End of my tether

I sometimes wonder if it’s finally not better to buy products online. It’s a bit cheaper, and delivered at our door also.

@Innocent_Bystander OK I-B I was going to say Audiophile rather than Audio Enthusiast. Or how about Gear Head… I know plenty of men and women that love music and have no interest in the gear. I am without a doubt a gear head… I love the Equipment! All kinds of stuff.

Wow 245 post, OP issues hasn’t been solved yet. Has to be speaker xovers imo. Hope that helps😬

Just did a google on your speakers
100 dB-SPL 1W, 1m
16Ω (19Ω Z-weighted, 9.5Ω min @ 250Hz)
So the 200 shouldn’t have a problem with this?
Particularly if the speaker cable was removed while playing at volume would be no problem I guess?

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No use harking back to the good old days.

People believe all sorts, even against clear evidence, faith don’t make it true. However my reply was mainly to pun on
image

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maybe your woman would do a haka if she reads this :grinning:

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Very true wine, food etc and I got married to a French girl and don’t regret it.

My experience, not a big one, with French and German dealers is as @frenchrooster said. “two to three hours”.

Up to us to make the fine tuning when the system is settled down and really warmed up.

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She has French blood as it happens too :+1:

In other news, It seems that @frenchrooster and my humour has caused offence, so I’m heading to the naughty corner.

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But just for 15 minutes :smirk::wink:

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Nothing major, something about Ethernet cables and switches no doubt.

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I remember a similar problem with my 202/200, restoring it solved the problem. Hasn’t happened since.

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It would seem strange that both crossovers failed at the same time. Not impossible, of course, but it the problem exists on both channels then I would first be looking for a common cause.

Reading all this, it seems you need a local dealer who will give you good service. Forget about Naim if you can’t have the service you need and don’t drive.

However I also think all the comments about a simplified system are worth taking on board. If it is causing you so much distress then it is time for a change.

You don’t have Hermes or Yodel delivering then …
My dealer delivers hifi kit to the door and installs it

I have to agree with Innocent bystander here. While all this tweaking can deliver the final 5% of performance a naim system or any quality system should deliver bloody awesome sound even if it’s casually perched on a coffee table with no attention paid to cable routing, some basic QED interconnects and plugged into a 6 gang block from Argos!!

Just to put this into some sort of context I ran my very first naim nait 1 system into first Mordaunt Short MS30’s (on sand filled stands) and later Linn Kan’s at University. While my Systemdek turntable was on a 2 tier Sound Org table the rest was housed on a black metal shelving unit that was about £17 from Argos and was I think a drinks trolley (I took the wheels off). The whole lot was plugged into a cheap multiway block and the mains was whatever came out of the wall in an assortment of damp Birmingham student lodgings. I didn’t have Naim NACA4 but the owners of Hifi Systems in Southport had taken pity on me bless them and given me some spare Linn K20 cable they had. Did that system engage and communicate the musical message - you bet!! Did it sound pretty fantastic - oh yes!! Did I and various friends regard it as a great system - absolutely!!

Years down the line I now have a far higher level system run from a dedicated spur, using Grahams mains blocks and hydra, cabled with Chord or Naim cabling pretty much throughout and with all the equipment sited on a dedicated Ash Designs rack spiked into the floor. Does it sound great - yes, do I faff about cable dressing or resting my speaker cables on those crazy plastic bridge support things or leaving my naim plugs loosely connected at the back - no I bloody don’t!! Essentially I try to keep signals away from mains where possible, plonk the gear down on a decent rack, feed it mains from good junction blocks from a dedicated spur and take a little trouble to optimise speaker and listening position. Then I sit down and explore and enjoy music and film for years without really fiddling with anything!

All this worry about whether the system is on song or not is meaningless provided it is functioning correctly and has warmed up (which should take no more than 3-4 days and probably less). I can honestly say the sound I am getting is now one of the very best systems I have ever heard. The only component that ever gave me trouble in terms of underperforming was my naim SBL speakers which never really worked in any of the various rooms they were sited in. Having switched them to rear channel use and running ATC’s across the front it’s all about the music now and I can pretty much forget about the ‘hi-fi’ - it’s merely a tool to deliver the music in a way that makes me fall in love with it.

The problem with tweakery is that you end up spending all your time listening for what’s wrong and not what’s right and that’s the biggest barrier to enjoying the music.

I’m not disputing that the original poster has been both unlucky in terms of reliability and that perhaps the system (and most likely the speakers) isn’t suited to the room. If the equipment is shown to be functioning correctly then no amount of tweaking cables or minor setup will remedy the problem, it might at best offer a 5% increase in performance. Home dem some different speakers is my advice and start with ATC.

Jonathan

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How else would I do it? I take mine in every few months to a local garage to get the tyre pressures checked and reset if necessary. My car warns me if they need checking, which is a nice touch.

Self service at filling stations gets me down and self service check outs in supermarkets what’s that all about?

Yes but our food is fantastic: Soupe à l’oignon, coq au vin, Cassoulet, Beef bourguignon, Chocolate soufflé … wonderful traditional British food. Can you get great food like that in France?

By the way isn’t Naim a French company these days?

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You may want to read the bit about my speakers effectively having no crossover! The speakers are super efficient and the dynamics on occasion have been jaw dropping. My question in response to an earlier suggestion was about an impedance mismatch and the long term effects of that. Anyone any experience of that?

Shame you cant get it at the Pret a Manger - a most British place.
Dont forget the Steak Tartare et le Bouillabaisse.

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