Are you happy with your Nd555

I think you will find enough testomonies of how much people like it in the ND555 impressions thread. And the ones not happy will not dare to post, as they are too ashamed of spending so much money to be dissatisfied 

Bert Schurink posted:

I think you will find enough testomonies of how much people like it in the ND555 impressions thread. And the ones not happy will not dare to post, as they are too ashamed of spending so much money to be dissatisfied 

Absolutely right  

Very much so, to sum up the ND555

It's is a lot of money but it let's you hear a lot more of the music.

My bank account is happy I don’t have one, but I’m sure that if I did, it would be a beautiful thing.

No it's the worst piece of hifi you can buy, it is sooo bad sooo ugly......

Bert Schurink posted:

I think you will find enough testomonies of how much people like it in the ND555 impressions thread. And the ones not happy will not dare to post, as they are too ashamed of spending so much money to be dissatisfied 

Right answer

Okay I attended the demo at Cymbiosis a couple of weeks back.  It’s a superb piece of kit no doubt but before purchasing I would need to be convinced that the treble is not a tad harsh?

Regards,

Lindsay

Bert Schurink posted:

I think you will find enough testomonies of how much people like it in the ND555 impressions thread. And the ones not happy will not dare to post, as they are too ashamed of spending so much money to be dissatisfied 

Except for @TONYCURRAN1 who documented at length on the forum how a ND555 started him on a path of ditching Naim sources altogether.

feeling_zen posted:

Bert Schurink posted:

I think you will find enough testomonies of how much people like it in the ND555 impressions thread. And the ones not happy will not dare to post, as they are too ashamed of spending so much money to be dissatisfied 

Except for @TONYCURRAN1 who documented at length on the forum how a ND555 started him on a path of ditching Naim sources altogether.

Yes well that saga makes Brexit seem like a walk in the park.   

"Yes well that saga makes Brexit seem like a walk in the park"

And cheaper...

It doesn't sound as good as my vinyl rig where I've compared the album with the FLAC download that came with it (Blitzen Trapper, Destroyer of the Void), the vinyl has more substance and depth, PRAT and emotional communication are pretty close though. I've yet to do this with the recent Rattle, Berlin Phil. Beethoven set which comes with a hires download code (I haven't downloaded it) so that isn't conclusive but it plays music I don't have on vinyl or even have at all in a very engaging way. Not convinced by internet radio though, I was hoping to ditch the tuner (NAD 4020A) but that won't be happening with the current data rates. My only streaming has been from Primephonic via Airplay which can't match ripped CDs but is still pretty good, that free trial ended yesterday so Tidal will be next and I will give Chromcast a go, both ways if I can get Google Home to cooperate.

I can't comment on the comparison with NDS or CD555 as I've owned neither.

I must say that that I when returned to Cymbiosis last week nearly 3 weeks after the ND555 demo and dropped in to the main demo room where the ND555 had been played and Peter was playing Chris Jones Roadhouse on a LP12 and the 552/300 Titan 808S and for musicality it killed anything I heard on the ND555. Not sure the spec of the LP12 but it was through a Naim Stageline.  Sublime.

Regards,

Lindsay

The Strat (Fender) posted:

I must say that that I returned to Cymbiosis last week nearly 3 weeks after the ND555 demo and dropped in to the main demo room where the ND555 had been played and Peter was playing Chris Jones Roadhouse on a LP12 and the 552/300 Titan 808S and for musicality it killed anything I heard on the ND555. Not sure the spec of the LP12 but it was through a Naim Stageline.  Sublime.

Regards,

Lindsay

Hmmm... interesting 

enjoy/ken

I got an unsolicited, "Wow I never heard that part so clearly before" from my wife last night as we were listening to Wish You Were Here.  We love the ND555.

feeling_zen posted:

Bert Schurink posted:

I think you will find enough testomonies of how much people like it in the ND555 impressions thread. And the ones not happy will not dare to post, as they are too ashamed of spending so much money to be dissatisfied 

Except for @TONYCURRAN1 who documented at length on the forum how a ND555 started him on a path of ditching Naim sources altogether.

I think [@mention:68159344030159678]’s journey is why I had to get a little feedback.   I have one on order just needed some positive reinforcement.  Also, I’ll be using Tidal as the “source” for the nd555.   Any feedback on Tidal and the nd555.   

