How good is the ND555?

Yes, i was not expecting much difference, but it does take it to a different level imo, but at a price.

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Cut that out, Gazza!

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For me it was a ā€˜wowā€™ moment compared to the NDS and I am completely happy with it 4 years later. I am hugely entertained every night. I have no hankering after anything else.
Each to his ownā€¦ā€¦

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Indeed, It would appear we all perceive audio a little differently. Glad you are enjoying the ND 555

Regards
Gary

Although I sold my entire 500DR system, I only have good recollections.

If I could have kept it as a second system, I would have.

The ND555 with the two PS555DRā€™s is an amazing set. Truly outstanding!

When I had it, any desire to upgrade was gone.

Although I no longer have this system, I still stand by everything I wrote about it, especially about adding a second PS555DR to the ND555.

I decided to change when I realised that the NAP500DR was not powerful enough for the Magico M2.

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Agree totally ā€¦ in my setup the twin supply ND555 is not harshā€¦and yhe detail is phenominalā€¦

Whatā€™s more itā€™s real detail, instrumental/vocal textures and all, not the fake detail of separated sounds in the black space of an artificial soundstage. And the details have rhythmic and dynamic cohesionā€¦.

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Agreeā€¦ to me though on my system the presentation is very organic to me it has the atributes of a fine cartridge combined with the slam and impact of the digital domain. Its an excellent compromise finely judgedā€¦amazing. Iam sure there are other very fine dacā€™s ā€¦ but it is all a compromiseā€¦the Naim path is finely judgedā€¦but expensive very expensive. I think that Linn are aware of the benefits of the ladder approachā€¦but had to design their own as all the original chips have long goneā€¦ good job Naim got a stockpileā€¦

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This is why we still have ours. Itā€™s all about the music now. Itā€™s like the HiFi has ceased to exist.

Hook coined the term ā€œNDS Retirement Homeā€. I reside in the ND555 wing which was built more recently.

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blimey

How does your present system compare?

Maybe I would have kept the 500 DR and sold the Magicoā€¦ and bought Dynaudio Confidence 60 insteadā€¦?

Theyā€™re not in the same league or price range. It wouldnā€™t make sense to compare.

But, I did compare the two systems.

My complete current system isnā€™t yet built. Iā€™m still working on the listening room.

Selling the Magico M2, really?! :sweat_smile:

To better the M2s I had to put in an enormous amount of money.
In the UK the Magico M2 are around Ā£ 84K .

And to be honest, Iā€™m not sure there are many options around (same approx size), at any price.

I had been using an ND555 for a couple of years but had a couple of problems on the first occasion my dealer lent me a NDS nd on the second occasion a NDX2.

I had never heard a NDS until I had this one on loan all I can say is that after using the ND555 for a couple of years I was disappointed with the NDS. In my system room etc the ND555 is so much better as it should be at itā€™s price point.

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Out of curiosity, do you stream mainly online, like Qobuz or Tidal, or your local files?

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I stream from Qobuz ripped CDs from my Core plus a few downloads I also use the internet radio a lot.

Regarding my favourite it is difficult to point the finger in one direction. I think a lot comes down to the master source some Hi Res tracks are superb yet some ripped CDs are better than the Hi Res stream also some HD radio stations are surprisingly very good.

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Yes, the ND555 certainly highlights the variability in the quality of source material, which can be a little irritating at times, when a great album is tarnished by a so so source file. Here the abilities of the ND555 are somewhat diminished, but on great source material the ND555 is breathtaking.

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I wouldnā€™t put it that way. The ND555 is a high-fidelity device. If the recording (or mastering) is bad, it can be heard.

What we put in is what we get.

It is not going to make a poor-quality recording sound good. We would no longer be in the HiFi domain.

I have sometimes been surprised by the poverty of some pop/rock masteringsā€¦

In such cases, my iPhone and a pair of earbuds are sufficient :laughing:

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I find with two supplies that effect is far reduced.

For sure I find some poor recordings still that are difficult but far more were redeemed into music I enjoy by the better resolution of in particular the low-bass - what was out of control ā€˜mushā€™ gets resolved into presence information and harmonic structures. The bass is deeper and better resolved and that helps so much I find.

Yep - one of my tests for a good sourceis that it does not ā€˜cut-offā€™ like a knife once a particular level of resolution is reached into lower recording levels and you get the ā€˜alarmingly darkā€™ effect of the etched presentation - which turns out over time to get very fatiguing on a high resolution sytem.

The ND555 just continues on down into more subtle levels of detail retrieval into the musical fabric - and that in itself can cause problems in that it can easy get turned into a ā€˜mushā€™ of unclarity when not properly handled by the rest of the system.

Fortunately into a good Naim system properly set-up it seems to be handled beautifully - but some care and attention is needed to get it all to properly sing - and when it does sing you know and it is not subtle.

The ND555 is a superb source that continues to delight and it seems there is ever-more to get from it as you improve other parts of your system - it is not for me a limiting factor in my system.
Excels in an Active system too - where the timing information revealed is remarkable.

DB.

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Its right the more resolving the system gets, the more it highlights any imperfections in everything, you just canā€™t get away from that fact, its ths same with everything, be it a car, hifi, etc.

If you want to just enjoy everything you throw at your hifi, then a portable cassette deck from the 80ā€™s is just about where you should stop the music journey.
Certainly once you get to naim 500 spec and above some recordings become unplayable, as they just sound so bad, whereas before at a lower spec it was listenable.

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From your previous posts Iā€™m assuming youā€™d include dcs in this bracket?

Yes everything, its all the same i have found.
If its a bad recording, be it high res, vinyl etc, the more resolving and revealing your system gets the more this becomes a problem.
It takes no prisoners and shows it all, but at the same time, good recording sounds wonderful and better than you have ever heard it before.

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