We go for a weekend break, we came down after work on Friday night, Saturday we went shopping in Bristol and spent a few hours in the show. Saturday night we ate in Tedbury and returned this afternoon.
Show wise we prefer the simplicity of theSignals show. It’s a more personal show and you can really hear the equipment in a relaxed environment. Bristol is far too busy, far too noisy and plain hard work.
If it wasn’t for the wonderful people we meet every year we wouldnt go!
They were very nice, but perhaps not what I was expecting - I don’t have a modern ProAC frame of reference, but would love to hear the range in a different setting. It may have been the track being played but I found the sound a bit sibilant.
Gazza - In my view the Signals show is far more enjoyable. True far less equipment on demonstration but far more space, less stress and lot more relaxed.
Only got about 4 hours there as got stuck in traffic presumably returning from Cardiff after the rugby.
I didn’t enjoy the Naim demo that much, noisy air conditioning was distracting though probably necessary on such a gloriously sunny day, and a couple of geezers constantly nattering in front of me or texting/getting texts was rather annoying.
Overall I felt the system demoed was too PA like - very loud, admittedly very controlled and I’m someone who plays music loud at home, but it seemed to lack subtlety and finesse for power. The Sopras in the demo were impressive but too much for me and rather forward.
The ND5 XS2 in the mullet system was actually quite impressive.
The NDX 2 was great, and bettered with the PSU. ND 555 was better still but thesystem just had too much weight and slam and I wanted to hear refinement and subtlety. Hate to say it but it all sounded a bit digital too.
Disappointingly I feel was that music playback was via CD rips alone on the Core.
The Shelby Lynne track was very impresive, and control and authority on bass and guitars was better than I’ve heard before, but overall I think I’ve head the track sound better at home on a demo NDX2/NAC 282/Hi CAP DR and my old olive NAP 250 - perhaps that’s as I have the hi-res download, I don’t know, but I really don’t understand why they limited the demo to CD quality audio.
The last track played was the first classical track demoed with a beautiful pipe organ (maybe Saint Saëns?) and perhaps the first track demoed where the power and authority of the system on show could really be appreciated but at this point (classical?) people started talking/getting up and the moment was spoiled.
Mixed feelings on the Naim stuff in general - the smaller Focal speakers in another room didn’t do it for me.
I’ve not been to the Bristol show for over 20 years, it was really hectic and I didn’t really think I’d seen all I’d wanted to or in a relaxed manner.
If I go again I think I’d need to study the floor layout in advance and plan my room visits properly, that said, I tried several rooms I might not have done by pre-planning and a few impressed.
Good luck with the planning Alley_cat, 
. It never goes to plan, we always get back, read threads like this and realise just how much you have missed.
Seriously, if I really wanted to hear a bit of kit, I would go and hear it at a dealers in a much better environment. Shows are only an indication of whether you want to peruse an item further.
Thanks PB, I do have friends in the area, so maybe?
I think I really went along to hear speakers, but didn’t plan it well - it seemed many exhibitors has perhaps several speakers but not in their own rooms but used in other combinations with other equipment so if you wanted to hear several from the same manufacturer pre-planning would have been important.
The show probably also depends on your angle - if buying a whole system afresh you might look completely differently at items on demo.
The ELAC Navis was very impressive, but unless starting from scratch I wouldn’t really want a powered speaker.
I think my favourite room was the Auden Distribution room where they had Hegel/Amphion products. I think it was a Hegel H190 integrated powering Argon 3LS speakers that really impressed me - powerful controlled bass, lots of control and authority, and the Amphion speakers looked simply stunning.
The Rega RX-3 speakers were very impressive and seemed to punch well above their weight for their size.
The Harbeth rooms were great, was it the P3ESR or the 7ES-3 in room 232 - what a brilliant little speaker whatever it was.
Somehow completely missed Level 1 - would have liked to have heard Linn’s streamer and a few others on this floor.
I’m just glad I didn’t take my young daughter - she’d have tired of the show very quickly, and probably chose the better option of going to a party her brother was invited to.
It’s funny though, as much as you’d like to listen at a dealer or at home, I think the show gives a very quick yes/no for consideration of products to look at further - to be honest nothing really made me think my modest system is particularly lacking for enjoyment.
I have been to every show since the Bristol show started, Ipretty much know how everyone is going to sound. We only go to rooms we want to go to and that’s pretty minimal now. My system isn’t going to change now.