Bart posted:

I got an unsolicited, "Wow I never heard that part so clearly before" from my wife last night as we were listening to Wish You Were Here.  We love the ND555.

The same thing happened to me at the Naim demo at Signals. The music was not to my taste and then the last track was wish you were here by P Floyd....even my wife said not heard that before, as the details previously lost, unfolded.

I went to the roadshow near Bristol a week or two back, so far ahead of the nds it wasn’t funny but it’s £20k - I know I’d get more overall satisfaction from a turntable at a quarter of the price

If anyone is dissatisfied with their broken 555. I am willing to swap for my perfectly functional ndx...... 

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Okay I attended the demo at Cymbiosis a couple of weeks back.  It’s a superb piece of kit no doubt but before purchasing I would need to be convinced that the treble is not a tad harsh?

Regards,

Lindsay

Lindsay,

you'll never sort that. Every piece of Naim equipment has a point (in volume, or frequency, or type of music or song) where it becomes a tad coarse – or harsh, as you say. It is the brand signature, is necessary to the feeling of realism that sometimes strikes you with their gear, but you cannot take it away from their sound. Look at all the discussions, those about cables, about anything: 98% of them, be the poster aware of it or not, are about the fact that Naim sounds great but at the expense of some coarseness. In fact, all the shamefully costly ultra high end audio I have heard in my life tries to sound realistic and smooth, which is not doable and is useless. One must know that before buying Naim: he/she will have great moments of realism and foot tapping, but sooner or later a few seconds – or minutes – of music will sound too loud (no matter what the position of the pot), or not enough refined in the top end. Unavoidable.

The efforts that Naim has done to correct this haven't taken the brand very far: the SuperUniti was unlistenable, and all the new versions I have heard of renewed gear (which I have heard, all of them, starting when they changed the CD5x into the XS), like the XS2 and the SN2 have been relative failures, because you can take Naim out of a mild coarseness (changing brand, for example, or spoiling it all with cables), but you can't take mild coarseness from Naim – it won't be a Naim anymore. To  my ears, whoever prefers a NaitXS2 or a SN2 to their originals, can't hear properly or is not made for Naim or is in malafede. 

I have tried hard: 4 or 5 CDX2s, a number of XPSes one of which DR, lots of HiCaps, twice the SBLs and five times the N-Sats, all amps from Nait to 282/SC/250 (safe the NAP100), all sources from CD5i to CDS3: it is either Naim or bore. You have to choose, there's no other option. 20 months ago I swapped 282/SC/250 for a Luxman L590ax, it must have played for 10 hours. I started therapy and patiently began all over again.

Then, let's face it: a thread on a 20,000 streamer with double ultra costly PSU has triggered 40 pages of discussions, and there's still someone who shyly admits he finds the ND555 not completely up to the price: I can't even imagine the level of detail it can reproduce, but I can imagine why someone is not convinced – everybody hoped the day would come when a sweet sounding, yet perfectly Naim voiced piece of equipment would pop up. It is impossible. Naim is great, but it's either realism with some shouting, or it is domestic HiFi and the ghost of boredom lurking somewhere in the dark living room. Shall we talk about all those who have surrendered to the last resource of sticking a pair of Harbeths to their Naim amp? Even my Ovator S-400s – smart units, very very smart – have something in the BMR which, at moments, can be less airy and mannered than necessary.

Just my opinion, but I was caught like a fool in reading the same bullshit for the 10,000th time here, and I decided to answer to you because I thought I saw something in your post that sounded sadly familiar.

Best

Max

Bert Schurink posted:

I think you will find enough testomonies of how much people like it in the ND555 impressions thread. And the ones not happy will not dare to post, as they are too ashamed of spending so much money to be dissatisfied 

Hi Bert you are right when you say some if not a lot of members would not share their thoughts regarding any Naim product on this forum

my month old 552 pre lost a channel I posted on here don’t worry about it after all it only cost £20000

i then had 4 enjoyably days with the NDS555 then it stopped playing

dont worry about it after all it’s only about £21000

then my dealer installed the NDX2 no sound don’t worry about it 

it must be stacic or your mains

i then made a knee jerk reaction and borrow ML pre streamer and mono blocks which I hated

i now have Chord Dave and their new M Scaler using Cyrus X just to stream to the Dac

best sound I have had since my days of having Linn Lp12

members won’t post their Naim woes on here due to certain members who talk a load of rubbish when they have a keyboard in front of them

sad thing is they have not even heard a Chord Dave with Hugo MScaler because it does not have a  green Naim badge on the front

it is sad as they are wearing blinkers and are afraid to listen just in case it sounds better.

