Naim Sound?

You´ve got a Naim system and you don´t know what is the Naim sound?

MY system : Naim Nait 5 amplifier,Naim cd 5 ,Epos M 15 speakers,Naca5,FC2

Good question. It has never been answered before (properly).

Tight, lean, rythmic and incredibly fast and communicative sums it up for me I think. It's often thought of as something of an acquired taste (more so in the recent past than now. But once you've acquired it...

Mole Man

Less hi-fi, more music...

When I bought my system (the low end 92/90) I also heard a Roksan that was in my budget. Going back to the Roksan for a second time showed it to be very sharp and irritating. The Naim kit was musical, forward and not fatiguing. I paid about double what I planned on, that says a lot. Never looked back.

like Emil said "less hi-fi-more music".

Life is analogue

The naim sound is the sound that takes you in to the music. It is not simple to explain you have to expirience it.


PS:
I had a rega set (mira/planet/radio) sound perfect. But when i changed to my naim a new world opened for me



NAIM: NAIT5,CD5i, Interlink
Dynaudio: Natural One

Perhaps I should have clarified my question...Most of my listening life has been spent listening to ordinary hi-fi systems, suitcase stereos, or as mentioned, one cobbled together and hidden away on a shelf beneath the philodendrons, I've never LISTENED to other "serious" equipment, and with the bucks I have invested in my stack o' Naim, will not be auditioning the likes of Musical Fidelity, Mark Levinson et al, in the near future...This other stuff is expensive, and must sound pretty good or people wouldn't buy it, but how does is sound "different"...

An interesting question Tom.

Incredible to think that as recently as the seventies, the late great Peter Walker of Quad was still contending that amplifiers do not have an inherent 'sound' and that any competently designed amp; be it valve or solid state should sound the same.

Indeed in those heady days of my H-Fi youth; amplifier specifications were measured when reviewed in the Hi-Fi press; the 'sound' was not an issue.

Naim amp circuits are based on well established solid state designs from the sixties. The clever bit is the implementation, components and power supplies used; as well as casework etc: which we have learned down the years does have an audible effect in terms of microphony etc:

So yes; Naim amps do have a 'sound'. It is not necessarily 'right'; as all electronically reproduced music in the home is a pale facsimile of the real thing.

Indeed, the new range Naim kit 'sounds' different to the older 'Olive/CB' stuff.

As long as it puts a smile on your face; that's all that matters.

I would describe it as NOT SUBTLE, when a Naim system is being played you will turn your head. Funny thing about JN's Peter Walker comment about amps being the same, I would say I have heard a much BIGGER difference in electronics than I have say cd players, and even most speakers...but bottom line is does it sound good to you ...

Funny, I think of Naim gear for what it doesn't do. Some of the well respected gear out there will initialy dazzle you right out of your socks. Spending a few hours with it often becomes fatiguing after the initial WOW factor wears off. Naim gear is just relaxed, involving, and well, comfortable over the long haul. Just one guy's opinion.
David

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Originally posted by TFE:
Perhaps I should have clarified my question...Most of my listening life has been spent listening to ordinary hi-fi systems, suitcase stereos, or as mentioned, one cobbled together and hidden away on a shelf beneath the philodendrons, I've never LISTENED to other "serious" equipment, and with the bucks I have invested in my stack o' Naim, will not be auditioning the likes of Musical Fidelity, Mark Levinson et al, in the near future...This other stuff is expensive, and must sound pretty good or people wouldn't buy it, but how does is sound "different"...

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Cost has little to do with musicality. Pinheads buy stuff because they read a review, or see an ad, or need to have the most expensive stuff around to make up for their incredibly small dick. Most of the very expensive stuff sounds like shit. Does hi fi tricks well, but can't capture essence of music...the flow, the tension, the release of a note, the exchange of emotion. Instead most of the high buck stuff let's you hear some guy fart in the tenth row, but can't get the crack of a snare drum right. Listen first...if it sounds like real music with emotion buy it regardless of cost...low or high.

