn Sondek.  It's thanks to WHF that the Dual 505, NAD 3020 and whichever speakers were your faves became the entry to true hifi sound.  From there it was a step up to a Rega, then the Linn Sondek with a Linn Basik, up the amp ante to an A&R A60, and then on to a NAC42/NAP110, and a pair of Kans.

We have a lot to thank What Hifi for today .  I still have a few copies from the early '80s and they are still informative and fun to flick through from time to time. So I give them my thanks and although I no longer subscribe, I still grab a copy whenever I travel just to keep abreast of what's new.

When I first got into hifi in the early 80's I never read magazines. I bought my first system pretty much on a whim after a friend convinced me that I needed to get with ''it''. Then hard times hit, living hand to mouth with just an AM/FM radio for entertainment. During those years I used to wander into magazine stands and spend hours flipping through magazines like WHF. That and staring into audio shop windows, thinking how fantastic it would be to own even a NAD 3020, is what kept my interest alive until I was able, many years later, to afford a decent entry level kit. So yes they do serve a purpose and I still enjoy reading them for pretty much the same reasons.

Couldn't agree more. First thing I did when I got my first job in the early 90s was to buy What Hifi and use its recommendations to buy a great sounding hifi system on a budget. I've never forgotten how great it sounded. Long live What Hifi. I still value its opinion.

Romi posted:

For me what the WTH review gives me is that the Nova is quite flexible to streaming, on board amplifier is class A/B and does the Naim thing/sound with more clarity, and it may highlight textures a little better then before.  The confusing part is that its a 40 watt per channel into 8ohms and it powers ATC SCM50 reference speakers with headroom to spare.  Then why does it have an option for a Power amp connection?  What did the Naim designer have in mind as to the type of speakers the amp is to drive in a typical situation..?  My music tastes is quite wide which includes Classical music, the review is silent in matters relating to soundstage, imaging and depth which is  frustrating.  Of course the best solution is to audition the Nova.

Power is only one specific aspect of determining if an amp can drive a specific pair of speakers.

In fact peak current delivery and current rise time are more significant factors when driving difficult loads.  Just because an amp is 'only X number of Watts' tells you very little about the speakers it can drive.  All it really tells you is how loud a specific amp and speakers will go.

the major limitation in such a small box and its transformer which has to supply all the circuits from one transformer. its designed for small book shelf speakers.  naim edging their bets by putting a pre amp out to drive a better a bigger power amp. .I thought it sound good but didn't stand out.   it looks classy   great one stop product  it will will sell very well

Huge posted:

Romi posted:

For me what the WTH review gives me is that the Nova is quite flexible to streaming, on board amplifier is class A/B and does the Naim thing/sound with more clarity, and it may highlight textures a little better then before.  The confusing part is that its a 40 watt per channel into 8ohms and it powers ATC SCM50 reference speakers with headroom to spare.  Then why does it have an option for a Power amp connection?  What did the Naim designer have in mind as to the type of speakers the amp is to drive in a typical situation..?  My music tastes is quite wide which includes Classical music, the review is silent in matters relating to soundstage, imaging and depth which is  frustrating.  Of course the best solution is to audition the Nova.

Power is only one specific aspect of determining if an amp can drive a specific pair of speakers.

In fact peak current delivery and current rise time are more significant factors when driving difficult loads.  Just because an amp is 'only X number of Watts' tells you very little about the speakers it can drive.  All it really tells you is how loud a specific amp and speakers will go.

Ok taking into consideration the above explanation, I refer to my original query if this  amp can drive difficult loads on just 40 watt per channel into 8ohms in the manner you have described above why does it have the option for Power amp connection?  Or put it another way what will a nap 200/250/300/500 bring extra and if Nova can drive ATC 50, is it expected that Nova can be used with top flight difficult Magico speakers?

What HiFi = pay me for stars or it's all stars, but for once they got the nail on the head in one line, "but the Atom is like opening a door and now listening to the music from inside the room.".

The Atom is an amazing product looks awesome and sounds better.

Credit to What HiFi to get in early with a basic but good review.

audio1946 posted:

the major limitation in such a small box and its transformer which has to supply all the circuits from one transformer. its designed for small book shelf speakers. 

I had 'my' Atom at home set up replacing my NDX / Naim DAC / XPS / 252 / SuperCap / NAP300's driving my Titan T88's - it was set up to do AV bypass for the front channels of my AV setup with an Anthem MRX710 driving centre (through a NAPV145) and rears (through the Anthem's own internal amps.

Did it sound as good as the NDX / Naim DAC / XPS / 252 / SuperCap / NAP300's? Of course not ... but its 'designed for small bookshelf speakers' amps (as you describe them) drove the T88's better with its 2 x 40w amps than the supposedly 2 x 120w (when used in stereo) of the MRX-710.

audio1946 posted:

naim edging their bets by putting a pre amp out to drive a better a bigger power amp. .I thought it sound good but didn't stand out.   it looks classy   great one stop product  it will will sell very well

...or to drive a powered subwoofer - which a lot of people do want to do - rather than it being "hedging our bets"?

Phil

I've been reading what hi-fi for 15 years now and had the good lucky to audition many of the products they reviewed and bought some myself after the review and audition.

I have to say, they do know what they are talking about, and I've always found that the way they listen to hi-fi and mine are quite similar, and were able to identify many sonic traits that other magazines simply do not understand or talk about.

For instance - the Chord QBD76 review was spot on, and various reviews of Chord DAC's by an American magazine simply don't get it, what is the USP of a Chord DAC - well it's the fluidity.

