I fear I already know what the result would be…
I would stick with the SN and IBLs myself Max, although I could be tempted by a nice 72/140 just for that classic look. I bet they have been used in many IBL systems.
Could a CD source which more or less emulates the non-Cirkus, Valhalla LP12, Ittok, Supex (which I understand was prevalent in the factory when the IBLs were developed) help Max? If so, which?
For instance, I have wondered if the original Naim CD5 with the other half of Max’s FC2 might have a similar style to a mid-eighties Linn. Maybe add a HiLine for extra weight and general sumptuousness…
Hi Chris,
I think that the CD you have in mind is a CDS3…
It broadly is but, from experience, you understandably won’t pay for one, so I mentioned it’s little brother.
C.
I’ve been listening to SN/IBLs (with DR-ed PSU) for a while with a stress on just appreciating the music and the way it’s rendered.
I must say that the moment one excludes biases, expectations, comparisons from the experience (the most difficult thing for some audio lovers), IBLs are really enjoyable, they make music with a light bass extension (at least with a SN) but with clarity, spontaneity and a very natural, convincing tone. The audio experience is a mirror of something else, for some - enjoying what’s there without continuously wondering what’s there somewhere else, somehow else, is a real task. Absurd, but real.
Limits must be set. Mine are in the Guizu rack I have found 2nd hand and bought from a guy who treated it like sh*t. It’s presently at a friend’s, furniture renovator, to be brought to decent life again. The disposition and amount of shelves will decide for whatever else will come.
Strange how difficult it is, for some, to simply recognize quality and stop there.
If low satisfaction is starting to creep in get a cheap pair of phones plug into compressed Spotify on your phone, then you’ll soon be satisfied with your main system.
With your history, selling the Sats would be a mistake, even if they’re currently out of favour.
Those speakers sound magical on the end of a HiCapped SN3.
@LindsayM I actually am now, more than usual. There’s a sure way to get to like what you have, and it is the lack of options…
@Yeti I don’t collect and don’t keep multiples, once I decided that IBLs are objectively better than Sats, albeit with more idiosyncrasies, there was no reason to keep them. Taste can change or evolve, after all.
@Stephen_Tate I know. But IBLs are more capable and mature. This doesn’t mean I’ll keep them forever, but just that now they’re here and are good at replaying music…
It is, in fact. Thanks for noticing and remembering.
And it is what usually makes a speaker stay or go. Rather than expecting it to sound like a real piano, though, I am happy to have back some of the piano’s woodiness, immediacy, a quality I cannot exactly pinpoint but that usually makes Naim loudspeakers sound so ‘right’ to me.
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