Yesterday some of us from the forum had a day at the Naim factory and a chance to spend some time in the new dem room, now called the Showroom.
Having known well the two earlier incarnations of the dem room, I was very excited to see the transformation. The first thing that hits you is how light and airy it feels, especially compared to the rather dark AV-focused room that was there before. The second thing that makes an impact is the wall treatment - many wooden batons that look really striking and doubtless play their part in breaking up reflections in some way. I had seen some of this before from some of the pictures already posted here by others who had already been the month before, and also from some of the new Integrated amp product shoots, but it’s something that I think looks much better “in the flesh”, so to speak.
Thank you to Charlie, Jason and Mark for hosting our visit yesterday, and to everyone at the Naim factory for making us feel so welcome.
Very sorry you couldn’t be there Gazza. Yes, the old room was last refurbished when AV and multichannel music was looking to be the direction things were going and so it was very much geared to keep light levels low and to accommodate a surround system. There was also a large cabinet with a corridor at the back that effectively made the room seem much smaller.
Yes a great day and good to meet some forum members (several not for the first time). Thank you for organising it and to all of those many Naim people who gave us some of their time and made us feel so welcome. It was very good to spend so much time listening to the Statement system too…
Yes, never realised last time that the windows were blocked off, understandable for an AV room. Though judging from my dealer, the AV interest has waned some what. Oh and i spy @nigelb on the front sofa, …as usual😉
Yes indeed, a great day, and a pleasure to meet & chat with forum folk again & as David said, some for the first time.
Thanks so much to Charlie & all at Naim for looking after us so well, good to talk to the techie team(s) & a special thanks Jason & Mark for the whole day.
The room is a nice improvement over the old, its hard to believe its the same room , awesome equipment (what else) & so good to hear a Statement over the extended time in those relaxing conditions.
And once again corporate approval for having the same wall treatments in my room has been rejected by the Director of Domestic Engineering.
Re the ‘The Last Dinosaur’ CD, if you’re ripping it, there’s no metadata lookup on 'tinterweb, so its a DIY job. I got it done easily with Mp3Tag last evening.
Hi all just had post a big thank you to all the Naim factory staff that made me most welcome - on my 1st factory visit. I was quite humbled - by their attentive hospitality - despite having a stack of things to do. Also not forgetting Richard Dane … who helped set up the whole visit. Obviously i did the factory floor tour as many have done and thoroughly enjoyed it … the attention to detail - and production co-ordination was amazing - considering it is a hand crafted product. This company is truly a gem - and its the attentive people there that have the passion to make it happen.
On a personal level it was a real thrill to play my personal selection of tracks form my own usb stick … through the amazing Statement Amplifier … and listen to it in their new dem room. Also a thank you to the other visitors - who put up with my music selection - with no criticism at all!!! cheers!
I was gobsmacked when Charlie Henderson and Steve sells and the team came in to talk to us for 30mins. I discussed at length with Charlie the ‘Naim intimidation factor’ … that I once felt … and that I still detect at times when talking to people who are not into audio… aka the 'Not the 9 o’clock News ‘Woofers and Tweeters Sketch’… I came away thinking that really it would be great if all the team members - could act as ‘friendly ambassadors’ - in reality that probably already happens. It was also clear to me how seriously Naim view the forum acitivity - and that activity is a massive credit to all those who partake. This company and its products together with the forum - is truly special.
What a fantastic day yesterday! Great to read the positive feedback on the Vereker Showroom, and that those who joined us yesterday had such an enjoyable day.
For me, the opportunity to chat with such passionate supporters of Naim was, and always is, invaluable. Lots of great feedback and ideas shared, and lots of food for thought.
Until next time…
Charlie
The new listening room is such an improvement, even though it is essentially the same room, which has undergone a lot of treatment.
I did vacate that seating position later and stood at the back, as that front sofa is way too close to the speakers. Jason explained that the speakers had to be out that far to be at their best. If the room were fully carpeted, they possibly could have been moved further back. Anyway, I have never heard Sopra 3s sound so good.
A thoroughly enjoyable day and many thanks to all our hosts at Naim, particularly Charlie, Jason, Mark, Richard and the R&D team who spent quite a lot of time with us. It was also great to meet some familiar and some new forumites. What lovely bunch of people.
I love the 552 pre amp - its a classic. However, I would love to see one more alteration to this … the removal of rotary pots - and the addition a Statement like ladder volume control - also removing the rotary balance control. From my own previous experience - this would give another lift to the sonic landscape this beauty already provides. It would also mean that the sensitivity could be aligned to the new digital sources. This is easier said than done as the 552 is very well optimised … but it is the kind of upgrade that could filter through all the preamps and it would refresh and add interest and performance across the range.
And the demo showed me that, with the right network feeding it, just how capable the 272 / 555 is even in comparison to the mighty ND555. OK it’s not to that standard, but in no way is it completely disgraced!
(I also learnt just how well the modifications to my speakers have worked.)
In comparison to last year, the update to the demo room / showroom have paid enormous dividends to the sound; the diffuser slats on the walls really do seem to work well.
Well yes and no … HH correct me if I am wrong I think the 272 uses a ‘chip’ type ladder … the statement uses this as the initial reference and then latches in a proper sonically optomised resistor…
Whilst the 272 volume control is excellent … it is not as fully transparent as dedicated resistors… Many moons ago I build a Ben Duncan Passion silver passive volume control … its sonic effect was amazing…or lack of sonic effect!
Hi totally agree … I used a 272 with non DR 555 into a NAP500 - it was fantastic. However, I found the 272 highly microphonic - it very very sensitive to what you put it on. I would say a full fat Fraim is required. I think based on actual home experience the 272/555DR v NDS/555DR/552DR - gives you around 85-7% of the performance - which is incredible. Its the whole diminishing returns thing. I think an updated 372 - maybe would close that gap further.
I don’t know or understand the detail but do know that the 272 has a digitally controlled analogue volume control based on that used in Statement. I’m assuming that you didn’t glean any info about whether a 272.2 or whatever is anywhere near production.
The question was asked …wall of silence and pursed lips. My personal view is an updated 272 will happen at some point as all the apps need to work etc… and it makes sense to have all the streamers on the same platform architecture. They know it is a sure fire winner so I recon it will happen. Time will tell…although I notice one of the new unities has twin amp outputs … can’t remember which one…
