So just back home from the Munich show, again quite some impressions. I will as usual again do my report in the coming period. This time you will have the bonus that my non Naim friend who was together at the show will also express his opinions and experiences with his day at the show… so I just will need your help when I start the big publishing that you every now and then reply so I can keep on publishing and don’t get blocked after eight posts. The sound of the day was the Dartzeel/Stenheim system…, while not flawless…… I am not sure if I will also go tomorrow as I was pretty late, but let’s see how I wake up tomorrow…
Also this time again some nice new testing tracks which I collected today. I will as usual also publish the music played during the show so that you can also get an impression of the music style and my musical impressions…. And perhaps get triggered to some new music as well……
Did you go by dynaudio ? and by any chance hear the contour legacy. I’m still a fan of their’s just not crazy about my confidence 20’s. Still waiting for an alluxity int. to replace my 282/250. The CL looks interesting and I’d be even more interested in them if the walnut they used looked as nice in person as it (often does) in their ads. They tend to photograph it so more grain detail shows and a “warmer” wood look.
Yes… they releasing series 3… I believe the Norse 3 should be next year . Am After the Norse 3 if it sounds better … I will check with my dealer . And will let you know if any infos. The new series or mk 3, has a more bodied sound… I am after chord music too… to pair with my nordost
Wonder if there are any plans to sell the focal/nova pe as a one purchase solution. Special pricing - throw in the fraim. The fraim looks absurdly out of place however.
I have not tried at that level but in my limited experience mixing Chord and Nordost didn’t work so well (for me). Nordost being slightly darker, kind of takes away a bit too much of what Chord gives you, if this makes sense?
May of course not be the case with the newer Nordost models, or at the higher end?
They sort of have to as it’s passive there are no input and output buffer stages delivering nice high input and low output impedances respectively. So the performance will be different from differing preamp output impedances and into differing power amp input impedances. The modules are to give the correct performance with the chosen pre/power combo.
Not interested in the Vidar? That would be helpful to burn your cables quickly! I remember you complained about their long running in time.
I know you are likely to be interested in the Norse 3 and not the Leif 3 considering the level of your system. I do wonder if the newer series are actually better or are just different in their sonic signature.
By the way how would you compare your Chord cables to the Nordost ones?
I‘ve had a birthday weekend in Munich, mostly seeing the sights, but popped into the show for just a few hours as the €10 ticket includes public transport even including to the airport so paid for itself!
As my time was limited, I focussed on a few rooms which interested me.
Grimm Audio
Listened to their MU2 streamer which sounded very nice indeed with some interesting Crystal Cable Minissimo Forte ‘bookshelf’ speakers (€8000 in passive mode although an active option is also available). I did try and get him to play the Nina Hagen vinyl but he said they were playing something else especially for someone else at that moment.
Went to the Audiovector room as I have and love their baby bargain QR1 speakers. It’s been very difficult to get a demo of the new QR1SE in the UK and the very friendly rep promised to sort something out for me with the UK distributor. The Trapeze speakers sounded quite impressive if you like a fairly upfront and dynamic sound. They were using a Naim streamer (NDX2 I assume as couldn’t see any extra power supplies. )
Popped into the Linn room as they always do a good ‘show’ Their second mortgage top system certainly sounded better than at Bristol, especially with the LP12, less so with the Klimax streamer which still sounded a little bit unnatural to me considering the price. But quite pleasant! (damning with faint praise?)
As the Naim room was opposite also went in but as others have already said it was a very low-key appearance by them and nothing to make me stay.
Apart from that, had a quick wander around the open-plan hall areas, looking at Degritter and Rega. Seems there is now a whole new range of Rega MM cartridges.
Chord is “slower” compare to nordost in my system . It’s easier to listen to but at the expense of the highly revealing nordost cables . The mid and low are stronger in my system after plugging in the chord streaming cable . I need to bring down the over revealing details of my nordost loom as it tends to get sharp on the high for some of the familiar tracks I love to listen to . It’s not easy to get the sound of the same tracks of a CD player as I would want for the streamer. And therefore I am tweaking. When I plug in the chord, it did bring down some highs.and with the chord , I can tell that the tyrs characters are still intact … but at the expense of some spot on details … it’s never easy with streaming music . And I did lost my patience sometimes
As for the new series , what I heard from is that it will be more bodied . So far there’s no demo yet .
… I will check with my dealer . And will let you know if any infos. The new series or mk 3, has a more bodied sound… I am after chord music too… to pair with my nordost
wow amount of cables
