Anyone else noticed how few Pre-Loved ND555's there are on sale?

It seems reports of its demise were greatly exageratted.

P/L examples are few and far between. I guess it’s still very much loved.

Much the shame for those of us wanting to upgrade!

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P/L - what does that mean? pre loved?

If so I think when the story got out that the 552 isn’t going to be replaced anytime soon and maybe never things settled down.

Naim have consistently said it’s hard to improve on the 552 ( I thought we may have seen a white light edition with headphone amp built in by now but not as yet…)

The talk I heard was the next iteration maybe something cost wise that sits between the 552 and statement c£50k but that’s just speculation.

What does surprise me is how quickly the new classic range got discounted - Nova PE, Nait 50 and the whole NC range have all appeared heavily discounted on many websites.

I’m still enjoying my 552 -now 25 years old and serviced and DR upgrade before the DR up grade got pulled.

As they say price is soon forgotten when quality remains!

Gary

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Yes. I’ll amend the title :+1:

I think if you have bought one, it would be a big call to move it on. I don’t think that even @drago has gone that far….. the latest firmware seems to have settled things down.

I do think some times that my investment in one may have been better directed into my record set up, but I’m happy with where I’ve ended up overall.

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How many have been sold?

I think it is partly down to the currently low prices being achieved on the sale of secondhand hi-fi at the moment. Another factor is that getting anything better from Naim or another manufacturer would cost a lot of money. And a lateral move to get something different would also be very expensive due to low secondhand prices. So I am guessing people are choosing to stick with their 500 systems.

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I suspect that’s a common theme at the moment across many brands and consumer stuff generally. Times are hard don’t you know!

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I haven’t gone so far - but some day I have to. Nd555 is not in use. @Stu299 be careful with the update. We have a similar system and nds is very good - maybe get a second 555ps first. Nd555 is different in presentation despite fw issues. In some aspects an improvement - but our system require balance… I learnt that badly.

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ATC actives and Linn taking market share? Know of one dealer who no longer even have NC on permanent demo. When discussing possible upgrades naim wasn’t top of the list.

There’s also a lot of cheaper kit which sounds good.

NC separates are expensive and a hard sell. 222/250/NPX is £18k. 333/332/250 sets you back £23k. Not a lot of people got that sort of disposable income, and that situation is about to get worse in the short term.

I believe the lifestyle boxes still sell well.

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I think you’ve hit the nail on the head here. The modern system approach definitely seems to be 1-2 boxes with or without active speakers.

I decided on a half way house with my Linn Selekt and NAP 350s. It has worked out really nicely for me, but it will not be for everyone.

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A top spec Linn into active ATCs (50) was what we were recommended if we decide to move on.

Although we heard 100s in quite a restricted space and were surprised how well behaved they were! BIG units :laughing:

The sound profile slightly different to our system, but very very good.

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Yes, the used market here is very suppressed and, as you say, the entry price for a competitive product is very high, so a shift takes a big hit. It’s very difficult trading here in NZ, sounds like old-Blighty is pretty much the same. Actually, our econis innige right do-dally.

Lots of good used buys for those starting out new though…

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Yes absolutely get that times are hard for many although maybe not too hard for those that have the ability to spend multiple 1000’s on hifi! I was just surprised at the pace of the discounting. I don’t recall discounting at this pace when Naim went from Olive to Classic but that was a while ago now.

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I’m pretty sure that would sound mighty fine indeed.

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The dealer where I bought my 552 has very much recommended top linn streamer into active atc. I have listen to this some day…

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Im not familiar with Naim’s latest streaming boxes, (not for me) i did attend a linn demo evening last year, I was enlightened to the modular upgrade system, I’m unsure whether linn are only ones to do that.
Great for future proofing and resale value imo.
I’ve developed an opinion that end of the Hifi market evolves far too quickly to drop a decent amount of money into it. I know I’m not comparing apples with apples but still….
Guess I’m not the target demographic :winking_face_with_tongue:

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You can also take my approach and use Linn with the 350s. That way you can stay with Naim amplification which they do so well :+1:

Even though I’ve still managed to spend a lot on cables, the other major benefit to this approach is that you need far fewer interconnects and mains leads! With active speakers it’s even less again.

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The market evolves fast and I am a bit old school in heart … as I use prefix powered by olive sc as well :smiling_face::laughing:. I am a bit stuck to the external psu idea as it works so well.
The select idea from linn is very nice.
Can not imagine how it would look like with 1 box only - instead a wall of boxes. :wink:

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At that price level, there won’t be that many ND555s out there to begin with.

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Yes I think it was you that recommended the olive SC upgrade to me a long while back :+1:
I even almost brought a 2023 serviced 552! Had it on the 8th level of my extensive Mana rack for some time, man it was nice but the 52 won out simply because man it is fun even the bad stuff it just rips you a new one. Im sure system balance played a large part why the 552 didnt stay. My learning from that exercise was I really don’t need all the detail in the world to be satisfied. Probably would have gone to another brand for that to begin with. :sleeping_face:

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