Acoustica hi-fi show 2018.

I’d previously dismissed ATCs as i understood they had to be well clear of rear walls, but rjstaines in your photo they look pretty close to the rear wall. Can you say how close you can place them?

My ATC 40A have been 50mm from the back wall as close as they could be,  but with the recent strrames update I've moved them out to 100mm .  They breathe a little better further out but I like the balance of the wall bass reinforcement

Do the Active ATC's (the ones with amp packs in the speakers) just stay powered up continuously or power up and down from a standby mode when they sense a music signal. I suspect it's the former but it wasn't clear from a quick read of the manual ?

Just curious

I think I'm now a man with a plan.

First: go to Acoustica for an audition of the SCM40As in their shop with 272/XPS front end and some of my own music.  (This was the plan last autumn until domestic circumstances intervened.)  If the active ATCs hit the spot, I'll ask for a home trial.  The big question the latter should answer is whether they will overwhelm my smallish (just under 4x6m) listening room.  If they work well at home, I will live with them for a while and, when they're fully run in and I'm used to the sound, make a comparison between the 272/XPS and Auralic Vega G2 as front ends.  I might include a 555PS in the comparison as well.  The thought of a one-box, non-buzzy front end would have much WAF but I'd be sad to see Naim disappear from the main system and I'd miss the integration between the main system and my Muso Qb.  Interesting times ahead.

In my show recollections, I forgot to mention my positive impressions of the bigger ATCs especially the whopping SCM100s.  What an amazing sound from such big speakers in such a tiny room even at lowish volume.  I guess I dismissed them as too expensive since I'd have to factor in the cost of a new house to accommodate them!

Roger

Mort2k posted:

sunbeamgls posted:

Its a good relaxed show, perfect for Naimists as they're in at least 70% of the systems. Kudos usually do a great job there.

Hoping for the ND555 but it will probably be feeding some expensive Focals which will spoil the chance to enjoy it.

Could not agree more,top end NAim sounded boring at Bristol on Focal. 

It’s not the fault of the Focals judging by my Sopra N2s. There are so many things that have to be got right not least running 500 series for at least a week once they are fully run in. If you think other speakers sound better it’s only because they may compensate for other factors which may just be a short term matter relatively speaking in the life of a HiFi system.

Phil

Throw in my two ha'penny worth. 

Managed to miss the barn somehow so can't comment on that. 

Loved the Aurilac with ATC SCM40A. Did everything I enjoy. Impressed by the Hegel/ Dynaudio and Arcam / Revel combos. Dynaudio special 40s impressed greatly too. Didn't linger long in the ATC 50 and 100 rooms. Assumed they just weren't for me size and price wise, wish I had stayed longer. Interested in the Russel K but didn't wow me nor the Kudos. I didn't stay long enough perhaps . 

The Nova / Focal was fine  but I know how good the Nova/ Star can be so not disappointed. 

 As others have said the B and W room was not great. Something not right. 

 I really enjoyed the event. Quite intimate and accessible. The range of hardware on show covered a wide price range so I could make some informed  decisions on my own budget. The choice of music does make a big difference and pleased to hear some classical tracks. Does anyone feel embarrassed playing their favourite tracks in front of an audience? 

 A must do for next year.

 Tim 

Jonn posted:

<<SNIP>>

On asking when the ND555 would be on sale, a Naim jobsworth said he was not allowed to tell me. OK I said but is it likely be this summer? Again the response was he wasn't allowed to say. This year? Same answer: bizarre. So what's the big deal?

Hi Jonn,

As the "Naim Jobsworth" you have referred to here we are under very specific instruction that until such time as a date is officially released by Naim for the supply of the new streamers then no dates are to be communicated (or even guessed at / surmised etc.) otherwise this gets posted about as being "official".

The streamers have been announced to dealers as "coming", the streamers have been shown to a group of journalists in a closed environment and they have been given the OK to do write-ups on that, the streamers will make their first public performance at Munich and it is *PLANNED* that they will be available this summer but currently there are no definitive dates announced for availability and so, as a Naim employee, that is all I can say when asked.

Best

Phil

Richard Dane posted:

Good heavens Jonn. A Naim “jobsworth”. That would definitely be a first. Could it possibly be that as of yet, no date had been set for availability, and fearing that anything they said might be quoted online/tweeted, and hence could turn out to be highly misleading, they decided to say, quite honestly, that they couldn’t say? 

I wasn’t there, it’s true, but it must quite possible, surely?

