Is Naim rubbish or what?

Posted by: Solid Air on 15 February 2015

I got my first Naim Nait back in the 90s and it was so awful I went and bought a Naim CD player as well, just to see if I could make it sound listenable. The combination was so bad I kept them for well over a decade, just hoping the sound would become adequate. Then I made the mistake of buying a Unitiqute and a NAP100 so I could stream music from a NAS as well, and it was so appalling I sold the CD player for pretty much what I bought it for and only listened to the Unitiqute, transfixed by its stupidity.

 

Why can't I get lossless streaming? I can remember thinking back in 2010 when I bought it. This oversight was insulting. When they launched Spotify, which loads of fools wanted, and implemented it really well, I was horrified. I even upgraded to a NAC N-172xs, which is a ridiculous product, as everyone who doesn't own one knows.

 

And now, to cap it all, they've released a product called the 272 which I don't want to buy. Can you believe it? I would rather they'd made something else, but they made that. The cheek.

 

Anyone would think they'd just achieved record revenues in 2014. Clearly, they're all idiots with no idea what the market wants.

 

Posted on: 15 February 2015 by blythe

I know exactly what you mean 

Posted on: 15 February 2015 by bicela

Alright! Go on!

 

Humans are limited by design. When, very rarely, becomes a "mature" there are not anymore spare parts...

 

And all they do in design reflects this philosophy, in hardware and software.

 

In the sadness I will buy this 272.

Posted on: 15 February 2015 by dayjay

Lol, I enjoyed reading that 

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by Bart

Solid Air, I know how you feel.  My home music network runs so well that I'm bored with it and now just watch TV.  I may get a Raspberry Pi and take some TCP/IP engineering classes and learn Linux just so that I'm interested in music again.  "It just works" is a crap place to be I'll tell ya.

 

Until then, I think I'll try listening to this new band I heard about, "The Smiths."  Does anyone know if they're any good???

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by Fueller

Very Good!

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by dayjay
Originally Posted by Bart:

Solid Air, I know how you feel.  My home music network runs so well that I'm bored with it and now just watch TV.  I may get a Raspberry Pi and take some TCP/IP engineering classes and learn Linux just so that I'm interested in music again.  "It just works" is a crap place to be I'll tell ya.

 

Until then, I think I'll try listening to this new band I heard about, "The Smiths."  Does anyone know if they're any good???

No, they are miserably crap!

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by hungryhalibut

Quite right. Worst band ever. My Naim is sounding really good - how unfair is that? And that bloody app - it always works. It's an outrage. 

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by Brubacca

Solid Air...

 

change of subject..  How much better is the NAC-n-172 than the Qute?  I was thinking of replacing my Qute in the main system and moving the Qute to the TV. I feed the Qute into a valve amp.  

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by hungryhalibut

Everyone knows that the Qute is totally wonderful and that the 172 is a misconceived pile of junk. 

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by Solid Air

The app is soooooo dull. Every time I use it the bloody thing just works. The only way I could stop it just working was to set up the network in a way Naim doesn't recommend, but as soon as I changed back it started working again. I'm also sick of the lack of documentation - after all, if Spotify, Google and Facebook can be so comprehensively documented, why can't the Naim app?

 

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now. (I do adore The Smiths).

 

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by Solid Air

@Brubaca

 

I bought the Nac N-172xs because I wanted the 24/192 board and Spotify (mainly for the kids), rather than necessarily for a big jump in SQ. I had a UQ1 and a Nap 100 and so could have bought a UQ2, but it seemed better to make a slightly bigger step up for not much more money, given that I had the Nap 100 anyway. I will at some point upgrade the Nap 100 too (second-hand 200 probs) and that should reveal more of the 172's qualities.

 

Compared with the UQ the 172xs provides more depth and 'soul' to the music. It isn't 'forward' in its presentation at all (eg SU), it's very musical and balanced. It seems at home with rock, funk or chamber music, and happy to play quietly or loudly. Where the UQ was always a bouncy little puppy, the 172 feels more mature and refined. It's definitely better, no doubt about that. I would say it doesn't sound exactly like anything else I've heard in the line-up, but I guess there's some relation to a ND5xs/152xs.

 

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by Graham Clarke

Yeah, it's ridiculous, isn't it!

 

I got lumbered with an active olive system for well over ten years and when I moved to a classic system I only got about 50% of original value in resale.  I was distraught.  I was expecting at least 50.1%.

 

So now I've got 15 of their darn boxes.  They're breeding like rabbits.  You'd think it would easy to stop this given that rabbits with shining green eyes would surely be easy shotgun fodder, but no!

 

I also think it is pathetic that Naim haven't committed to adding holographic 3d play back capability, slated to appear in the as yet not invented standard due in 2037.  Come on guys!

 

If we're not careful they'll start manufacturing goods that people actually want to buy!

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by SongStream

To the OP, damn funny stuff.  :-)  

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by MikeT.
Originally Posted by dayjay:

Lol, I enjoyed reading that 


+1  Well done!  As a Naim neophyte who loves his new 5si, I am relieved to hear that I may have a future with this gear after all. 

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by Clive B

This thread should be read in the context of the relativity thread. Then it all makes perfect sense. 

 

And back in the real world, the Smiths really are crap. Nobody really likes them. Except for Nigel that is.

Posted on: 16 February 2015 by nitrous
Originally Posted by Clive B:

This thread should be read in the context of the relativity thread. Then it all makes perfect sense. 

 

And back in the real world, the Smiths really are crap. Nobody really likes them. Except for Nigel that is.

 Brothers, this is just incredible! One day after owning a 102/hicap/180 system for over 10 years, I vaguely mentioned to a mate I was thinking of up grading to the black stuff, and right there and then, without hesitation he offered me large amounts of cash for the olive gear! What was I to do! I've been lumbered with the darn black gear now ever since.....listening to after record and cd after cd addim vinitum.......very galling.