I had this dilemma last year. I got the NDX2 - I like the idea of something current that will be developed in both SQ and features over the coming years, whereas the NDS is frozen in aspic. The received wisdom is that the NDS is a tad better, but when you have whichever you choose at home they are both brilliant and which is ‘best’ doesn’t really matter.
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Undoubtedly most of the difference at that level comes from rarity and snobbery.
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If that were the case there’d be no need for Naim’s hierarchy. There is better SQ. Some people may prefer lesser SQ and that’s fine.
Can you objectively describe what better SQ means in this context?
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I favour the NDX2 for same reasons as you. But if it was a big step up then I’d have some thinking to do.
I guess streamers are one item we have to accept a bit of heartache on depreciation sooner or later, albeit think of how much we used to spend on CD/LS’s etc and how much more choice we get now.
Yes, better.
Right you can’t, since ‘better’ doesn’t mean anything.
Better is subjective, and more easily used when we think something is rare or expensive, without further objective qualification.
I’d stick with the plan. HD radio is expanding and various new features are coming too. The NDX2 is really nice to use and the new platform is slicker all round. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
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No, better is an adjective that is acceptable in the English language. We all know it when we hear it.
In hifi if there is one thing you shouldn’t trust it’s your own ears…
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I’ll leave you to your belief system.
To me, better in hifi means more natural, more real, and more engaging. It cannot be measured but your heart tells you.
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Yes i agree with you.
The main problem i have though is that when we know a piece of equipment has a price tag of 10k+, we immediately feel that it sounds a lot better.
This is where the 500,- wine snobbery thing comes into play i guess. “It’s really expensive, so it must be special”.
Say a NDS was repackaged in a different box with an Onkyo logo on it and a price tag of $500.
Then in a listening test with a Naim NDX2 next to it, you think you would with certainty be able to point out the Onkyo box having the superior sound quality?
Surely your ears are the very things you should definitely trust. If you can’t trust your own ears then there’s really not much point.
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It would certainly be a very, very heavy Onkyo for a measly £500…talk about a weight in gold.
You wouldn’t know if it was set up by someone else for comparing?
Sure, but what we hear and how well varies by day, so we shouldn’t rely on it as an objective measurement tool to assess ‘quality’.
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I could easily hear the difference between my ND5 XS 2 and NDX 2 regardless of who would set things up, it’s not subtle. If it was, what’s the whole point it at all? And why would i spend double the money?
I didn’t say you wouldn’t hear the difference, I was commenting on the weight