so.. whats in a Naim ?

[mpw]

here we go again.. !! ( remember ?? )

TWO GREEN EYES !!

I got the CDP home.. plugged it in.. powered on.. put the CD on the tray , put on the puck.. and voila..... ERR...

another CD.. ERR
another CD.. ERR

ano so on atleast 15 times..

I was at my wits end.. the darn CDP was not reading the discs.. any thoughts that the discs were bad were quick banished as my CD collection is of quite good quality and maybe 1 or 2 may have been ERR.. rejected but.. not 15 of them :sad:

I must admit i freaked out..

I got 1 coldplay CD to play but that was skipping lines..

I must add.. very quickly.. Before i bought it i did have a good demo at samirs place and it was flawless.. and the packing was original with the naim tray lock threaded firmly in place.

A quick email to Steven at Naim and a short 15 mins later came the reply.. check the platter play and the puck.. checked.. didnt find anything amiss.. and reported back..

Afetr eXchanging videos with naim of the CD player in question.. Steven thought it was time to pack up the CDP and send it to Dubai Audio for full warranty repairs. At that point in time i agreed.

The responses at the Naim forum were very educative too.

Thanks guys !!

NeXt morning before going to work.. put on a CD .. justforkiX.. and guess what.. flawless.. another CD.. flawless play.. another one .. flawless..

The ghost was gone !!

:yahoo::clapping:

i really dunno what i did right.. maybe i was placing the puck wrongly on the CD .. i just dont have an eXplanation.

Its playing very well now.. and no trouble at all. Smoothly reads all the CD's and works as if it was all a bad dream.

The sound :-

For the first time, i have a rig which is entirely in sync.. all naim.. everywhere.. and i feel it.

The Eposes tell me they are back from finishing school and they sound that touch more refined.

Some folks may call the sound "energetic " ( not boomy ) and i think thats the way i like it. As i grow older my ears may request for someting more mellow and i will take it up at that time but for now i think i can cross the spoon and fork on the plate..

I have had my fill...:licklips:

:clapping:

I could go on and use the adjectives here but maybe i will leave that for some of the Mumbai FM's whom i have known for sometime and who have eXpressed intrest in coming over for a mini meet / listen.

One of the FM's whose opinion i respect very much predicted this CDP will give the TT a run for the money and we will have to wait for some more time for any observations. For mow i am using the CDP as its natural that its new for me and i wanna play some more..

The above just tells me that the the Naim CD5Xs CDP is a darn good product and supported beautifully by folks like Steven ( with whom i have had interections even in the past.. so this is not a one off ) and Adil at Dubai Audio.

Maybe after sometime i may look at a new better looking audio rack just to improve the aesthetics at home but for now.. its music and more music..

PS : To those who are following this thread.. a deep thank you. Please keep your comments / questions coming in and i will try my best to answer.

I suspect that this is the end of the road for this particular thread too. Since i may not have much to add this thread will slowly sink to the bottom until someone searches for it in the future.

The answers have been found, i think, to whats in a naim ?

To my mind what is the key is synergy from the source to the speakers.

I all my searches .. there is the so called "American " way which looks at speakers first and the "British" way which looks at the source first. Someting akin to a chicken and egg.

I, for one, subscribe to the latter and which means that it is better to have a system that is sonically matched at the source.

Ofcourse this depends on the funding and the level of happiness you get from your present system... maybe you could slowly move towards sonic match over some years..

These are just my 2 pennies worth.

Good luck !

regards
mpw

 

[ravi_d]

Congrats on your new acquisition.
Now you have two different sources from the extreme ends. Can you please put down your thoughts on the comparison between CDP vs TT

 

[ghatgepatil]

Emotionally worded write-up this :clapping:. Congrats, you have finally found 'the' full stop. However, coming back to what Ravi has asked, well, digital would always miss the 'realism' bit by more than a whisker when up against pure analogue. 'Strictly, my views'.

 

[prem]

Hi mpw

Congrats. If you ever replace your rack, go with a Naim rack. Also if a power supply upgrade is possible for your CD player, consider it. In digital, power makes a huge difference

 

[mpw]

Congrats on your new acquisition.
Now you have two different sources from the extreme ends. Can you please put down your thoughts on the comparison between CDP vs TT

=========================================================

i think the question is unfair.

Just listened to some Beatles & Neil Diamond on the TT.

Its like asking you like beer or vodka ?

I like both my friend..:lol: each has its own charm and the purpose of both is to get you high ( responsibly )

I knew before i bought the Naim CDP that i had to answer this question to myself before i spashed money on the CDP. All of us work darn hard for the money we earn and that includes me. hyeah:

I have been warned that the CDP is capable enough to give my present TT setup a run for its money but my vinyl collection is distinct compared to my CD collection. These hardly meet. So when i wanna listen to a particular artist.. i know i have only 1 choice either CD or Vinyl.

Only the rare few albums i have which overlap.

Over the past year i have incurred high expenses on the select vinyls i get which are in very good condition and which helps the phono and the electronics to get the best out of it.

regards
mpw

 

[mpw]

one of the FM's asked me this on the PM and maybe some of it needs an answer. I think many readers would have similar question in their mind so here it is :-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Am not asking this Q in the forum deliberately!

Any specific changes you are able to hear from your previous Marantz CDp (that was quite a high-end one)? Are you able to justify this upwards of 1 L (between 1.1 to 1.3 Ls ) expenditure for whatever little extra your brain is being forced to accept?

I know, and fully agree to the 'kick' of owning a famed brand. This is something which cannot be explained or justified ever.

