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The Naim 'sound'

i have an accuphase cdp which on the whole i like a lot but sometimes i wish it was more dynamic in its presentation of the music. overall though i feel it gives me plenty of detail and a real sound. i have also thought about a naim cdp but for every person who seems to love the Naim 'sound', there seems to be someone else who hates it with a passion and thinks the 'sound' Naim creates is false. the main criticism seems to be that yes, it does give you a very dynamic explosion of sound and is very fast but that it misses a lot of the musical and that the naim 'sound' is actually quite artificial. i would be interested to hear if people agree or disagree with this argument. i have not done a direct comparison yet between an accuphase cdp and the naim cdx2(which is the player i would be thinking about)but whilst i might sometimes crave a bit more dynamism from my accuphase, i would not want to sacrifice the accuphase genuine sound for something that may be slightly artificial
merseyboy
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
your speakers and room play the biggest part in dynamics you hear from a recording. changing front ends may change a bit of the musics character, but nothing dramatically different. both brands are quite good (if different).
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muzikat
926 posts
 
I think in some ways all gear has their own "sound".
Naim tries to recreate the feeling of a live performance in your room. That lends toward a more analog sound. I disagree with statement "misses a lot of the musical" Naim gear is the most musical sounding of any I have heard.

I have had an Accuphase DP55V CD player which was quite nice. I now have a Naim CDX2 which IMO, is a far better CD player.
larryi
3,989 posts
 
I own a CDS-3 (with 555PS power supply). To me, it is the least like other Naim gear in that it is actually not as rythmically insistent (which translates to mechanical sounding to me) than their other models. Still, I like the CDX2. Another plus is that the CDX2 becomes a MUCH better player when it is coupled to an XPS2 power supply. That means there is an upgrade path, albeit, an expensive upgrade.
teajay
1,691 posts
 
I don't think of myself as a "Naim Hater", but I did have the following experience with the Naim reference two box CDP that retails for $12000.00.

I was going through an extensive auditioning process of CDP's and DAC's, over seven different pieces, and wanted to hear the Naim because it had gotten such rave reveiws at that time. Well, the player I took home was fully broken-in, not damaged or broken, and was one of the worst sounding/unmusical/annoying pieces of gear I have ever auditioned in my home. I gave up trying to see if it would improve or grow on me after three days.

It's all personnal taste and system synergy really, so my opinion is that the Naim digital gear comes no were close to what the best digital front ends have to offer.
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