Similar What hi-fi introduced me to Naim, I never would have heard of Naim without what hi-fi and over the years their reviews of CD555, CDS3, CDX2, the Various Uniti all got 5 stars, now is anyone saying they didn't get what Naim is about? There is a glowing review of a 252/SC/250 on what hi-fi which explains much of what all the fuss about, there is no point in the various graphs and technical tests (from many other hi-fi mags), without understanding the context of how the 252/SC/250 came into existence. (Derived from 52 - and of course the legendary NAP 250 history)

202/200 5 stars

NDAC 5 stars

DAC V1 5 stars

 I've owned DAC V1 and still own 202/200, and what hi-fi did really review the products and describe them very well. 

Thank you what hi-fi for introducing me to Naim, Chord, B&W, Vertere, Kef 2005.1, Yamaha Home Cinema, JVC projectors, and also Dynaudio - all of these have brought great musical and cinema enjoyment to me.

Oh and I almost forgot : Pioneer Kuro and Panasonic Plasma TV's.

Not everyone on this forum needs to own an Atom - I am quite happy with what I have, but going back to 2010, I would have bought the atom in a heartbeat as my very first Naim, and Congratulations to Naim for this wonderful piece of hi-fi.

Ah the pioneer Kuro, still have mine, very expensive at the time but well worth it. Still has a lovely picture, very easy on the eyes, some of the new technology is s bit wearing after a while.

I've been lucky to own 2 kuros in my lifetime. Love them, and the latest OLED's still don't have the cinematic quality magic of a top Plasma from Pioneer or Panasonic to my eyes.

Agreed, have a panny plasma in our other room.

I still have a kuro plasma, 10 years now... A 55

About to change it to a 65 oled soon

Leys not get sentimental over an old tv

Emre posted:

I still have a kuro plasma, 10 years now... A 55

About to change it to a 65 oled soon

Leys not get sentimental over an old tv

Still seen nothing to beat top end Panasonic plasma - no sentimentality involved. I would happily buy a replacement but not when that would involve reducing my watching pleasure!

To my eyes new oleds fron sony and lg are way better than my pioneer kuro

Kuro was a fabulous set. I moved onto one of the last generation Panasonics but then got an OLED a few months ago. Love the blacks and the motion handling. I also love the power consumption which is somewhat down on the Panny as is the heat output.

Timmo1341 posted:

Emre posted:

I still have a kuro plasma, 10 years now... A 55

About to change it to a 65 oled soon

Leys not get sentimental over an old tv

Still seen nothing to beat top end Panasonic plasma - no sentimentality involved. I would happily buy a replacement but not when that would involve reducing my watching pleasure!

I did finally recently change my top end but aging Panny plasma TV with an OLED LG TV... very good indeed, gamuts have expanded, resolution has expanded as well as dynamic range with nice inky black levels....... also although screen is larger it's  far less obtrusive and it's less power hungry ... very pleased and films are an absolute delight to watch in HD and UHD... even the 3D is surprisingly effective. I did have my LG calibrated just like my Panny before it... and to me that really is worth it to get more from the device.... though to be fair unlike my Panny my LG was quite respectable from the factory.

Agree to calibration. Some may disagree but all is in the eyes of the beholder 

Phil Harris posted:

audio1946 posted:

the major limitation in such a small box and its transformer which has to supply all the circuits from one transformer. its designed for small book shelf speakers. 

I had 'my' Atom at home set up replacing my NDX / Naim DAC / XPS / 252 / SuperCap / NAP300's driving my Titan T88's - it was set up to do AV bypass for the front channels of my AV setup with an Anthem MRX710 driving centre (through a NAPV145) and rears (through the Anthem's own internal amps.

Did it sound as good as the NDX / Naim DAC / XPS / 252 / SuperCap / NAP300's? Of course not ... but its 'designed for small bookshelf speakers' amps (as you describe them) drove the T88's better with its 2 x 40w amps than the supposedly 2 x 120w (when used in stereo) of the MRX-710.

audio1946 posted:

naim edging their bets by putting a pre amp out to drive a better a bigger power amp. .I thought it sound good but didn't stand out.   it looks classy   great one stop product  it will will sell very well

...or to drive a powered subwoofer - which a lot of people do want to do - rather than it being "hedging our bets"?

Phil

So that preamp output on the Atom can be used for a subwoofer? 

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Timmo1341 posted:

Emre posted:

I still have a kuro plasma, 10 years now... A 55

About to change it to a 65 oled soon

Leys not get sentimental over an old tv

Still seen nothing to beat top end Panasonic plasma - no sentimentality involved. I would happily buy a replacement but not when that would involve reducing my watching pleasure!

I did finally recently change my top end but aging Panny plasma TV with an OLED LG TV... very good indeed, gamuts have expanded, resolution has expanded as well as dynamic range with nice inky black levels....... also although screen is larger it's  far less obtrusive and it's less power hungry ... very pleased and films are an absolute delight to watch in HD and UHD... even the 3D is surprisingly effective. I did have my LG calibrated just like my Panny before it... and to me that really is worth it to get more from the device.... though to be fair unlike my Panny my LG was quite respectable from the factory.

I have auditioned the top end OLED's. They are, without doubt, technically impressive but, and here's the rub, they portray, to me, a world that is not real. Ironically, given the Holy Grail of HiFi is for the technology to 'disappear', leaving behind the true sound of the music, in the world of TV the opposite appears to be true. When watching films on the Panasonic plasma I see, by and large, the same world I see through my own eyes. When watching the same films on high end OLED's I see a technically enhanced world, visually stunning but one which doesn't actually exist. I really am not being critical of the new technology, just saying it as I see it! I truly dread the day my trusty plasma gives out.

mmm - mine looks very real. Perhaps I'm living in a parallel universe?  Granted, some settings can look awful but dark room and calibrated it's sublime.