I read the Latest S1 thread - no I’m not thinking about a Statement level system and that led me to the dealer website…
On it I saw that Naim and Focal have special offer packages particularly the Atom and Chora 806’s.
In a previous life had LP12, Ittok, 62 / 90 and Mordaunt Short MS20
Currently Muso Gen 1 and CD5i which has got me back into listening to music again on a regular basis mainly whilst cooking evening meal, and the internet radio is on pretty much all day.
I have seen lots of people on here have good experiences with the Atom but I don’t think I’ve seen any comments on the Focal Chora 806 - anybody any experience?
Yes I know I should go listen / home demo etc but lockdown 2 has probably put paid to that for the time being and the offer appears to be time / stock limited.
These package deals are a way of promoting Focal speakers to Naim users because the two brands have a common owner. Traditional HiFi dealers used to encourage you to listen to a variety of equipment and find a pair of speakers that matches not only your electronics, but also your personal taste and room acoustics. I would suggest that you find a dealer who helps you find a system that matches your needs.
(Personally I dislike the sound of all the Focal speakers I’ve heard, but that in itself shouldn’t put you off. You might like them, but ask your dealer to let you listen to some alternatives too, then you’ll know for sure that you are getting the best system for your needs.
The Atom is a very, very capable performer that I really enjoyed when I heard it. It sells for £2,399. If you go with the special offer, you get the £599 Chora 806 as well as a 4m terminated pair of Naim’s excellent NACA5 speaker cables that would cost you £300, all for the bargain price of £2,599.
If you think of it as getting the Atom and £100 off a very competent pair of speaker leads that are at home with top end Naim systems around the world you are then getting the speakers free. Even if you later move to a better set of speakers to go with the Atom, the Choras will be a great start. If you can’t get to hear it and want to move quickly I really can’t see how you can go wrong.
One thing you’ll discover is the ability to multi-room between the Atom and your mu-so, which is a brilliant feature. For example we have Qbs in the kitchen and dining room, and an NDX2 in the sitting room so it’s possible to sync them together and get uninterrupted music as you move around the house.
Hi @VinoVeritas. I bought an Atom in Lockdown 1 and am very pleased with it. The Naim/Focal bundles look good value. As @anon4489532 points out, with the Chora 806, you’re effectively getting a discount on the speaker cable and the speakers for free. But to get the best from them you’ll need decent stands and the dedicated (tilted for time-alignment) Focal stands are £200. If you have a larger room, the Atom/Chora 826 bundle might be an even more enticing proposition, at least financially. But deciding whether to risk waiting for the opportunity to audition is a tough call.
I have no experience with the current range Focal’s. But I used to have the 726v in a previous system and loved them. But what’s relevant there is that I also listen to everything like you, so my experience is that Focals are all-round, which you need.
The deal sounds like a fine one, although I do think you can pair the Atom with better speakers if you’re willing to spend the money.
In my experience the smaller more conventional Focals can sound very good and are good value for money.
I think most of the dislike for Focals relates to their high end models - I find them to be ridiculously expensive, sound rather unpleasant, and look worse - but that’s just my opinion!
I would like to thank all the contributors to the conversation
Decision made for me… SWMBO says No
Transcript of conversation (abridged version)
Me thinking about Atom deal
SWMBO How much
SWMBO what does it do differently to the Muso
Me vague ramblings about sounding better etc etc
The Atom is a handsome-looking device that also plays tunes, nicely.
From: one happy Atom owner, also bought in Lockdown1 for music therapy while WFH - a step up from the Qb2 which is still here - both playing RP Mellow Mix right now via roon (for PC desktop app convenience)
Well, to start, one allows you to cook food, the other one makes music sound good.
But in all seriousness, I guess everyone is different, but what worked for me was just involving her. Even though she would have been fine with any cheap (unobtrusive) system, I took her to auditions and she had a serious say. Of course that’s a compromise, she has way less patience to spend time trying pieces of music in listening rooms (I would have spent longer and listening to a few more options), has aesthetics as a higher priority than sound (some speakers weren’t even auditioned[0]). But she did hear the difference, had an opinion on the sound and in the end when you make that choice together there’s no discussion like there is when you choose something by yourself and then have to justify the spend to the other.
[0] Which is actually a good thing, if I had loved them it would have been harder having them rejected and having to go for second best.
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