jaja
I believe Basil Audio is in Northern Cali.
Stay safe up there my friend, you’re away from the fires I hope.
Scott
It is a good combo with dedicated mains feed, just borrow one to try, dealer can provide one. You may be impressed.
Scott
I’m sure it does since it was a huge improvement with our Atom HE.
1 Like
Scott, Basil is primarily a used equipment shop. They feed the addicts who are constantly anxious and always upgrading.
A100 with DAC and 2 T SSD.
I’m a simple guy. Before retirement I was a professional in a field and often had people come to me to seek ‘best type’ information. I would listen carefully because any ‘answer’ was almost always relative to a number of factors which the questioner may or may not have thought through.
Thing is, there are some serious ‘how many angels can you fit on the head of a pin’ debates raging eternally in audiophile discussion boards, including Naim boards. One of these has to do with the quality of a DAC and the ever changing DAC technology. Another is where should the DAC reside, on the amp or on the streamer. Another is valve/tubes vs. solid state. In my very humble view, because this audio stuff is not my wheelhouse, the ‘answer’ goes to what is good enough?
$22,000 USD is a lot of money (for me). So, I sought out professionals who are also salespeople. In this audiophile world, these tend to go hand in hand. I listened to their answers with the same filtering system with which I gave answers in my field. What stayed in the weeds (bad) were comments about ‘this is best’ and what rose to the top (good) were comments about ‘this is good enough.’
A Nova + Kanta 2’s is absolutely good enough. I think this is the pairing Naim and Focal recommend. The question many people here are trying to answer is ‘could it be better?’ But this is not the question being asked. If you are someone who is yearning for Naim’s Statement series, and you think $20,000 is a lot of money, then you are never going to be satisfied.
3 Likes
A100 with DAC and onboard 2 T SSD
Are you able to listen to anything at all in your location?
Did not know that about Basil, looked at website, like you said, lots of used goods. But that being said, there are those who upgrade and swap out for the latest. Someone has to provide them that new box. I get it though, that’s not you……
Good luck, and if you can have a listen, even just for 30 min, it’s always good so you can hear differences.
Scott
Basil is the only decent Linn&Naim dealer in North CA as far as I know.
All Linn&Naim dealers do both new and used components so it is not a surprise that Basil does it.
1 Like
Scott,
I was able to listen to the Focal Kanta 2’s in a controlled setting by appointment with my 23 year old son helpfully tagging along. The dealer was pumping tracks through an Anthem STR. Sound was pretty astonishing even if they had a special chair set up, not something I can do here at home. I was also able to hear a pair of Paradigm speakers at about half the price as the Focal pair.
Everyone here has been kind, and some have an awareness of their confirmation bias, and a few have an awareness of their addiction to audiophile heaven. Be my guess that someone with a $500,000 USD system will still be reaching after the newest thing and looking to the dealer to utilize well-trod affirmations to the customer how good would be this upgrade and how happy they will be. I heard this over and over from professionals who were also selling me.
Eventually, I found a wonderful guy who said, look, at your price point, you can get astonishing, but others will tell you it can always be better … and it can. But good enough is good enough.
One dealer insists on a particular DAC. The wonderful guy says you won’t be able to tell the difference ‘at your price point.’ Who is right? Who cares! Good enough is good enough.
1 Like
@Tdoc I’m sure what ever you get you’ll be happy with it. My parting advise to you as music lover and not a gearhead is stay away from tubes. Tubes sound good when they are at 100% but they do require replacement and up keep.
1 Like
Excellent Dac and streamer add a good or great amp like Luxman and the Focals or ProAc’s and Bob’s your uncle
Not all of them, EAR are known for designed in longevity, I sent my amp back for a service at just less than 20 years old. It came back with just the volume pot and selector switch replaced.
Just like sending Naim back for recapping?
Probably different type of caps? 
ATB Peter
I serviced recently my 10 years old Ear 912. It costed me 120 euros only.
As for tubes, in the pre, they can last around 3000 hours.
For a power amp, it’s less , maybe 2000.
2 Likes
“Good enough” depends on your expectations which are informed through experience. If you’ve never experienced great hifi then almost any of the combinations will sound very good. Over the past nine years I’ve learned that my initial expectations required about 10x the initial budget. Everything has always sounded very good but it lacked the holographic soundstage I’d once experienced and which pushed me into hifi. Fortunately it was still enjoyable but that initial expectation never dissipated and motivated moving from a $10k system to a $100k system. If anybody In 2012 would’ve asked me if I’d ever spend $100k on hifi I’d thought them insane for even asking such a ridiculous question. After all, I’m a frugal person. This is the nature of hifi. “Good enough” might be $200 or $500k.
No system is perfect and eventually, unless only used for background music, you’ll recognize weaknesses. To make a mistake at the very beginning can be costly.
2 Likes
But… unfortunately it’s often true. It is very addictive and there is no upper limit on cost. Before becoming an audiophile the idea of a power cord @ $1,000 was nonsense. Now that my brain has developed critical listening skills, I can hear the difference. $7,500 power cords and $100k speaker cables exist for a reason.
That reason being profit. Some people have so much money they don’t know what to do with it.
3 Likes
Sorry but that’s crazy talk.
3 Likes
Don’t you own a Powerline?