The look of the "5" seria

True, but.... (need I add more?)

Andrew

Andrew Randle
2B || !2B;
4 ^ = ?;

BMW did the same kind of poll when they introduced the new 3 Series among BMW lovers/owners and 'the general public'. No less than 85 % of both camps preferred the new design. That's no small achievement.

Richard.
P.S. the marketing people at Naim should be very curious about this poll!

Richard

+ stunning
+ good
+ better than the older style
+ worse than the older style
+ awful

I think the new 5 series look good, but worse than the older style!

Just my opinion....

Regards, Bas

I think that "stunning" or "good" is not related to anything. If you say "good looking" you are not relate it to something else.

I think that your opinion is that the "5" seria look worse than the older style.

Someone may think that the older style is awful
and the "5" style look good - but it is not your case.

Arie

I don't want to start a methodological discussion here, but this means you are researching two things at a time:

1. does the 5 series look good
2. does it look better than the older style

Now I don't really care about that, but it's just not right. You give the possibility to give more than one answer!

Regards, Bas

I hate to say it, but I do this kind of thing for a living and Bas is correct that your scale is flawed: you are asking 2 different things at the same time.

Still, although the ambiguity is going to throw things off considerably, it's adequate enough to give a strong intial indication that the new cases are not a terrible success with hard core Naimies.

Vuk.

quote:

---

is it not the sound of the 5 series that counts?

---

It's definitely the most important thing, but my flat-earth tendencies have been undermined by the fact that I shouldn't have to put up with ugly boxes in my living room just to get good sound.

Naim will limit their market if they don't keep up with their competitors on looks (we all know they're way ahead in sound).

As B&O used to say, you still have to look at the (TV / HiFi / Video) even when it's turned off (which is probably when their equipment sounds best anyway!).

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

I don't think the new 5 series is aimed necessarily at "hard core Naimies"; rather, it is aimed at people who want to get into Naim ownership at a more affordable entry price. Personally I think the new 5 series looks quite good--far better in the flesh than in photos. It also represents a departure from the 3 series look, which I always thought looked good but without enough substance to support its taking styling cues from the classic series.

Also, I think Paul Stephenson has posted to the effect that the 5 series is substantially outselling what the 3 series ever did. My dealer reports that he is selling the 5 series in much greater quantities than the 3 and that part of it is based on the appearance. Ancedotal--certainly; but Pauls comments are, I think, significant.

Cheers,

Bob @ Qwest

PS--How is your speaker search coming ?

Thanks for the lesson in inferential statistics.

(I deliberately wrote "hard-core Naimies" precisely to point out the possiblity of what you have described at length.)

Vuk.

P.S. I have seen it in the flesh and the logo lighting looks cheap and broken. If they fix that, then there is hope. As things stand, the older styling has more grace.

If it gets the sales going full speed in the budget sector, then great.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
2B || !2B;
4 ^ = ?;

Good to hear it's selling strong, though !

Omer.

The buttons aren't as nice as the 3 series, and the new logo is, well, just a bit too designed. . Yes, I realise that the old one would also have to have been designed, but because there was more type, it somehow spoke with a gentler tone of voice. Also, there is something about "naim audio" as opposed to just "naim" which (correctly) implies a sense of history, in my opinion. But I'm being picky – the new case is hugely better than what it replaced.

Best;

Mark

(I still don't like this
software very much)

To be honest, when I decided to get a decent system, the dealer set up a Naim system and a Linn system, and the looks alone would have sufficed to make me buy Naim – precisely because the standard boxes look so simple and don’t pretend to be anything but electronics with a sturdy housing. Functional looks can be exhilarating in today’s world and will endure over time (cf. Bauhaus) – I am so sick and tired of tea towels with tea pots depicted on them and everything else that for some strange reason needs to refer to itself in its outward appearance.

I think the 5 series accommodates “regular” tastes without getting into – no offense, Mick ;-) – Swindonesque DBL cozy territory.

Thomas

quote:

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The buttons aren't as nice as the 3 series

---

I think they're a massive improvement aesthetically!

The old buttons look like something that's been pulled from a piece of test equipment, rather than an integral part of the product. The production engineering on the 5 series is in a different league to that of the 3 series, IMHO.

Almost anyone with access to the right suppliers could create buttons similar in look / function to the 3 series, but the 5 series is a different kettle of fish.

I did like the cleverness of the logo on the 3 series though, it's incredible simple in concept (some clever silk screening on the opposite side to where the lettering would normally be) yet it creates a superb 3D effect that looks good from all angles.

I still like the new logo though.

Andy (closet production engineer) Weekes.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

stimmt schon: die Linn-Komponenten sind auch weit davon entfernt, durch auffällige Schriften und vergoldete Potis bestechen zu wollen, aber Naim treibt’s da wirklich auf die Spitze mit der Funktionalität (ist ja schon fast hässlich ...). Was ich am Linn-Design zu bemängeln hätte, sind die Regler (weiß nicht, wie die nicht-drehbaren Regler richtig heißen) und die etwas weniger soliden Gehäuse als bei den großen Naim-Kisten.

Initiiert wurde ich (vor einem Jahr erst!) mit Genki/weiß nicht mehr/Keilidh vs. 3.5/Nait3/Credo. Letzteres kam meiner Musik auf Anhieb entgegen (hab ich dann auch gekauft), allerdings habe ich mittlerweile einige Linn-Systeme gehört, die mich wahrhaft begeistert haben. Ist aber was ganz anderes – wenn ich mal im Lotto gewinne, gibt’s vielleicht auch ein Linn-Zimmer in meiner Villa ...

Thomas

James

Resistance is Futile

Well, here you go -- the 500 is butt ugly. The Naim logo looks poor and cheap. The power supply looks OK but the amp unit is hideous. I hide it behind my stands, away from critical eyes.

Even though I hate the looks, the actual quality of the finish on the 500 is very high but the new 5 series just look and feel cheap and tacky.

I understand the need to evolve with the times, but why fix something that ain't broke. Look at the Porsche Carrera -- the basic look hasn't changed since its inception, but merely refined and updated.

The DBLs aren't beautiful by any account. Even then I prefer their looks to the 500.

Hockman

I have to agree with all on this thread about the logo. It sucks! Definitely a step in the wrong direction.

Change with the times boys, personally i prefer the old style.

naheed...

The 5 is an improvement over the 3 (except for the un-aspiring Naim logo) with a much more solid casing than the 3.

I have a problem with the buttons, they do look wobbly in comparison with the 3. Someone previously mentioned that the buttons on the 3 have a kind of "Test Equipment" look - "good" I say - always looking for sturdiness. The controls on the 5 series are a bit too "me too" in appearance, and the volume control is positioned too far to the side.

On the other hand, the current full sized Naim kit is unique in appearance. Naim say there are no plans to change the styling of these boxes, if they did then they would piss off a lot of people who are in the middle of investing in their amps.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
2B || !2B;
4 ^ = ?;