What I wanted to really understand is ... is the sound signature so very different and appealing??? or is brand value literally shoving everything aside?

Thanks
============================================================

the first point is well taken - i do find a difference between my earlier CDP and the Naim CD5xs. Please note that the price points are vastly different. The Naim CD5xs is a lot smoother and cuts the steeliness. I think it attempts to apporach analog.

yes - it does.

does this mean the highs are rolled off - i dont think so.

Point no 2 - the kick of owning a brand - i think one needs to think in terms of consistency of sound rather than the brand kick.

besides this, Naim is a brand that is well respected and regarded. there are brand building expenses which are a factor of the cost but these cannot be avoided.

We live in the real world dont we ??

My feedbacks are wrt the sound and the branded is alluded to in the service or the interactions that i have had with them.

I heard an all Naim rig at lakozy Mumbai about 14 months ago and i knew i liked the sound. The next All naim setup was samirs. In between have had the good fortune to hear many more but all my research alluded to the advantages of sonic similarity from the source to the end.

and lastly - my brain is not being forced to accept something - request you to kindly consider that choices are largely made on rational grounds. Kindly let go of that feeling.

BTW - the presumption that ALL analog sounds good is incorrect as is the presumption that ALL CD or digital sources sound good.

This brings to the fore a choice of having 2 sources ( TT & CD - in my case )

mpw

 

[Dr.Bass]

No wonder that users of Naim mostly have an all Naim setup. The way Naim delivers when they are together is uncanny. They know what music should sound like, as many of us know too, but when we go about matching cables or components we do it with our limited researching abilities, that is where a company like Naim has no limits. They can try endlessly till they hit the sweet spot. Moreover they know the electrical characteristics of their equipments so it is even more apparent to them on what would work best.
It is a very relaxing experience to know that every thing in the chain is sorted.

 

[mpw]

System Pics 2013 | Naim Audio Forums

may besomething like the above...

or this one

4a9136bf8162 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

i find it hard to believe these are for real !!

mpw

 

[mpw]

the epos M12i is now with the new owner and a new home.

The M12i's are lovely speakers - much under rated. Felt a touch sad to see them go.

:sad:

Walk of Life - was the last song i played before i let them go.

now the wait for the replacement is well and truly on..



mpw

 

[mpw]

Old thread.. I know.. But might be beneficial to Naim owners as well.

The mains plug on the Naim Nait 5i-2 power cord had P and N in reverse as compared to the P and N on the mains socket.

Maybe it's a UK type plug that's why.

Corrected this... For whatever it's worth.

You may want to check this on your amplifier too.

Regards
Mpw

 

[mpw]

Am looking For a reason to explain why this should matter in an AC supply.

The Amp sounds little more relaxed.

I don't think it's placebo effect.

You must try this if needed in your system

Do be extra careful when working with electricity.

 

[mpw]

Some input from Naim

Quote

This would affect the Grounding of the amplifier, very important to the sound, and because of how the transformer and safety wiring on Naim systems, its important to get the P and N correct, the fuse is also in the P and is oriented as the attached diagram

Unquote

 

[panditji]

Old thread.. I know.. But might be beneficial to Naim owners as well.

The mains plug on the Naim Nait 5i-2 power cord had P and N in reverse as compared to the P and N on the mains socket.

Maybe it's a UK type plug that's why.

Corrected this... For whatever it's worth.

You may want to check this on your amplifier too.

Regards
Mpw

Thanks for letting us know Mahesh... I just checked the plug for the step down transformer and the Earth wire was connected to the neutral and vice versa.... My amp was getting earth since the last 4 years and I never bothered... Thanks for putting the information out here...Saved my amp...

 

[mpw]

panditji

I was reasonably sure that there will be folks out there who would be un-knowingly on the same track as i was.

It just that things become more natural when the connections are proper.

I am not sure about step down transformers - my memory tells me - they will have a P and N on the o/p side and the earth is supposed to be the xformer body.

Since working with xformers and electric connections involve hazards - its better to do it if the reader knows what he / she is doing or please call a qualified electrical wireman.

Panditji - please let this thread know - if you hear any thing - soundwise...

regards
mpw

 

[Naturelover]

Is this information seen on Naim forums and do Naim know about this issue? It might be helpful if Naim can put it in their operating manuals.

 

[mpw]

Haven't done digging in this in the Naim Forum. Most of their sales would be in EU or UK where this issue might not be a problem.

 

[panditji]

panditji

I was reasonably sure that there will be folks out there who would be un-knowingly on the same track as i was.

It just that things become more natural when the connections are proper.

I am not sure about step down transformers - my memory tells me - they will have a P and N on the o/p side and the earth is supposed to be the xformer body.

Since working with xformers and electric connections involve hazards - its better to do it if the reader knows what he / she is doing or please call a qualified electrical wireman.

Panditji - please let this thread know - if you hear any thing - soundwise...

regards
mpw

I got an electrician only to check...I never experiment with these things... Not only were the wires wrongly connected but I was supposed to ground the amplifier as well.. The sound has become warmer just like a Luxman should sound as earlier it was a little harsh... I got used to the sound and therefore never checked...

 

[mpw]

So you're saved from a potentially costly upgrade ??

 

[dheerajin]

This link is similar-

 

[mpw]

spikes under the Naim nait 5i-2

trying it out

i like the aesthetic

i dont know if i will discover anything additional soundwise..

will be trying out roller blocks hopefully soon..

a lot depends on how resolving the source and the chain is and i am afraid i might reach a dead end here.

brickbats welcome

regards
mpw