ND555 Roadshows

Have had a chat with dealer he has an NDS head unit for £3200 and  expect its value to drop considerably below £3000 later this year.

At that rate, a used NDX might struggle to stay in four figure territory.

The person I just saw trying to flog an nd5xs for £2k plus might have a bit of a disappointment then!

Nope Harry you're incorrect, will hold much better its value, though won't go as far as 50% maximum depending on age obviously .

Reason is used NDS+XPS DR should not exceed at all bare NDX2 figure.

Perspective NDS buyers are NDX owners  with already XPS and possibly nDAC to move as redundant.

living in lancs yearning for yorks posted:

The person I just saw trying to flog an nd5xs for £2k plus might have a bit of a disappointment then!

That figure will more likely be ND5XS+ nDAC.

A much better proposition than NDX.

The ones on ebay are around the price nds have been selling for for ages. The first two are 2012 and are just under £4k and the last is 2018 and is £5.5k. Ive seen them go over the last couple of years at around £4.5k for 2014 models. 

Wont be rushing to sell mine anyway as it is sounding amazing, and recent upgrades to ethernet leads and network switch has given it a really nice lift too. The nd555 would have to be mind blowing to warrant an extra £8.5k over what I would get for mine. Still, never say never ! 

This is the position I keep coming back to. My NDS sounds so accomplished, so right, so realistic and unstrained. The ND555 will have to be something rather more than remarkable.

The reactions reported here, including among NDS owners suggest that this is the case. Hard to believe. Until you hear one, I suspect.

My cheque book is cowering at the back of a drawer.

Good afternoon everyone, 
Sorry to bring this back to the original subject but I thought it would be useful...there's a page on the main website where all the ND 555 events are listed - https://www.naimaudio.com/events/nd-555 

We are trying to get a few more booked in, including more dates in the South West, although we have just confirmed one in Bristol (with Audio T) in September. There is also one tonight in Kingston if you are in the area.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on the events so far, it's always good to hear what you think.

Matt
Naim Audio Marketing Team

The landmass of Ireland is unfortunately conspicuous by its absence from the Roadshow Extravaganza. 

.sjb

Helen and I would love to go to an event in Bath if one can be organised. But we'll be home auditioning the ND555 when our dealer has one to lend us and at this rate we'll probably have made the decision well in advance of such an event.  Unless the launch has been pushed back.

NaimAudio posted:

Good afternoon everyone, 
Sorry to bring this back to the original subject but I thought it would be useful...there's a page on the main website where all the ND 555 events are listed - https://www.naimaudio.com/events/nd-555 

We are trying to get a few more booked in, including more dates in the South West, although we have just confirmed one in Bristol (with Audio T) in September. There is also one tonight in Kingston if you are in the area.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on the events so far, it's always good to hear what you think.

Matt
Naim Audio Marketing Team

Nice what about the other customers which live in the the non Brexit area....

Bert, any such roadshow is down to the distributor for whichever country in which you are based, so if you're interested then best contact your Naim distributor and ask them what plans they have coming up.

Just back from Infidelity in Kingston-upon-Thames.

Excellent event. NDS + PS555 vs ND555 + PS555, into 500 system and fronted by a pair of Kudos Titan 606.

The ND555 had a sweeter top end, more resolved bass and, as mentioned above, simply allowed you to relax.

Towards the end the NDS PS555 got added to the ND555 resulting in the uptick in sound quality that you would expect.

The music choices for the demo were effective without being selections I would listen to, but after it was complete the tablet got handed around and the audience started to select some great tracks - very enjoyable.

Thanks guys,

M

What was your feeling then [@mention:1566878603990222] ,night and day better, or just different better?

or not enough time to form an opinion? And no NDX2 at the demo?

And was there a good number of people despite the football, bump into any other Forum’ites?

Sorry, too many questions, but doesn’t look like I’m going to get a chance to have a listen to the ND555 in the near future based on the current roadshows, so I’m interested & curious!

Hi Chris,

In that room and that system the ND555 was clearly better. The NDS seemed to paint the music in slightly brighter broad strokes, the ND555 resolved these so that the image was tighter, as was the bass. In one track the broad bass through the NDS was clearly a double bass being rythmically double plucked when the ND555 played the same track.

No NDX2.

When I arrived the people present were in conversation so I sat down and waited for the event to start. I will make a resolution to be friendlier.

M

Thanks for sharing that.

I also have a question, if you don't mind?

Was any indication given as to the development status of the demo ND555? Late prototype pre production final build, something in between?

Thanks.

Hi Harry,

Sorry, I didn't ask and it wasn't mentioned - I assumed, always a bad thing, and now i feel like an ass.

M

When some of the forum members visited back in late April we were told it was just about completed except for last minute tweaking, routing of internal cabling etc....probably right up to production. But if they are letting people listen it’s probably 99.9% complete. They are a bit fanatical at squeezing the last drop of music out of their products.

Yup, if it's being widely demoed then it means that Naim are happy with it.  Of course, if, between now and the day of units being made ready for shipment, Naim discover some extra tweak to make it even better, they won't hold back...

Mr Underhill posted:

Hi Harry,

Sorry, I didn't ask and it wasn't mentioned - I assumed, always a bad thing, and now i feel like an ass.

M

No at all.

At least you managed to get your eyes and ears on one. 

Thanks for your report. It's all sounding rather tasty.

Richard Dane posted:

Yup, if it's being widely demoed then it means that Naim are happy with it.  Of course, if, between now and the day of units being made ready for shipment, Naim discover some extra tweak to make it even better, they won't hold back...

Out of interest once the product is released and they discover an extra tweak would they add this tweak to the newer models made or do they not make any additional tweaks after the product has been officially released.   (Hope my question makes sense.)   

Moog, yes, it makes sense.  Yes, if they do discover a tweak that makes a significant difference during production then I would imagine (going by past form) that Naim would apply it.  It happened with the NAC552 (revised cable management around the wiring leading to the Burndy socket) and also the NAP500 (resistor lift, and later protection mod that was also applied to all power amps), as well as I'm sure to others.  Some tweaks can be applied retrospectively in the field, often by the dealer, others later when a unit returns to HQ for any service work.

Harry posted:

Thanks for sharing that.

I also have a question, if you don't mind?

Was any indication given as to the development status of the demo ND555? Late prototype pre production final build, something in between?

Thanks.

I was told by a member of staff that they are expecting their ND555 in a couple of weeks time,so this seems like the final build.

Thank you.