In one hour I asked for a shoot out between the Meitner MA3 vs Nd555.
I was impressed by the Gryphon Essence / Meitner / Apertura speakers the last time I heard at my dealer place.
My playlist :
Hanne Boel, after midnight
Kamaal Williams
Chris Stapleton, death row
Sean Khan, Azawala
Aaron Parks, little big
Larry Carlton /Robben Ford: live in Tokyo / two bad
Kem, intimacy
Paul Personne, coup de blues
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And the verdict… ?
Edit - I see you’ve posted elsewhere
Verdict : the Meitner was connected to the Gryphon pre with a balanced cable. The Nd555 with the same cable, but unbalanced, rca/rca.
The Mconnect app which comes with the Meitner is not very friendly, and less responsive vs the Naim app.
I stood alone in the room during maybe 90 minutes. Heard about 10 tracks from my playlist, and was swapping between both every 5 minutes.
The Meitner was going lower , with a bigger bass. It was fast, involving, dynamic, like the Naim. Organic and articulated too.
But the difference mainly was on voices and the timbers of instruments.
The high frequencies were a bit edgy sometimes .
The Naim was nicer globally, softer on voices, more natural, more analog in its general presentation.
Unfortunately, for my pocket, I will not replace my Nds by the Meitner. However, for the price, around 11 k euros, it’s really very good.
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Having listened to many many brands my dealer once said……way back when you first heard Naim if the now newer brands (chord etc) existed you may have chosen another musical path if they were available then……maybe?
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@james_n , as you are following my thread, I have a question for you.
If I buy a Linn KDS3, which was upgraded from KDS1, do the capacitors inside need a service ? When they upgrade from KDS1 to KDS3, do Linn change all, the power supplies too?
There are some KDS3 second hand on EBay, from Uk dealers. I could ask them to upgrade to Organik dac . It costs around 6k. The KDS3 are proposed generally around 7 k.
It’s not for now, but maybe in a few months. The second possibility is to buy a second hand Nd555. But UK dealers don’t send to France. It’s more complicated. And the one box Linn is appealing too.
As long as it’s running the latest Dynamik power supply (which was an upgrade on the early models) then all should be fine. The Organik upgrade replaces the whole main board (except the power supply) , so you’re effectively getting a new player with a 5yr warranty.
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There are a few here who stood with Naim during many many years, as Bluesfan, SimonS, Dunc….and recently went for Chord or Rossini.
Can’t predict for myself.
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I have tried them both, just not for me.
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I also would like to buy a preloved ND555, but this device does not to pop up often on the usual marketplaces…
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Can you just buy the wood blocks. They would be great in the kitchen 
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The french can,t cook bangers and mash to save their lives😉
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Never ask for a rare steak in Paris 
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It bypasses the kitchen😁
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The big benefit for me with the Meitner is it’s superb Lossless Digital Pre section and output stage . It works brilliantly into Active speakers and you’re right it is excellent value for money .
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I think they do! They certainly did in the past for the KDS/0 to the KDS/1 and the KDS/1 to the KDS/2, because in the past you could choose to purchase a KDS Renew with the old internal boards from the streamer that had been upgraded.
I am pretty sure this would also be the case with the KDS/2 (or KDS/1) to KDS/3 (Katalyst), even though the KDS Renew option isn’t available any more.
Not sure about the KDS/3 to Organic upgrade.
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My dealer has one, but I can’t buy the streamer only. The seller sells the combo for 17 k. Too much.
You have to explain me what you mean. Don’t worry, I won’t be offended 
Hi Frenchrooster.
Nice to speak again.
Coincidentally, I have a Linn klimax ds organik and a emm labs ns1 with the da2 v2 dac, both via super lumina. I believe the dac is the top of the meitner range. I am also running an optical rendu to the dac. The Linn is still running in about 3 weeks old.
The comparison between the 3 sources is very similar and i would be happy with any. The logitech media server on the optical rendu is head and shoulders better than the other two. Will forward any developments if you are interested.
My knowledge as far as upgrading the Linn ds to organik is … it has to have a katalyst power supply and any model earlier than the ds2 will have to be machined to fit the organik board, this is fairly simple if you know someone with a CNC machine or I am told Linn will do it, I presume for a high price.
Cheers
Rich
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Sorry i meant the logitec media server software is head and shoulders better than the other two for what i want, like flac interactive radio paradise and full bbc sounds
Why? Ate they hard to find? Baboom! 