Great review above. To add to your thinking, I have the Selekt dual mono out with Organik dacs and this morning added a pair of 350s. I have no problem whatsoever with clarity, depth or bass and the sky is a very detailed and lovely Azure colour!!! Maybe adding a 332 would improve things even further; but right now I just had my ‘OH.MY.GOD!’ moment as you put it. I thought it might help as it really does sound like everything I have always hoped for.
Following tests back at my dealers my NDX2 is definitely not behaving as expected or like the 2019 unit in their demo room.
Hopefully Tony will be able to work with Naim to resolve the problem with it and I’ll get it back soon, working like it did before October. That will take the heat off and I’ll be able to take my time over making a decision regarding the DSM.
Nice thread I can second that we are at home this evening listening to Sinead O’Connor on the system (with recent network upgrades) and it’s is b**** fabulous! We are so lucky to have such amazing systems.
They’re technically on the same FW version, but Tony isn’t convinced that the FW update has installed correctly on mine as it keeps flagging update required and this is potentially what is causing the problem.
Hoping to get a clean install of FW this week through an Naim/Dealer procedure and then we shall see what happens.
That’s my setup: Selekt Edition with dual mono Organik DACs into active SCM40s. To my ears this simple combination works brilliantly, particularly for the mostly acoustic stuff I listen to: classical, jazz, folk … that sort of thing. But as ever, that’s a personal view and, in part, reflects my tastes in music reproduction.
I find the sound presentation sufficiently analytical to enable me to listen into a soloist in an orchestra or one member of a jazz group but without losing the overall musicality. Involuntarily foot tapping, air conducting, shivers down the spine are all there.
Downsides? The system sounds good at lower volumes but really becomes outstanding with the wick turned up a bit. Fortunately I live in a detached house with a very tolerant wife! The SCM40s are perhaps not the prettiest speakers out there, no ATCs are IMO, but provided the grilles are off, I find them visually acceptable.
Hi Roger, I really concur with your summary. I am finding it a great listen, but the music really comes alive when you hit 40-50 (or higher) on the volume dial. Whilst it is still very good below this, you hear a lot more detail and musicality when the volume is turned up.
I enjoy all sorts of music, including quite a lot of electronic music. This is the main reason I decided to go with the Selekt and the NAP 350s. I’m sure I would have been happy with the integrated amp catridges, or indeed active speakers; but as I am already very happy with my Kudos 505s I decided on the 350s route.
Either way, regardless of amplification, I think the real question here is ‘does the Selekt work as an effective pre-amp’ and in my view it really does. Pretty sure you feel the same as does @DiggyGun and many others. Although…some feel the opposite!
Thank you Roger et al, this is looking more and more like a choice. I really like the minimal box line up and the active 50s sounded incredible. I am having the basement finished off now and have been reading the SO thread with interest too. All I need to find is a CDT and turntable to suit (yes I have actual media)
I shall keep reading - and post the results when I have either the in home audition or new purchases.
If I could accommodate the 50s, I’d go for them like a shot, but my listening room/lounge is just not big enough for them. They would be too dominant visually and I suspect aurally, even with SO in play.
When we first demoed the Selekt, it was set up as a streamer into a Naim NAC 332 and two NAP 350s, as we demoed it the nearest we could to the Klimax DS/3 - NAC 282 - 2x NAP 250s, which we had at home.
After suggestions from the dealer we went back to demo the Selekt with the two Power Amp Cartridges and preferred the sound and that it was now a one box system.
Our prime music is Jazz and in our current guise it plays it very well, plenty of detail, particularly for picking out solo instruments. Also plenty of toe tapping and good PRaT from the system.
For information, we usually play music at the 60 level, but for the TV, sometimes need to go up to 65 if their diction is pretty poor.
For us the combination of the Selekt DSM and the Titan 606s works pretty well. May not suit everybody in this set up as there are so many variables, but we are so pleased we went the Linn Streamer route rather than the Naim Streamer route. Did demo a new NDX 2 at the time we got the second hand Klimax, but it didn’t sound as good. When we were demoing the Selekt for the second time, did look at the Nova, but A) didn’t like it in the flesh and, B) liked the modular approach of the Selekt. Again others may find that the other way round.
The main thing is to enjoy our music and then our systems.
Amen to that! The Selekt is a wonderfully flexible box of tricks. If only Naim made a one box streaming preamp at its level. The whole one box / active speakers approach is really compelling.
I am relatively new on the forum, however I have owned and still own and use good quality Naim equipment since 2002 and I am not surprised by each of your reply’s.
Linn have Space Optimisation included in their product at this level, Naim currently do not.
Personally, I use Linn SO because I am partiality deaf in my right ear (nerve damage) and use a hearing aid in that ear. Linn SO enables the hearing aid to work at its best performance. Others may have a different opinion.
At this point I would like to launch a complete speculative view………
There seems to be a lot of fuss on the forum about the Naim streaming platform following an update in late 2024. Might it be possible that this update was to enable an upcoming announcement perhaps, perhaps a room equalisation capability?
It is the Bristol HiFi show in a few weeks after all?
It’s generally considered that the Selekt is at a higher level than the 222. Maybe a 222/300 can match it, but then that’s two boxes. I’ve heard neither so am going on price alone, which may be foolish. Maybe it’s just that Selekt owners extol its virtues more vehemently than do 222 owners. I have an Atom HE, which a few have compared with the bare 222 and concluded that it’s pretty much its equal. It works for me anyway.