Statement statement.

I attended a demo at my local dealer, and was able to select the music myself.  That definitely helped me get an understanding of Statement and all it can do.  For me, listening to tracks I've heard many times lets me pick out what's new and what's good and what isn't

not sure i would ever reach firm comparative conclusions from a show dem. there have been many occasions where a similar system to mine (at this time) was played and it sounded worse than my equivalent system at home.

on the other hand, i cant be too dismissive about show dems since i recall being extremely impressed by a Nait/Kan/LP12 system at a Heathrow show in late 70's...

but i have never understood why go ahead with such demos when the room is not symphathetic -- i guess its nice to see the folks behind the design -- its quite interesting (and can be vefy fruitful) to chat with naim staff, if the opportunity arises -- and of course meeting fellow naim users and sharing views and records.

when i listened to Statement S1 @ Grahams house, even though his listening room is very different from mine -- somehow i got to appreciate what this pre-amp was doing within a few seconds of the 1st record we played. in other words, seems i didnt need to adjust to the room...

ah well...

enjoy

ken

when DR versions of amps were compared like 300 to 300 DR, which speaker cables were on the respective amps

NACA 5 or SL?

Maybe the amps needed more time to warm up?

Mains issue?

Noisy SMPS nearby?

" DR versions of 300 and 500 sounded sterile lost the edge boogie or what ever. In film terms sharper picture less colour"

What can I say but.... interesting!

I found Statement demo with the big Focal speakers was hard in the high frequencies to what I prefer - if Statement did that to the system I would not have liked it.

In my system the S1 Pre makes the 552 high frequency performance sound rather poor in comparison. The S1 Pre has a beautiful 'tube-like' high frequency rendition that is in a different league from the 552.

But the Big Focals did not let that through when I herd them - but the smaller Focal were much better, and the most recent Focal models I heard a few weeks ago I would even be able to enjoy, so there seems to be progress with Naim's input to the previous Focal 'sound' from what I heard.

DB.

The Big Focal Utopias did have a very hard spitty treble which ruined the Statement demo they were a step backwards on the smaller sopras in my view.

I thought the DR versions were clearly better than the old with cleaner bass, lower noise and sweeter treble.

The SL cables seemed to be a bigger upgrade than the power amps though.

Wish we could of had some more normal music rather than the sound effect type stuff

The focal one of the  big models, I heard at Naim in april also ruined the statement demo. Really anoying and hard to understand whyFocal would find the voicing of the speakers to be good that way.

If newer models are voiced differently something good has come out of the  Naim Focal cooperation.

Claus 

Yep. I thought the big Focals were a step back. I personally would have liked to have heard the Sopras with the Statement.  I thought these had loads more character compared to its larger brother, which I thought sounded pretty sterile.

DR's had a wonderful darkness which I think must be attributed to the total absence of any noise floor or distortion - I didn't notice any loss of boogie factor.

I also thought the music selection was really rather good. I've since purchased a couple of the demo'd albums.

My overall conclusion was that the more you spend the more the scale and quality of the sound increases until you reach a reasonable representation of live music. And the Statement definitely gets you the closest.

Shame they didn't wheel out their own Ovator S800s...now that would have been interesting.

It is very difficult for Naim to demonstrate the efficacy of their Statement amps at demos. The chosen music and loudspeakers not to individual taste; plus a poor acoustic environment, can easily be big turn-offs.

I am fortunate to have heard the S1 pre-amp in the systems of two friends, and as a 552 owner I really really hate it - because I can't afford one!

The Statement amps are quite wonderful.

John.

John,

Don't fancy the Statement! Be happy with your LP12/555/552/500/Titan system, it's quite wonderful!

Amitiés,

Edouard

DBL, SL2, NBL

those were the days

I feel sorry for Naim staff need to use Focallies, bet they have at least IBL in their wardrope

… or maybe some Kudos speakers 

Hello Edouard,

Good to hear from you. I am indeed very happy with my system. I hope you and the family are all well and enjoying life.

John.

Your system's not exactly shabby, John

I've just ordered NAP 300DRs (maybe that should be NAP900 as I need 3?), so that will be an interesting change.  Suspect a revisit will be in order...

If the difference over the 300 is anything like that between the 250DR and the 250.2, you are in for a real treat. Three treats in fact. 

Congratulations Graham. 

I take they are new NAP300DRs rather than commissioning the upgrade - which I assume also means that the world will be even more awash with NAP300s 

Were you not even tempted by one NAP500DR?

Hopefully!

No wonky active system here

Chris,

No, I wasn't.  I like the speed and presentation that you only get from active systems.

When you hear people talk about comparing a single 500 passive (ignore DR for now) vs. three 300s active I don't think it is an accurate comparison.  A 500 will better a 300 but the comparison is really with/without the passive XO in the speakers, which is why I favour 300s without XO to 500 with.

Thanks Graham,

The Super Lumina loom (now pretty much run-in) has put a delicious icing on the cake. You're in for a real treat with three DR 300's.

Best wishes to you and Debbie.

John.

I would like to re-iterate that I wouldn't buy on the strength of a hotel room dem.

They were just observations of that particular dem.

I am glad that others have said the same about the Huge Focals treble, as we had listened to the New Sopras it would have been good to have heard them on the end of Statement and then change to the big Focals.

Hi BigH47,

Having demoed and actually going to the extent of buying and owning a DR power supply, I concluded I could not enjoy the dr effect.

So much so I returned my dr supply and replaced it with the non dr equivalent for the very reasons you described. 

I think we all know that Naim are no longer masters of their success. The use of Focal speakers has been forced upon them by Focal and the venture capitalists. Whilst this is a pity IMHO, its not a disaster since nobody expects even a half-decent sound at a hifi show in any circumstance.

The good news appears to be that the more recent offerings from Focal are an improvement and, more importantly, a good dealer will be able to provide proper demonstrations with superb speakers from manufacturers other than Focal.