Now I take Karen with me I keep it to a few hours, karen would get very tired, very quickly if we stayed there all day and to be fair it’s her day off too. Hence why we share the day between the show and the shopping, we both win then 
Just come back from Bristol Show and it was a revelation for me. Saw a lot of decent systems, I liked the Primare entry system with Falcon studio standmount speakers it was just so musical. With Naim they gave a demonstrations using their different streamers via Focal I think was Sopra 3 model. I don’t know about any one else but with demonstrations for me they can work to their advantage if I like their music, if I don’t then it could be disadvantage. For me the Naim/Focal system with their top streamer playing Sans Saens Organ Symphony (which was their last piece of music) sort of woke me up to this riveting and fantastic system. But whats the point of it all I will never afford it ,its like looking and admiring a red Ferrari which one will never own. So I ventured to other rooms at other floors until I came to ATC room. In there the system was ATC SCM40 (passive) with their new SIA2 - 100 Integrated Amp/Dac with new CD2. Also on top was what looked like a very high end turntable by a British firm which has emerged again in the HiFi market. The moment I heard the music I think I had one of those ‘moments’. Its like suddenly the mist or dirt has been wiped clean from the windows of sound. The bass was the best I heard in that show. It was just right, no bloom, no deafening of other spectrum of sound. The tone or timbre or put it plainly for the first time in the show I began to enjoy the instruments in volved in the music. They played Money by Pink Floyd and that sytem just lapped it up. The speakers just got out of the way and let the music do the talking. To end it, I heard (again) Sans Saens Danse Macabre, I am very familiar with this music, with this system it just opened up the full majesty of this piece, I could concentrate on individual instruments or take in the whole orchestra, how do ATC perform this magic…? I now understand when reviewers say that a particular system makes you want to rediscover your music collection. After that experience no more hunting for different speakers, don’t need to, its just saving the money which is a pain!
Thanks for confirming - I though it was Saint Saëns Organ symphony - quite agree this finally showed what this rather larger than life system was about but as noted above people started talking/standing/walking out at this point before the demo ended.
The majority of the other tracks did very little for me (and I don’t mind Aha or Level 42, but would never consider them for a hi-fi demo).
What was the electronic song ? Something by Son, Sonn, Sonne ??? It was given as an example of a complex multi-layered track that a power supply could help separate details, after which they demonstrated the principle with an Aha acoustic song ???
I went for the Naim 12.30 show. The electric music they played before the classical music, was for me awfully boring. One of those typical music choices to show off the system, but does not offer anything of an artistic value. I think when they played the CDx2, the bass was a bit loose or slightly booming. But when they changed to the top streamer I noticed in the same song the bass was corrected in sound, (was tighter to the point). In one way it is good that the bass improved but when you look at the cost of both sytems, in that respect it does not really give that much confidence in the systems? Unless it was a room issue?
The electro song could have been „Veto“ from „Sohn“!? Naim played it in Hamburg at the Northern german Hifi Days 3 weeks ago…
That’s it Veto! Many thanks.
The Naim / Focal closed demo left me slightly underwhelmed. I was so looking forward to hearing what the ND555 was like having read so much about it here. Now, obviously, hearing any system in a hotel entertaining suite is pretty far from ideal and the noisy air conditioning didn’t help but the whole thing sounded too ‘hifi’ and I really wasn’t drawn into the music like I expected to be. Sure, the ND555 sounded ‘big’ and imposing but it really was not far ahead of the NDX2 with 555. I know there is nothing Naim can do about it (being part of the Focal group) but I can’t help wondering how much more engaging that system and the experience might have been with a pair of Kudos or Dynaudio speakers on the end of it.
The real positive was how good the ND5 XS2 sounded and Jason was, as ever, a most charming and knowledgeable presenter.
Intriguing - any ideas when this will be revealed Dave ?
I agree I also felt underwhelmed - admittedly we were seeing a quite high end system which for anyone with the budget and rooms to complement the Sopras would have seemed very impressive, but I would have loved to have heard the NDX 2 or ND555 as best sources with more modest amplification and speakers. I guess this was the reason for describing it as a test drive, with a dealer or home demo of components you’re really interested in being more representative.
I may be wrong, but I actually thought my active SBLs could once have given that kind of scale and authority.
I haven’t been to the Bristol show, but for me, your comments sum up all of the Naim/Focal demos I’ve heard. I don’t think you can blame the hotel room acoustics, as I’ve found that you can invariably find other rooms at the same shows I’ve visited where systems using Naim electronics are sounding good and getting people’s enthusiasm up. That includes demos set up by Dynaudio, Kudos, Russel K, ATC and others.
