Hmm. Am I? The Atom paired with the Focal Chora 816s made me wonder if my small room made the on order Nova overkill or excessive, or spendthrift. Now after a month with the Nova, it seems as far beyond the Atom as the Atom was from the Qb (exaggeration but you get the point.) So, am I surprised? Even though I had high expectations, as one should for the price/ I could have sent it back if I wasn’t happy, yes. The Nova exceeds my expectations. With the coming Powerline, I expect even more. It makes me really happy. As another (sorry not to ID you) here said they love to look at it. Lol…me too. Sometimes I’ll reach for the volume on the iPad or remote, stop and walk over to just touch it. Spectacular piece. I’d mention the Linn salesman local here to me really dismissed Naim as inferior…I’d laugh at him now. Oh…I can spend $40,000 and sound better? Lol…ya think? Edit: I want followers to see the results- The Powerline arrived. It makes a stunning difference. Immediate. I mean, within 5 seconds I could tell. One thing surprising is the sound of reverb. It’s crazy. But top to bottom improvement. I’d fight someone that tried to take it back. Lol.
Well…herein lies a key question. Are we in the pursuit of transparent system, or are we actually in favour of colouration that we enjoy?
I strongly suspect the latter, which is why Naim ‘special sauce’ sound gets such a following (me included). Naim stuff really does sound different. ABX testing shows that you can pick out Naim stuff against rivals, and this must be due to some kind of EQing along the way. I really like the Naim sound (hence why I am here) and I also like the way my speakers are ‘voiced’. I also have studio monitors and whilst they are more ‘neutral’ they are not a pleasant listening experience.
The issue we have to contend with is that amps are in theory at least very simple - take a signal and make it bigger - and you can measure what you are putting in vs what you are putting out. When you do this, modern Class D stuff performs near-perfectly.
Yes I am running it with 83db speakers - and it’s surprisingly good .
I get a bit hacked when salesmen disparage a customer’s choice as in reality it’s the customer’s judgement that is being queried .
An interaction with a customer now, may prevent a sale in the future.
About twenty years ago, Audio T in Reading did a demo for me, they didn’t get the business as I found a non-audio solution to my problem . They were polite, efficient and the demo was a good one . Years later I went back - and in the last two- three years have bought two major items and oodles of Chord interconnects
There is always a direct trade off between colouration and transparency, this happens in audio but also in visuals, which can be easier to demonstrate:
The image on the right is warmer and many people instinctively prefer that, even though it is technically oversaturated and unnatural. The image on the left is more tonally accurate and balanced, but may feel bland to some people next to the warmer variant.
The right image is similar to pressing a loudness button on an amplifier, or a hifi system that is designed to sound relatively warm. It feels cozy but is not necessarily real or transparent.
Sometimes the difference can be subtle but can still change the overall perceived feeling:
Live music can sound really warm and nice. It isn’t lifeless. Personally I don’t think naim stuff is coloured I think it is very neutral. I think some stuff that is said to sound transparent is actually lifeless.
I used hypex amps for years and I still have some. In comparison there are quite alot of similarities to the sound it’s the smooth flow of the music and the quick transients that I find more pleasing with naim.
Beautiful pictures!
I find the boy pic on the left more accurate and the girl right more accurate or better defined.
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This is on my list of things to try, although I expect it will require a leap of faith purchasing the HE and taking it to the ATC dealer. Good thing I’m also looking for a dedicated headphone setup as well.
I’m guessing it won’t stack up to the Mola Mola Makua I listened to with SCM 100’s, but keen to hear how good the pre is.
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