To any new ND555 owners who are disappointed and pining for vinyl, I'll trade you my LP12/Stageline system in a heartbeat. I'll even throw in my vinyl collection.

Please form an orderly queue 

Bert Schurink posted:

I think you will find enough testomonies of how much people like it in the ND555 impressions thread. And the ones not happy will not dare to post, as they are too ashamed of spending so much money to be dissatisfied 

I sense this was meant in jest (the smiley gives it away surely) but I suspect it may have been misunderstood?

on a little more serious note, I cannot imagine someone buying a piece of expensive hifi, being dissatisfied with it (which begs the question -- did they demo it??) and not raising the issue with their dealer or Naim Audio. In such circumstances, not sure whether posting on this forum will add anything, unless of course they don't get any joy from either...

Great to hear you are enjoying your new ND555 Bert

and for the 'avoidance of doubt' (hate this, heard it from solicitor), I don't have ND555.

Massimo Bertola posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Okay I attended the demo at Cymbiosis a couple of weeks back.  It’s a superb piece of kit no doubt but before purchasing I would need to be convinced that the treble is not a tad harsh?

Regards,

Lindsay

Lindsay,

you'll never sort that. Every piece of Naim equipment has a point (in volume, or frequency, or type of music or song) where it becomes a tad coarse – or harsh, as you say. It is the brand signature, is necessary to the feeling of realism that sometimes strikes you with their gear, but you cannot take it away from their sound. Look at all the discussions, those about cables, about anything: 98% of them, be the poster aware of it or not, are about the fact that Naim sounds great but at the expense of some coarseness. In fact, all the shamefully costly ultra high end audio I have heard in my life tries to sound realistic and smooth, which is not doable and is useless. One must know that before buying Naim: he/she will have great moments of realism and foot tapping, but sooner or later a few seconds – or minutes – of music will sound too loud (no matter what the position of the pot), or not enough refined in the top end. Unavoidable.

To me, that sounds like like a description of most of the live music I’ve heard. Maybe that means that Naim are doing something right, or perhaps my taste in live music is less refined than yours. 

ChrisSU posted:

Massimo Bertola posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Okay I attended the demo at Cymbiosis a couple of weeks back.  It’s a superb piece of kit no doubt but before purchasing I would need to be convinced that the treble is not a tad harsh?

Regards,

Lindsay

Lindsay,

you'll never sort that. Every piece of Naim equipment has a point (in volume, or frequency, or type of music or song) where it becomes a tad coarse – or harsh, as you say. It is the brand signature, is necessary to the feeling of realism that sometimes strikes you with their gear, but you cannot take it away from their sound. Look at all the discussions, those about cables, about anything: 98% of them, be the poster aware of it or not, are about the fact that Naim sounds great but at the expense of some coarseness. In fact, all the shamefully costly ultra high end audio I have heard in my life tries to sound realistic and smooth, which is not doable and is useless. One must know that before buying Naim: he/she will have great moments of realism and foot tapping, but sooner or later a few seconds – or minutes – of music will sound too loud (no matter what the position of the pot), or not enough refined in the top end. Unavoidable.

To me, that sounds like like a description of most of the live music I’ve heard. Maybe that means that Naim are doing something right, or perhaps my taste in live music is less refined than yours. 

Yep. I've been to many concerts, gigs where the sound has been a bit coarse but that hasn't got in the way of enjoying the music so hearing that at home can be authentic. Anyway, presenting recorded music in a way that gives the listener enjoyment is surely the goal.  I think Naim does that pretty well. I've heard many very expensive systems that are impressively smooth but after that initial impression I find them unmoving emotionally.  I don't want to be bored when I listen to my music.  

ChrisSU posted:

To me, that sounds like like a description of most of the live music I’ve heard. Maybe that means that Naim are doing something right, or perhaps my taste in live music is less refined than yours. 

Chris,

my taste is music has nothing to do with this. You are saying exactly the same I wrote.

Max