Woohoo ... I am, at last, a jobsworth!

Phil

Jonn posted:

So WhatHiFi must have made the following up: "All three of these players should reach the dealers by summer of this year. We can’t wait to try them out."

I wasn't asking for a precise date, just confirmation of the above.

Hi Jonn,

No - the journalists would have been given information at the time that they were given their demonstrations but as we were not there for those presentations then we are unable to confirm the content of any discussions that would have taken place in that presentation ... we can only go by the information that we have been given and not simply go 'off piste'.

Best

Phil

John3 posted:

I’d previously dismissed ATCs as i understood they had to be well clear of rear walls, but rjstaines in your photo they look pretty close to the rear wall. Can you say how close you can place them?

Looking at the pic I guess the fronts are 70-80 cm from the wall (unless the speakers have rear ports, it is the distance of front from wall that counts).

Well my interest has certainly been piqued by the Kudos 505.
I have not seen a price for this though.
Does anyone know how much these are selling for?
If people think they sound great with a Nova, presumably they would be a good match on a SN2 (without power supply)
Is this flawed thinking?

I believe the 505s are £6700 ish, but don't quote me.

I spent quite a bit of time listening to the 505s driven by a bare Nova and Zenith (I believe) server at this year's Bristol Show. For me this was the system of the show and the SQ was superb. If you can extrapolate the Nova's performance with the 505s to a SN2, I can't be sure as I have not heard that combo. It will also depend very much on the source you plan to use.

John3 posted:

I’d previously dismissed ATCs as i understood they had to be well clear of rear walls, but rjstaines in your photo they look pretty close to the rear wall. Can you say how close you can place them?

These are at minimum 25cm  (measuring top of cabinet to wall).  They could probably go a wee bit closer given they are slightly toed in.

Innocent Bystander posted:

John3 posted:

I’d previously dismissed ATCs as i understood they had to be well clear of rear walls, but rjstaines in your photo they look pretty close to the rear wall. Can you say how close you can place them?

Looking at the pic I guess the fronts are 70-80 cm from the wall (unless the speakers have rear ports, it is the distance of front from wall that counts).

Close... it's 66cm at the nearest point front cabinet to wall and 75cm at the furthest point.  I prefer them angled slightly, the image is more precise than when they are parallel to the wall.

Phil Harris posted:

Richard Dane posted:

Good heavens Jonn. A Naim “jobsworth”. That would definitely be a first. Could it possibly be that as of yet, no date had been set for availability, and fearing that anything they said might be quoted online/tweeted, and hence could turn out to be highly misleading, they decided to say, quite honestly, that they couldn’t say? 

I wasn’t there, it’s true, but it must quite possible, surely?

Woohoo ... I am, at last, a jobsworth!

Phil

Well, just checking with Google (because SWMBO isn't around right now), I see  "Jobsworth" is a British colloquial word deriving from the phrase "I can't do that, it's more than my job's worth", meaning it might lose the person their job: ...

It's a reasonable assumption that if Phil Harris were to be quoted as giving a date for ND555 production after being instructed not to, this might well lose Phil Harris his job... via the appropriate disciplinary processes of course.

I used to think that being a company spokesman is all about champagne suppers and standing around chatting, but I now know better,  so take courage Phil, we appreciate the incredible work you do for us.

Roger

(PS - it was August,wasn't it?)

rjstaines posted:

Phil Harris posted:

Richard Dane posted:

Good heavens Jonn. A Naim “jobsworth”. That would definitely be a first. Could it possibly be that as of yet, no date had been set for availability, and fearing that anything they said might be quoted online/tweeted, and hence could turn out to be highly misleading, they decided to say, quite honestly, that they couldn’t say? 

I wasn’t there, it’s true, but it must quite possible, surely?

Woohoo ... I am, at last, a jobsworth!

Phil

Well, just checking with Google (because SWMBO isn't around right now), I see  "Jobsworth" is a British colloquial word deriving from the phrase "I can't do that, it's more than my job's worth", meaning it might lose the person their job: ...

It's a reasonable assumption that if Phil Harris were to be quoted as giving a date for ND555 production after being instructed not to, this might well lose Phil Harris his job... via the appropriate disciplinary processes of course.

I used to think that being a company spokesman is all about champagne suppers and standing around chatting, but I now know better,  so take courage Phil, we appreciate the incredible work you do for us.

Roger

 

(PS - it was August,wasn't it?)

