My method is listening. I’ve yet to have an upgrade not be noticeable from the get go so I’ve never bothered with switching out components. I didn’t need to A/B my SC2 with my HC2, it was immediately apparent the SC was better. Wrt cables, after reading posts here and not really happy with my system at the time I tried the BJC and Ciscos, both were immediate and obvious improvements. I think I did put the AQ back in for a bit just to be sure but that was an easy decision. I’m not one to continually fuss over my system and try every boutique cable out there either. Those folks must have some system they use to justify their purchases.
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I have a simple rule, never more than one change at a time, and don’t dismiss something thinking that it will always be worse. I’ve found that some of the best upgrades may take time to reveal themselves as they often open the window wider exposing something poorer either up or down stream in the system.
My aim with my system is to get it to sound like live music. My local, before Covid, had lots of live bands, so it was simple to listen to them, go home, and then see how far away my system is from this goal. I have to say, I’ve got pretty close.
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Thank you. There’s a lot of joy in listening to a decent system, but the above is also true. The satisfaction of achieving a high-end system is good too.
That said, it’s not always convenient [for me] to decamp to a dealer and spend hours trying all the permutations so I trust the words on here a lot. A 300 was apparently better than a 250 and I fancied one so found one at a good price. No demo, no checking but the consensus on here was correct, in spades. As it was when adding a 555 to a 272. A bit of a punt but worth every penny, and more tbh. And recently with Witch Hat cables. A no brainer, if it works I’m happy and if not there’s a 30 day return window, no questions. As it happens they’ve turned out to be magnificent anyway, as suggested by those who’ve already gone down that path.
Any future upgrade will be a streamer; one of NDX2, NDS or at a push an ND555. Any will be an upgrade so it comes down to price and technology, and how soon after that a 252 and Supercap appear on the inevitable extra Fraim levels. It will be better because plenty on here concur, and there’s little fiscal risk with Naim gear if it comes in at the right price.
I can’t lose really. Referring back to Mr. M’s quote, I get a dose of indulgence and decadence and it’s virtually certain to sound better. Luckily there’s no great urge to spend 6 months wondering if it was the right choice or desperately trying to identify the tiniest differences. Currently listening to Tony Blackburn on R2 and it sounds better than I’ve ever heard it in my life, because people on here said Witch Hat are good.
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I hear you on this. I also value others opinions on here very much. They are in the main, like minds with a common interest and even though other aspects of who we are and what we do come in to conversation on occasion, the focus is a love of music and a pursuit of sonic excellence.
I’m not really a Naim fanboy but do have a decent system and others from other manufacturers and I would say the Naim system I have is the one that gives me the most enjoyment, even though they’re all often playing the same music.
I’ve had good friends come round and sit and listen to my system with a cup of coffee and been left with their mouth wide open and lost for words which is a testiment to the magic of Naim as a
brand.
I’m still curious about new speakers, I need a serious try out of different options in the months ahead, it feels like it’s something that will help gel the system together!
Noooooo!
Is there a song in there somewhere…
it’s not the indulgence,
it’s not the de-cadence,
it’s not oneup-manship,
it’s all about the boogie.
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Tune demonstrated…but tune demonstrated means different things to different people, and it’s initial implementation seems to have been developed further over time. For me it means things like this, and this is my favorite: can you tell when the singers and instruments are all in unison and can you tell when they are conversing together. Can you hear the subliminal mood of the music makers. All of these are difficult to define, but it works for me. One caveat is that the hardware needs to be of high enough quality to reveal these attributes.
Demonstration…not demonstrated!
“Tune-Dem” as referenced in post 5?
For me it’s simple, if it sounds better it was a success. My problem is I tend to do a few tweaks at the same time so I never really know what’s had the biggest impact.
I swap components / mods back and forth at a very low frequency (several hours to a day if I have time) and listen to random music (no special selections unless I am working on a specific problem) and also play solitaire on my phone at the same time.
I think the last bit has proved most useful as it stops me hyper-concentrating to the point where I am no longer listen to the music but listening to the machinery.
Discovered this technique when auditioning 3 phono pre-amps and ended up buying the one I found myself most looking forward to putting back in, without having listened to them ‘critically’ at all.
