Impressions - Bristol Show

Totally agree on speakers, the best Naim demos were in the Dynaudio and Ruark rooms :-)

Seth

Daft questions perhaps: But were you able to be seated for <all> of the demonstations? Standing and listening to speakers is usually a singularly unrewarding pastime IMHO.
Were the room sizes, furnishing and proportions the same in all cases?
It is easy to make generalisations without thinking to much about the conditions under which the vaious speakers were operating.
We all know the huge difference simply changing to another CD can make. From tedium to excitement at the touch of a drawer button.
Were you able to sit centrally at a suitable distance from the speakers?
I have rarely enjoyed any demostration at a hifi show and am always glad to get home and listen to some real music. They always sound boom and tizz at hifi shows and shops. Aren't playing at the right level. Aren't playing something I like.
There are so many variables that it would take considerable effort to match all speakers to all rooms to all systems and all CDs in every hotel room (or shop) demo.

Nime

Everyone has the right to be wrong.

Paul/Seth

My son and I thought exactly the opposite (we both have naim systems). Playing a track from Perfect Circle through the dynaudio speakers (downstairs dynaudion were using naim amplification) gave a rather overblown (boomy) bass and a rather muddled middle. By contrast the two naim setups on the 10th floor, where we headed immediately after and played the same track, gave a typical naim sound with good timing and balanced output. Base was perhaps a bit light through the Arivas but the overall impression was of a well balanced starter system. The Allaes next door gave more of the same with a lower extension. We thought both systems sounded very well - best for years in fact.

Ah well one man's meat .... etc.

The highlight for me anyway, was not what was on demo but what is on the way.
By September naim will have small bookshelf type speakers for rears in an AV system and a sub available price around £700. These will then complete Naims intial foray into the AV field as the DVD5 is due to hit the streets in May.

Nothing else really attracted - even the Wilson Benesch failed to enthrall.
Left after an expensive pint and hot dog each.

Cheers
Peter

Nime, Peter,

I have heard Naim speakers at various different shows and Hifi Shops and every time I have walked away totally un-impressed. The rest of the equipment that I have heard from Naim in IMHO are totally brilliant, but for some reasons they just fail to impress me with their speakers.

My father has a Naim system (CDI/82/2*Hicap/250) and Kharma speakers and I have to say that with the Kharma speakers it really sounds very nice. Previous to the Kharma speakers he owned the Epos 14's that I currently have and again they sounded good, but we have had Naim speakers on the end of his kit and to both him and I think they just didn't cut the mustard.

Paul.

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Daft questions perhaps: But were you able to be seated for <all> of the demonstations? Standing and listening to speakers is usually a singularly unrewarding pastime IMHO.

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Yep, got a seat to listen to the systems. Only a quick listen though. Very much a superficial impression. Rooms, set-ups and music all differed so no help there for "scientific" comparison only changing one variable at a time. However given that the Naim system was CDX2, XPS2, 282, HC, 250, Allae but the Ruarks were on the end of CDX2,202,200 I would expect the all Naim system to stand out. For my money it didn't.

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My son and I thought exactly the opposite

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Fine by me We all hear and appreciate different things.
It's why I auditioned a system with my ears before buying and didn't rely on reviews and forum opinion, although both were useful in providing ideas.

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I have rarely enjoyed any demostration at a hifi show and am always glad to get home and listen to some real music.

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Oh yes, my CD5, Nait5, FC2, Ruark Prelude 2's sounded fantastic when I got back [Note the speaker preference, comments above may be biased ]

Seth

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Originally posted by Nime: [edited by Blythe]
Daft questions perhaps: But were you able to be seated for <all> of the demonstations? Standing and listening to speakers is usually a singularly unrewarding pastime IMHO.

I was able to sit in all of the demo rooms I listened to

Were the room sizes, furnishing and proportions the same in all cases?
It is easy to make generalisations without thinking to much about the conditions under which the vaious speakers were operating.

