Munich

Me too Bert  

You don’t have to fit the wifi and  bluetooth antennas.

Gaby ( my wife) thought the Utopuas were good with dance music, there was no acoustic music played, unless they made it unrecognisable. She also thought the room too large for the kantas, volume on the 202 was at 11 o'clock.

The Kondo room sounded good but only played jazz. Magico and Wilson had a good sound.

Heard some good scandi jazz/folk in the vitus room but fail to hear how they suduced some Naim owners away from their 500s.

So let’s talk about the main events. First the ND555 and later the NDX. 

First thing to say was that they had organized the entry into the rooms into an odd way. You had to register yourself on a not very well working French keyboard. At the NDX one I couldn’t even find the dot and it crashed. The idea as such was ok, to ensure no overbooking at not people popping in an out, but the result was rather cumbersome.

The first demo was a problem, they had some technical issues in the first demo and the stuff wasn’t yet at it’s peak, so I had something I need to go again and hear it properly.

which I did after lunch. The demo worked and was much better moderated. So besides the odd effect that the Focals are not my favorites, I found them in this setup much more digestible. They had a good set of demo pieces to show prat and detail, so as such it gave a good impression. So if I tune out the effects of the Focals and the Statement, what did I notice about the ND555

1. Massive PRAT, incredible and very enjoyable. The transcends of notes are working perfect. 

2. Soundstage is incredible. You don’t hear so often that type of sound stage

3. Detail retrieval, you could hear things happening which I wouldn’t hear in other setups. 

4. Tonality was right on the spot, sometimes a bit bloat in bass, but I had the feeling it was more the speakers given the rest of the accuracy, or perhaps still something to improve.

5. It sounded sometimes so perfect, so effortless.

now of course - I am not sure what effect the other components had on the picture. But I have heard the statement with Wilson Benesch and Linn streamer. And in comparison I would say , much better PRAT detail retrieval similar or better.

So while I don’t know the CD555 - I can belief the claim that’s Naim’s best source. Let’s see if I am right in real circumstances with less accomplished other components.....

More photos to follow. And I do understand that people might be less positive as they get too much taken away by the effects of the speakers. While I had the feeling that the speakers had some negative effects - but that it was okish. Also a point to remark the sound in the morning was by far not so good as the demo I had after lunch, and no it wasn’t me....

Bert you are a Star, with your reviews, this late at night, thx

Why on earth Naim haven't put the ND555 with the 552 / 500, I don't understand... well I do, they are dem-ing their very best kit, but that doesn't show the ND555 in its proper place.  There are just many more 500 series customers than Statement customers (and I'm one of them).

Playlist of the demo as far as I have it right..

The Wheel by Sohn, great

Use Me by Junior Wells

Dance of the Tumblers of the Snowmaiden by the Minnesota Orchestra

casino Nation by Jackson Browne

Louie’s Lullaby by Beats Antique

and Urban Flow by Thomas Siffling

at the NDX I also heard the great Halleluhjah by Espen Lind

and Song for Strayhorn by Garry Mulligan and Chet Baker

Couldn’t resist a review of the 500 open

The NDX demo room

Steve Harris explaining stuff with some nice old stories as well...

NDX insight I belief...

Demo pictures

Nice remote as well

Fantastic headphones the Utopias..

Huge speakers..

Some more demo

Bert Schurink posted:

Huge speakers..

 

Quadratic diffusers, but need some huge bass traps as well to get anything decent from these big boys. Glad to see some acoustic treatments in the room. Do you have a full room view? Thanks Bert.

DaveBk posted:

Bert Schurink posted:

Huge speakers..

 

Quadratic diffusers, but need some huge bass traps as well to get anything decent from these big boys. Glad to see some acoustic treatments in the room. Do you have a full room view? Thanks Bert.

You have a kind of 3/4 view in the earlier pictures, I don’t have a photo with the full room on it.

Bert Schurink posted:

Huge speakers..

 

I remember this very pair of speakers from the Naim factory demo room. Many of us did not like the sound, but the guy on my right hand side really liked them. To my left a well known forum contributor could not believe his ears......really did not like them. That’s speakers for you...

When you see the yawning chasm between the ND555 and NDX setup it makes it all the more surprising and disappointing they dumped the NDS.

Keith

Other than the NDS architecture is more similar to the NDX in many ways than the advancements that have been delivered by the ND555. In my view the best decoupling with the NDX is achieved by using an offboard DAC... this would appear to be significantly mitigated with the ND555

The reason the NDS is no more is Naim believe the NDX2 is as good, we need to give it a listen to confirm. 

I agree .. I can’t remember from my recent Naim briefings whether the NDX2 is closer in architecture to the ND555 than the NDS.

Will soon drive away for my 2nd day. I hope to see and hear the big speakers of Burmeister, the Senheiser new ones and the CanJam, more post to follow with still content of yesterday’s visit.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

I agree .. I can’t remember from my recent Naim briefings whether the NDX2 is closer in architecture to the ND555 than the NDS.

Hi Simon,

My dealer tried to suggest that the NDX2 will be better than the NDS. I might have accepted that if it had two burndy connections and if I hadn’t been told that it was very good but not as good as NDS at the Bristol Show. Perhaps Bert can get a third opinion today?

Gazza posted:

The reason the NDS is no more is Naim believe the NDX2 is as good, we need to give it a listen to confirm. 

Hi Gaza,

I hope you’re right.That would be really cool, but see my other reply just now.

Bert Schurink posted:

Huge speakers..

Those huge Focal speakers ... looks like they are separate-box type like SBL/DBL? If so what if Naim could persuade them to make an SBL2 to replace our ageing SBL:s? In addtition to being such an awesome music maker the SBL is also a very practical match to the modern flat Tv against a wall.