To much bass and ‘aggressive’ / unpleasant highs when playing louder.
So last week I finally said goodbye to my Naim amp. I bought a second hand Audionet Humboldt.
All I can say is Wow, the difference is more then huge!!!
So clear, so much space, detail and control in all frequenties. Beautiful!
The 252/300 isn’t good enough for the Magicos and the extra power of the Audionet is a better match. Naim’s 552/500 may be just as good, or better. I wonder if you tried it before going with the Audionet.
You really need to look at your source, which is well out of its depth. If you wish to stick with a Naim source, the ND555 would be a much better match.
The humbolt is certainly a very impressive integrated amp that is amongst the best you can buy. That can easily show separate amp’s/pre amps how it should be done.
I tried one for a few day’s to compare against my vitus sia030, and enjoyed how it sounded.
I should think it pairs very well with your speakers, and would certainly be a big inpovement over what you had before. It has the power, grip, and control to drive your speakers in the bass area much better. Plus it’s very quiet and clean to let your source show what it can do.
I could have easily lived with it going forward if i didn’t already have the vitus. But for me i liked the vitus slightly better. But each had their strengths over each other.
I do agree.
In my journey i have found especially with naim gear.
The best way is keep it all naim if you like what it does, and sounds. Or move away completely. Mixing kit doesn’t really work for both in the way it should.
Plus having move difficult speakers to control gets too much for most naim amps. I guess that’s why active works so well for naim.
The humbolt will be better than the 500/552 at controlling the bass, and bring a more detailed, bigger sound stage. But i agree the source is now by far the weak point, and the humbolt deserves better.
This has certainly been the way up until the new range of gear, but haven’t tried the new stuff .
I don’t think the sonic character of Magico speakers would ever gel well with Naim too much of everything in my opinion, not surprised the highs were piercing at louder volumes. Absolutely agree that greater power would enhance sound but not sure these brands would ever be marriage made in heaven. I think of Sonus as being far more relaxed in its presentation and the Magico as an audiophile speaker, by this, I mean, seeking to capture every last detail of the recording good and bad, must be matched accordingly. Both great speakers, both great amplifier brands, all down to matching and personal sound preferences.
I think a limitation of the Humboldt is that the output power is not linear with speaker impedance, being significantly less than double at 4 ohms relative to 8 ohms, unlike the Vitus, so I would expect it to be more limiting with speakers having significant impedance variation, so maybe that explains your preference.
Sonus and Magico couldn’t be more different. “Polite” easy listening vs “honest” transparency. Sonus would probably be more pleasant under more circumstances whereas Magico take more effort to get right. If you like the Naim sound, the Magicos wont tame it but you need to step up to 500 series before it makes sense.
If you don’t mind moving away from the Naim sound and want to keep the Magicos, it sounds like you have made a good choice with Audionet. Add an appropriate front end to really show what the Magicos are capable of!
I’ve always found that it informs to read the roster of kit which reviewers use with the likes of Magicos and other ‘premium’ 'speakers. While, on paper, a 300/500 may have the grunt to handle them (per the published spec’s), the reviewers generally use far more powerful kit e.g. Soulution, and that’s because such 'speakers need far more than these level of Naim amps deliver.
True. I havent heard the entire range but know the S3Mk2 well and they need power (and space). My Magico dealer often demos with Vitus, nothing less than SIA030 usually (and he sells Naim). That said, I am very happy with the performance with 500 series, whereas I found the 300 functional but lacking. I think the 500 allows the Magicos to present the Naim sound in all its glory, at least at the volumes I listen at. Perhaps the limits would start to show in a bigger room and/or at higher volumes.
As i reported some time ago when i tried the big vitus. The biggest difference i find when you get an amp that has more control, etc, is in the way it handles bass.
When i moved to the vitus sia030 over the 500dr, this was by far the biggest difference. It’s just like what the statement Amp’s bring to the party, great bass control.
The humbolt has this, and i am sure them speakers are certainly enjoying it.
I would seriously consider a new dac once you have recovered, as the humbolt / system will certainly give much more once you do.
True, Naïm and Magico are not a happy mariage. In the Sonus I missed the detail and bass.
Heard 50k Sonus on the Humboldt and was far from impressed, more dissapointed!
Now looking for a streamer upgrade .
Was not happy anymore with the sweet Sonus.
Like the Magico’s but unfortunally I find out that Naim is not a perfect match with Magico.
And I don’t believe that 500/552 is the right answer…
Lots of streamer/DAC options and the speakers are capable of doing justice to a high end setup. Depends on budget and how far you want to go. You will need to find something with good synergy with the amp or else the speakers will tell you something isn’t right. Enjoy the journey!
It’s “an” answer, but the right one is the one you are happy with.
Dcs rossini would be the way to go unless you can stretch for the vivaldi. But the vivaldi then needs a source, so it’s much more expensive. But my god it’s worth it.
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