Just a thought, as i have found with past upgrades and recent tweaks (both Naim and headphone mobile setup), once you hear a "better" setup or more detail, then you will always remember the extra details when downgrading.
Example: Along time ago go from passive to full active, was a good improvement, not jaw dropping, but the music took on a more detail, controlled presentation. A month later a decided to send some boxes for service and went passive, yet a could still recall, at least the extra details.
Just a thought as a few threads with people downgrading and still happy.
Maybe if we all buy a ND555/Statement setup, after 14 days return it and go back to a low to mid-range classic setup we would be happy.
Posted on: 09 August 2018 by Richard Dane
It's an interesting phenomenon, and one I've ruminated upon in the past. My drive from home to work at the Naim factory used to take around half an hour - just enough time to take in most of an album. So, on days when I would drop round to one of the music shops in town and buy a clutch of CDs, on the drive home I would usually pick one to play. On a number of occasions I found I was pretty underwhelmed by the experience - possibly thanks to the CD systems in the VW Golf and BMW I was then driving. So I would then play the same CD through the big Naim system at home. And it was a completely different experience. What's weird though is that if I then took that CD back into the car, all of a sudden I could hear so much more of what was going on, like my brain was now able to past over a lot of the cracks and fill in the lost or hidden details.
So, lesson learned - never play a new CD first in the car, but rather play it at home and then later in the car. Of course, had the car been a Bentley with the Naim system onboard, it might well work the other way around!
Posted on: 09 August 2018 by joerand
In retrospect, I had a love/hate relationship with my now gone SN2. Utter perfection on a limited number of recordings, a battle for cohesion on a large number. I found an alternative integrated that does most things better, but not without compromise on the hi-fi extremes.
When I listen to those particular recordings that were sublime on the SN2, I do fondly remember and miss some of it's speed and agility; however, I remind myself of my current amp's far greater congeniality with the breadth of my music holdings, I relax, and all makes sense.