But jobsworth came to mean someone who either used that or hid behind that because they were uninterested or couldn’t be bothered to give good customer service, and not bp ecessarily because it would be at risk of losing their job - which is certainly something one comes across sometimes, but by no means alwats the case when people say they can’t do something - indeed, sometimes it is literally true, and they cannot do anything.

As for August, you are correct in that it was stated as August, by somone in the press at least -maybe even originally from Naim for all we know, but at present the statement is in the past...

I'm sure NigelB is in the right ball park.

I attended a Kudos event recently at Ceritech Audio and if I heard correctly the 505's with their stands will be approx £7100.

I went to the show on Sunday and I agree with much of what has been said on the various systems on offer. It is a really good little intimate show but struggles with the SQ in many rooms.

I really liked the Kudos room but there was too much distracting chatting in the front row of the Kudos room though so hard to judge but these are very worthy of an audition when they are released. I'd like to hear the rest of the Titan range now. I haven't previously gelled with Kudos speakers on the few times I'd heard them (years ago) so a big natural and 'all-together' sound was a nice surprise for me. Good stuff!

The ATC SCM-50 system with a big stack of Naim sounded really great, much better than the 100's across the way for me (much too big for that room sadly). Both 50's and 100's are fugly though so no chance I'd get either through the door here :-)

One big disappointment was the active SCM-40's in the Auralic room. I have an Aries streamer and I'd like to hear more from Auralic but not with these ATC's (although I have liked the passive version with a Nova previously). It started OK so I got settled in for more but the Tidal stream switched to an Ella and Louis track and it emptied the room. Shouty and spitty and it sounded awful. Not what this album sounds like on vinyl and CD at home anyway. Nevertheless there's no reason why this pair should not be good and I notice others thought this was a good pairing. So despite a bad showing for me, I remain curious of Auralic and active ATC's.

The Spendor A7's were interesting as was the need to squat to hear them properly as there were no chairs in this tiny room! Too expensive for the SQ on offer though but they did at least sound OK. Leema and Hegel rooms were also merely OK on the day for me.

I thought almost everything else was very poor with some truly shocking sounds from some rooms. Focal's sound awful to me anyway so I was super disapointed with the big Naim room. Also disappointed with the Kanta No.2/Nova system. Partly because I love the look of those Kanta's (in that Turquoise colour in the adverts) and I know the Nova is a superb sounding bit of kit. Bad though. Really bad on the day. Other terrible sounding systems were from Mark Levinson/Revel and Pro-ject. The less said the better. I didn't hear the B&W, Chord, Dynaudio and Russel K rooms however as I'd heard enough and went home to put Ella and Louis on. Aha, much better. Phew :-)

PS. I found the lack of record players ironic (apart from a cheap looking Project) when the only software on sale was vinyl!

TK421 and NigelB - thanks, although its not what I wanted to hear!
That's well over budget so I will refrain from thinking about these any further.

1GiantLeap posted:

TK421 and NigelB - thanks, although its not what I wanted to hear!
That's well over budget so I will refrain from thinking about these any further.

They have been scrubbed from my 'itches to scratch' list as well.

The divorce papers would probably arrive shortly after the credit card statement.

Yetizone posted:

rjstaines posted:

Well I hadn't but here they are just now.  In all honesty, they look less overbearing in real life than they appear in this pic.

They look fab! Especially with the stands - remind me of Linn 'Briks of old.

Now you come to mention it, Yetizone, the similarity to my Briks of 30 years ago might have had a subconscious influence.   The good news, though, is that you'd never have considered resting a pint of beer on the top of your Briks, whereas ATC almost propose the flat top as an added advantage (at least they did suggest it to me).

My big old IMFs that I had until a couple of years ago were a very similar size, but were clad in a wood-finish Formica type laminate - no veneer to damage with drinks!

james n posted:

Do the Active ATC's (the ones with amp packs in the speakers) just stay powered up continuously or power up and down from a standby mode when they sense a music signal. I suspect it's the former but it wasn't clear from a quick read of the manual ?

Just curious

On and up all the time, James.

OK in winter, but we'll see what summer brings;  the NAP500 they replace kicked up as you played music of course, the louder, the hotter, which is why summer in our house was always quieter than winter.  

Cheers Roger 

TK421 posted:

1GiantLeap posted:

The divorce papers would probably arrive shortly after the credit card statement.

But since it was bought while in marriage, she pays half of it. Make sure you buy something expensive!