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I’ll have to use that one next time I spend £1000’s on a black box power supply.
Blame it on the Boogie!
Depends. Hardware, I’ll make an initial judgement, then leave it in for as long as I can impose on my dealer, invite trusted ears to listen, then revert back to what I had.
So, for example, I borrowed an Mscaler to front up my DAVE, thought “this is good” and left in in for a week + of solid music playing of all sorts, at which point I felt ready to make a judgement as to whether it was all worth it (bear in mind the extra coax cabling) and went back to a bare DAVE. Ah.
More peripheral items, such as cables or switches I’ll make more frequent back and forth listens, first using familiar tracks, then if I’m happy more continuous playing. Only at a point where I’m happy, I’ll rope in the innocent ears (wives, friends) for a blind test.
As for actual sonics, I’ve long gone from listening to “wow, where did that come from” to a more personal “is this closer to being there” approach, which for me encompasses the whole musical experience. Though the latest switch test did make me notice a better defined bass 
I’m happy with my system and it’s 18 months since I changed or tweaked anything (keeping JRiver software current excepted). If I change things after careful preliminary audition then I listen with the new component and revert back. If I miss the new component (e.g. Chord Blu2) then I keep it in the system. If I don’t miss it (e.g. pre-amps between Chord DAVE & power amp) then I return it to the dealer. Trying at home has been vital as some kit worked well in a dealer’s demo room, but didn’t perform well in the cottage.
I always think the choice should be that of the person who will use and listen to the system. I do not find subjective reviews especially useful and some of the nomenclature in use baffles me: boogie factor? musicality? As for recommending an amplifier with character that seems to miss the point that it’s the music that should do that.
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Boogie factor always puzzled me as well! I always think of it as getting up and bopping around, but to my mind its the beat that does that, and the more prominent the beat maybe the more the inclination, however that is down to the music. Sometimes it almost seems as if some people want the system to tease out and emphasise the beat even if in the recording it is very subdued! A bit like the toe-tap fixation perhaps, or even the same thing. But maybe that’s not what it means at all?
As for musicality, on the face of it possibly easier to grasp, like does presentation A sound more like music played well than B? That probably depends on the person’s idea of how the music should be maybe more like the live sound? But then whilst sometimes the live sound can be very good, surprisingly often it is not, though at the live event one ignores that unless very bad, because the live experience is more than just the sound of the music. Maybe more engaging? I struggle with that one as a measure of sound quality as it is possible to get totally engaged with the music even with poor sound. Maybe more like the players were into it and enjoying themselves, rather then mechanically going through the motions? That to me may be closer to it - but that is down to the recording!
Anybody have any descriptive definitions?
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For me i have never been happy with the leave it in for a few weeks to see how you get on and then remove it and see if you miss it, to me this leaves the door wide open for your mind to play tricks.
But to be fair if you add something new to your system and you cant straight away hear the difference, good or bad, then why carry on?
The rossini was straight away loads better, the pmc fact 12’s the same over my ovators, the 552/ 500 once again. So for me i like to hear it right from the start.
But i know now that sometimes its much harder, especially when you want to upgrade bits over time, as a new box might be held back because off the rest of your system not being able to fully exploit the new part, i had this problem when i first tried a ND555 against my NDS and couldn’t really hear any difference, but back at the dealer, it was more obvious the difference, so you have to be careful how you go about it all and really have an end goal in sight that you can achieve
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The problem is not with hearing the difference it is with deciding whether is is good, bad or just different. That is the bit that takes time, especially if the difference is subtle.
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Well for me, like i said if i have to wait weeks to know if i like it, then i most certainly wont, and probably also will have forgotten what i was trying to inpove on.
Plus i also know from my own experience, that some days it all sounds better than other days and i guess thats down to the human part, more than the boxes and maybe down to being more relaxed or open to the music more that day?
But what ever it all is, first impressions like most things in life, is where the truth lies
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Great thanks all. All sensible, methodical advise. I have tried a few upgrades in the past that I thought were great, probably because different, but a while later found wasnt enjoying the system.
I am glad there has been no holier than thou, miracle comments, where people state 100 others have agreed with their boutique cable choice etc.
Cheers
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