I bought my Naim system in 2006, so it has taken me a long time to post anything. It has also taken me a long time to change anything about it.
I have had and really enjoyed the Nait 5i and CD5i since then. Pretty basic compared to many of the other systems on here of course. Atacama equinox rack, B&W CM1 speakers on their matching stands with Naim speaker cable.
I had stopped listening to it a year or so ago, because the CD player had stopped working and all I had to stream was an Apple airport express. Still I thought it sounded pretty nice for me. My wife decided to get my CD player fixed for my Birthday (turned out it just needed a âjiggleâ and was fine), so I started listening again. Of course you never know if it sounds truly good but for me, the combination, especially with vocals is lovely. I am lucky to be able to get my speakers and my listening position in a good triangle and the width of the soundstage is impressive.
I decided I had waited long enough to add to the system and the Apple express just wasnât doing it so I bought a ND5 XS2. Wow! absolutely incredible. Even with these old components and old compact speakers, I have been blown away. I struggle to see how it could sound better - though clearly it can!
The trouble is I have now got the bug again and canât stop surfing for upgrades. I have already added hidden ethernet cable, rather than relying on wifi, added an extra Atacama equinox shelf (very hard to find), subscribed to Tidal and bought a dedicated extension lead (Tacima 6 way).
I suppose the obvious next targets are the speakers and the amp, although they really do still sound great with most of my listening (classical lacks a bit of oomph, but Eva Cassidy, Diana Krall etc sound lovely).
upgrading can be an endless and expensive process - i would sit back for a while and enjoy the opportunity streaming gives you to explore the huge range of musics out there following up on the various threads in the music room might be a good place to start.
There are plenty of people on here with more experience of the upgrade path; itâs a long time since I started that journey, but it started the same way I was dissatisfied listening to classical music. Perhaps think about your budget and talk to your dealer?
Hi, the obvious choice here would be the recently discontinued Nait XS3 which would be a great match for your streamer. Now could be a good time to hunt for a bargain as the last of this model are sold off.
Having said that, upgrading your speakers could be the where the biggest gains are to be had. The amp upgrade would give you more choice of speakers that it can drive better than your 5i. Getting this right can require some patience when it comes to finding speakers that really work well in your room.
The world is your oyster depending on your budget but as a starter I would change the amp for something a bit more gutsy - perhaps an end of line Nait XS3 to match the streamer?
I purchased my ND5 XS2 5 years ago after no changes to my Naim system for 20 years.
Since 2020, I have upgraded one component at a time from NAC102/NAPSC/Hicap/CDX/NAP140/Credo to now PS555/NDX2/NAC82/NAPS/Hicap/Hicap/NAP250/Spendor7.2 - so BE WARNED!
Good you finally started posting, welcome, and great to see your system!
Happy to see you started with the basics, rack, power, Naim speaker cables, positioning. In case you havenât done so yet, perhaps one more basic would be to replace the metal connectors between the biwire posts of the speakers with cable jumpers. You can then experiment which way sounds best woofer first or tweeter first. Oh and carefully setting everything level.
Two thoughts on ways forward: Big oomph means a big amp. So go Supernait, a Nait XS (1/2/3) is more control & refinement. Big amp is one way to go, another way is to add speakers that are still easy load but more full-spectrum. But I donât listen to classical so could be either way.
(Rega Aya are often overlooked but could provide you just that, a pair of used Neat Motives do that, but obviously there are many other ways like standmounts from Guru and what have you)
Just some thoughts, but mostly I will join others above to just enjoy this for a while.
SuperNait. Iâve run cm1âs with a SuperNait for years and they could set the room on fire. Youâve greatly positioned them, room around them helps avoiding a boom.
Well - many thanks everyone for taking the time to read and respond. I am really pleased that so many of you have chipped in with your thoughts already.
SN3 or SN2 second hand. Maybe Proac tablette signature or some PMC in the 2,3 k range. Listen at dealer place or borrow some speakers. With SN2 or 3, you wonât take risk buying blind. But speakers , itâs different.
Welcome to the forum and welcome to the world of endless upgrades! My advice is simple, if you are enjoying your system then do nothing for as long as you can. However, if you find the addiction too great then be quite sure you can hear the next upgrade before actually buying it! If itâs not a major fundamental step forward then donât go there. Lots of stuff can initially sound better but end up being just different and before you know it you lose your point of reference and the enjoyment the system was giving you. Iâm still a bit of a âflat eartherâ a would recommend getting your âsourceâ as good as possible before attacking anything else. And donât lose sight of the music!
In my experience the ND5XS punches well above its weight so assuming you wish to stay aligned to Salisbury Iâd search out a good SN3, then possibly speakers?
Thanks again for all the replies. Some very helpful suggestions. I am planning to leave it as is certainly for a bit, although I have already noticed it is changing my listening habits. There are some tracks that sound perfect, but others that are really lacking in comparison. As a ânoviceâ (even though I have had Naim since 2006), I find it very difficult to know what the issue is with these tracks. They tend to be more complicated perhaps (eg classical music that has a lot going on with a lot of instruments) and sound a bit âmushyâ. Certainly the simpler tracks with a few instruments and vocals sound the best. I donât really have a relationship with a dealer locally having not bought anything from them since 2006. I got the ND5 XS2 as a bargain (presumably because they have stopped making them) from a shop in Glasgow, which is a long way away from me in York. I have a few thoughts on the streamer which I will post in the streamer section.
i have a similar problem with some dense classical recordings on my 222 (streamer section roughly equiv to nd5xs2?) i had a demo at my dealers last week (using track âthe terror - burn down their housesâ from the new recording of tippettâs a child of our time (cond edward gardner) where it is difficult to follow the lyrics. adding an npx300 power supply helped a little but it needed an upgrade to 333 streamer (using 222 as preamp) to make (nearly) all the lyrics clear. so my conclusion is that it needs a streamer upgrade (or external dac - chord??) to solve the problem.
Dealers/manufacturers play plenty of âsimpler tracks with a few instruments and vocalsâ at HiFi shows for a reason! You do have at least one excellent dealer in York.
Unfortunately, you will learn that the more you spend on better equipment the more you will probably hear. itâs simple hifi equation. Those that are fortunate enough to own big systems do so because they will reproduce scale, dynamics and realism no matter what you throw at them. Even the best front end coupled with small but great bookshelf speakers like LS35a/Kans will not produce scale. They will sound fantastic up to a point. If you want a full orchestra in your front room then you are going to have to go big and expensive!
