Do hifi's sound different across the pond?

I would imagine that the systems would have an american drawl added to the sound quality.

regards David

Although this seems an unlikely opinion, I believe that Naim gear does not sound as good here in North America as in the UK. I have had the opportunity on numerous occasions over the past 18 months to hear a variety of Naim gear in England/Scotland/France/Denmark and here in Canada and the US. Even a modest 5 series system at Infidelity and a CDX/102/180 at Loud and Clear beat a couple of 52/135 level systems I have heard here. (Not beer-induced, I'm afraid). How can this be? It makes no sense. Please do not simply discount this observation as simply due to bad setups at all the dealers and home systems here. I wonder if it relates in a fundimental way to the power issue. Naim equipment is designed from the beginning for the UK market and 220V. Perhaps the instantaneous current draw by amplifiers and power supplies is hampered by the 110V here. I have my 5 series on two separate 20 amp circuits and Antonelli heard the clear benefit on his system from the higher rated power circuit, even at 110V. I knew a local employee of a Naim dealership to rewire his home electrical circuit to use 220V Naim equipment and the sound was better for it. I wonder if the Naim factory ever listens to our 110V gear in the factory or if the reps who travel to North America can hear the difference. I also wonder if the mega amps from Krell or Levinson would also be improved by operating at 220V? Nah, too much to hope for.

quote:

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Originally posted by DAVOhorn:
I would imagine that the systems would have an american drawl added to the sound quality.

regards David

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Here in California they also have a slight nasal whine

Cheers

Keith.

I have heard identical Naim systems (as far as possible - obviously AC power plus room and setup will vary) on both sides of the pond and have not noticed any consistent significant superiority in UK systems.

Interestingly enough, I notice that the fuse rating in North American Naim gear is significantly higher than that of UK gear. Those who claim - I do not know myself - that smaller fuses limit the performance would probably conclude that UK gear should therefore be inferior especially as there is an extra fuse in the AC plug!

Paul

should be aprox twice the amperage than the UK fuse as the voltage is slightly less than half the UK / European voltage.

What would be an interesting comparison would be to compare kit in UK and Europe (demonstration of two milleniun of them and us in the previous statement<g> ) To see if the non fused plugs give the better sound in Europe

Derek

Obviously, to make 240VA with 240V mains, you need 1A of current.
In the US you need 2A with 120V to make 240VA.
It is possible that you can drastically oversize fuses in the UK (I'm talking about fuses in the case here, we don't have the interesting requirement of double fusing!) since a 15A fuse would result in 240V*15A power available in the UK and 120V*15A power available in a US application (both at the fuse's rating).
I've wondered about this with all the talk about fuses. It's tough to find anything bigger than 15A 20x5mm fuses here, though I could order some 20's from the UK. And a 20A fuse would have "twice" the impact in the UK...
As to the direction of the fuses, I leave that up to my friends across the pond. Ours always point West...
David

It would seem to me that once the wall current passes the rectification, the gear has all the same components on the inside, requiring identical operating conditions, regardless of where on this flat earth they are being played.
That is unless of course Naim uses different "bits" for different countries.

I think the U.k. has a max of 7 amp on there 220volt not counting cookers and stuff N/A has 15 amp and a max of 30 amp ...in can be seen that we in N/A could have less noisy power and more amps if that was needed...I bet is gets down to the type of buildings N/A homes build from wood U.K alot of plaster and brick...Not t mention that the Infdel. store is the # 1 Naim dealer in the U.K. and I bets makes the better set up

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Originally posted by Bob Shedlock:
It would seem to me that once the wall current passes the rectification, the gear has all the same components on the inside, requiring identical operating conditions, regardless of where on this flat earth they are being played.
That is unless of course Naim uses different "bits" for different countries.

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My experience with any changes between US and UK spec is that they have only been in the transformer. The transformer converts whatever the AC is to the expected voltage/amperage, and then it all goes through the rectifier for smoothing.

Linn have a switch in the bottom of all their gear that I've seen that changes the routing of the AC current in the transformer, thereby effectively changing the transformer for the different voltage/amperage mix. I also remember that, for a period of time, that a version of their "Brilliant" power supply didn't even have that - it wasn't affected at all by the different combinations. This wasn't true with the later versions of the Brilliant though.

Cheers

Keith.

Maximum AC current draw on a ring-main in the UK is specified at 13amps not 7. A separate spur could be rated higher possibly 30amp. There is also a supply frequency difference between Norh America and most of the rest of the world. NA supply is 60Hz and the rest 50Hz. This could possibly have an effect as well.

David

"Opinions are like belly-buttons, everybody's got one"

Would anyone be willing to sponsor me on a round the world trip to do an in depth test to see if Naim Hi-fi systems does sound differently in differnt countries?

I would be willing to test systems in any warm country, particularly the west indies!!

Regards


NB

Good point on the mains frequency. A bit more energy density at 60 Hz and the caps don't have to wait as long for the next slug of current as the voltage rides up the charge angle...
My point on the current is that if fuse size makes a difference then you chaps in the UK and other 240V countries have the advantage for the same VA draw of a given piece of equipment.
Ahh if we only still had DC power available like Edison wanted...
David