Personally I don’t bother if it deviates from the famous mythical Naim sound. The most important is that the improvement satisfies me or not.
And I have already deviated from it, as I use a non Naim pre.
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Gold, Monsieur FR.
Naim isn’t and will never be, anaemically, end all.
But it sure gets close… LOL 
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I’ve been impressed with FM Acoustics pre-amps… 255, 266…
But doing the comparisons, the 552DR [and most assuredly the Statement NAC-S1] bring “colour” and a “tangible full-bodied-ness” to the FM’s otherwise very clean, musical if a tad less emotional sound… I was surprised and yet wasn’t.
Phil,
Yes one of the things that I loved about Naim, apart from obviously the performance, is that it’s effectively a closed system where all the experimentation and guesswork with cabling etc. is taken out of the equation. It’s all provided - one just sticks to it (if one is sensible!). When one has a busy life and doesn’t have the time/energy/inclination to experiment then this is an ideal situation. Why I moved away from Naim is a long story which I won’t bore you with but I look back on my Naim days with great fondness and affection. All the best and happy listening.
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What do you use at present, Sir… gentle ask.
I did try to move away from Naim when I just returned to the hi fi scene after a long near 20 year hiatus… but they’ve still gotten it right for me.
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Phil,
I have a Melco N100 music library, Sim Audio Moon 340i amp and Klipsch Forte III floor standing horn-loaded speakers. The Klipsch horn loaded speakers were really the starting point for this system and then it was case finding suitable electronics to drive them. I love this system. The presentation is different to Naim but it has the same high involvement factor and is very addictive.
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I will listen to FM acoustics with Vertere turntables in 2 weeks. There’s a show at my dealer place. I will open a new thread on it .
All that matters when we’re involved in the music when listening. Cheers and have fun!
It’ll be fun - please do!
Monsieur FR… FMs are great components. Very pure sound. Luxury prices for the fortunate apex but to be fair, it’s about there everywhere. Musical for sure. Not sure about their chassis against microphony. The way Naim try to address microphony in their reference stuff isn’t a joke. FM power amps are class A - so I’ve been told - but be prepared for higher electrical bills if left powered on 24x7x365. Naim amps hardly take any current on standby, powered on forever. FMs seem known to take alot of current even on standby idle. Didn’t get the chance to hear their big boys, the 711, 115 or 1811s the former which were unavailable.
Their chassis do not quite inspire confidence in the build, and I don’t see efforts to address microphony in their line up. Sound is what matters most, at a cost but at the asking price, the utilitarian looking build is hardly inspiring. I do like their understated look in champagne cream gold… so we can’t have everything I guess…
I did a 4 separate day A-B between the ND555-1ps-500DR-552DR and the “baby” FM 155 Mark II pre with the 108 Mark II monoblocks. We swapped to the 255 pre on the 4th day … keeping the 108 monoblocks - the bigger pre-amp was more open with better fluidity and flow [about 20% sonic improvement], but if we didn’t compare, you’d be hard pressed to find the 155 Mk II pre wanting. It’s quite a killer pre even at the introductory level… with very good transient attack and decay, and PRT.
Both sides were intensely musical, but the colour and tangibility of the Naims won after the 4th day, for me. My friend and I had our jaws drop. In some ways, it wasn’t apples to apples in terms of hierarchy within each brand - I was veering towards the FMs all this time in buyer’s bias, but suddenly, the Naims just latched on like bull dogs onto the rhythm and flow… and they conveyed singular palpability - that’s the word, as I type this - without detracting a thing from the already very musical FMs. The 255 is a reference level pre-amp for me and I will not detract anything in any way from its exemplary performance. They are cut from the same sonic cloth as the 155 Mk II pre, so just more openness and fluidity. I could easily live with either 552DR or FM 155 Mk II or 255 Mk II depending on my preference and system. The real game changer would be the Statement though I’m more than happy to be a 500 series owner. The FMs are also a class in their own honestly, so it boils down to preference at the end of day, as always.
Naim for my money, type of sound, and overall value. If I struck the lottery or succeeded in that bank heist, I wouldn’t mind the microphony-unaddressed [I could well be wrong and shot for this!] but still sexy FMs… as another main system in the home… so I’d happily have both 
LOL
Interesting review PhiP. I have no desire to change for FM acoustics. Just curious to see how they sound. And even more Vertere turntables.
I would expect a Vertere DG-1 T.T. and Vertere Phono Stage to replace any Rega set up.
Hi Richard,
Could not disagree more…… Rega actually make some fabulous phono amps, better cartridges and wonderful decks. Each too their own but I am very happy to stay with Rega
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Yep it might beat that too!
If the philosophy of the sound does not suit you it matters not how much money is poured in you may still prefer a Dansett. And if not there is allways Vertere top of the line kit.
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