Not all rooms were the same, some were quite large, som "standard" hotel room size, some were pretty well open plan (Wilson Benesch)

We all know the huge difference simply changing to another CD can make. From tedium to excitement at the touch of a drawer button.
Were you able to sit centrally at a suitable distance from the speakers?

Not too bad on the whole, though some I did feel too close to the speakers

I have rarely enjoyed any demostration at a hifi show and am always glad to get home and listen to some real music.

I took a friend, who has Quad gear, with me to the show . After the show, we came back to my place as he wanted to hear my set-up with some of his favourite CD's. He'd not heard a Naim system before, except at the show.
His comment was "Your system sounds much better than anything we heard at the show - it's really good"

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Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......

The obvious question that occurs to me is why any manufacturer would bother to demonstrate their kit at a hifi show?

There are so many opinions about the same bit of kit. From so many different perspectives. That I wonder whether they were listening to the same equipment. I have just read on another forum that the Naim speakers at Bristol were far too bright. I have heard others say that the Naim speakers were all boom and tizz with nothing in the middle. Others say that the frequency extremes were sadly (or badly) lacking! So which speakers were they all listening too?

Nime

Everyone has the right to be wrong.

Nime,
its all about the 'mine is better than yours' ethos. Nothing polarises opinion more than hi-fi IMO. I still don't see how people buy kit from the show based just on the demo there?!?

Re the show, I thought all three Naim demo's were good. Ordered the Peter gabriel DVD that was being used on the AV demo.

Other stuff:
Seventh Veil - good demo and my mate got to listen to the only wadia cd player at the show...

Mission - got to listen to the 252/CDS3/300. Liked the Mission rep who said 'we use Naim b'cause its revealing kit'

The Moon rep - he started back tracking when Naim was mentioned re my mate looking for a Cd player and we talked about sorting a home demo of a Moon Cd v Naim lol

Fujitsu plasma - drool...

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The obvious question that occurs to me is why any manufacturer would bother to demonstrate their kit at a hifi show?

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Because looks sell, and there are some very pretty boxes for kit fetishists to drool over.

I would love to know how many people actually listen to kit before buying, rather than purely going on reviews and what looks good.

Seth

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I would love to know how many people actually listen to kit before buying, rather than purely going on reviews and what looks good.

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My folks are currently decorating their living room, and they have budgeted some £1300 in total for a 2 channel set up from scratch, incl stands etc. If the finish on the speakers doesn't match the new fire surround then my ma won't b interested - despite all my protestations! LOL

We probably don't want to go there...!

I too have never heard a pair of Naim speakers that made me want to reach into my pocket - each to their own.

Ruark Talismans here Maxi. Ummmm nice.

Cheers

Harry

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If the finish on the speakers doesn't match the new fire surround then my ma won't b interested - despite all my protestations! LOL

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But which will come first the speakers or the fireplace? Sorry, silly question

I have to confess that one reason for choosing my speakers was that the oak finish matches our real wood floor. They did sound the best to me and my girlfriend as well. Shame, I really wanted to like the gloss black Quad 22L's, but we didn't.

Seth

Guys. My speakers are probably one of the ugliest speakers around (Epos ES-14) but I didn't get them at all for the look.

Whoops, just realised why I am still single !!!

Paul.

'Matching' or complimenting the decor was very important here.......... the room is not 'mine' for hi fi use alone.. ( I can dream I guess ) but I have been allowed a great deal of lattitude in having so much new kit, so it was only fair that I did my bit and found some speakers that didn't completely overshadow the rest of the room. It wasn't particularly difficult once I found a dealer who knew what he was doing!! Ended up with most of a Proac Hexa system and a pair of their Signature8's for the front surrounds so that they can be used in Stereo... they match the rest of the system beautifully in sound, and the whole thing is being made in Oak ( at a cost and a wait.. but it is worth it...) and I for one cant wait to hear it..... while it will be visible.. it will complement everything else in the room as opposed to clash with it! Sound was a very important issue to me, and after the demo I know I have made a good choice for me.