Hy there!imo tipical "product sound"can only be
compared if there are "product chains"are available.Source/amp/speakers.than you can judge sound by changing o n e of those parts and talk about the compared sound differences.
but there are also top manufactureres that do not have chains.Fm acoustics offers no source
,jeff rowland only amps ,and levinson has no speakers.(if you do not take revel as their speakers.)to my ears the typical sound of any
hifi equipment is given in difference in compare to live performance.but this includes
also the quality of the software (CD ,lp).
A theory of mine is that (concerning amplified music)the only difference between live and reproduction is the source(hammond organ vs cdplayer/cd software as an example).
i have done that compare often,and imo if the reproductionsource(cdplayer and cd software) is high quality and neutral the reproduction sounds imo very near to the original.best possibility to check this out is the control room of a studio.
O.J.

It's sound with life, sound that's organic and coherent - the opposite of sterile, clinical and shrill.

To me - after auditioning my "i" series stuff against some competitors - it's the sound which immediately put a smile on my face

Kevin

I think of the Naim sound as follows: typical polite hifi gear is a fellow wearing a silk ascot who opens the door and politely invites you in for a cup of tea; Naim kit is the guy who crashes through your door wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt, grabs you by the lapels, thrusts a beer into your hands, and drags you into a fun party with scantily-clad supermodels.

i knew it from the beginning:we all like beer
,party and supermodels.and if we are bored between two partys we listen to our naim kit to keep ourselves alive.so lets forget the typical lifeless,clinical,boring,hifi sound
of (most )other equipment.If you do not get involved its not worth to discuss,or even to think about.
O.J.

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Originally posted by KevinB: It epitomises the difference between just 'hearing' and 'listening'.

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Well said.
For me, it's Rick Lee Jones' 'Company'.

Rather like Baldricks' definition of a dog , "not a cat".

The Naim sound is not like any other.

Cheers Robert

'Brazen'?

I would rate naims sound as very "right,and correct"
i often wrote in this forum about my fm acoustics hearing experiences.it was the only equipmwent i ever heared,where i felt from the first moment that e v e r y t h i n g was right,and i go so far to say that this is imo definitly n o matter of taste(i know its a little bit of a paradoxon to say "imo" and "no matter of taste"in one sentences).(similar to a 3dimensional picture with correct (thats measurable)colour.

naim does for me abig part off fm acoustics
for a really affordable price to all (us )engaged music lovers.

going up to the high price segment(where Fm is acting)there is imo no other choice than fm,
and so there are also rarely competitors
in the league of naims integrated amps and non superexpensive pre/amp combos.
i mean there are some competitors but non of them is sounding that involving to my ears.
o.j.

Tom,

Naim sound=Not valve= Not sand= just about right.

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Originally posted by KevinB:
Bhazen - I wish I'd said that!! (Although you forgot to mention the part about him then throwing up over the sofa and telling the police to f*** off when they get called out by your angry neighbours at 4 in the morning.....

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That's the best part...he shoves you and two of the supermodels into a bedroom, and then buggers off!

I can join this one, I used to have a Naim system, or at least I'd moved up to using a CDX and XPS as my front end. Amps were biamped DPA 50s. The sound was immediate, after running in, and I felt involved with the music - Speakers are Townshend Glastonburys.

Then I had a Harley Davidson momment and moved into Mark Levinson, mainly driven by reviews etc. The sound improvement was immediate, but when your comparing DAP 50 with ML 436's and a ML 32 thats what you would expect. The biggest disappointment came when I changed over from the CDX/XPS to the ML 37/360S. The immediacy and involvement were gone although the rendition and details were as good.After two years of ML I can no longer put up with missing the immediacy, I enjoy rock music, which the ML kit renders wonderfully, but with the Naim your are there feeling it.

I am now going to go the reverse route and sell my Levinson kit and return to the Naim fold. Before I had the DPA's I had a 42 and 110 driving IMF TLS50's .

PS would a CDX2/XPS/300/252 be a good start?

Naim makes music easier to understand and the carry its emotions better.

Oups!

Naim makes music easier to understand, and carries emotions better.