I am really appreciating my newly purchased Allae speakers. This leads me to consider dipping my toes into the Naim vortex - before jumping in.
Would you start by replacing the amp or the preamp/dac?
There are suggestions on this site of esteemed Naim combinations for the Allae. Some of them are older. Some not.
I am running an NADC658 through a Bryston 3BST. The music is dynamic with good bass and excellent off axis listening in my home which is most important. It’s a little bright/fatiguing for near field listening. I think reading on this site has infected me with idealistic ideas of prat that could be bettered
Bryston can be characterized as bright so I’m thinking an amp would be the place to start. Thoughts?
Since you have Naim speakers, I recommend your next move into Naim is an amp and NACA5 speaker cable. You will boogie so hard your neighbors may call up the local psyche ward to cart you off with the rest of the loonies.
That Bryston amp is a very good and I’d think twice about replacing it but if you want to dip your toe into Naim then a Supernait 2 or 3 isn’t a bad start. Mixing Naim pre or power amps with other brands doesn’t really work so it has to be all Naim and it all depends on cost a similar system to yours in terms of components is the 272/250DR but if your looking to invest a bit NDX2/Supernait 2 or 3 would be my starting point.
I would find a decent local dealer and work with them. If you try swapping bits of kit in and out you may well spend a reasonable amount of money for little progress.
The one upside is that Naim kit generally maintains its value.
A good dealer will let you listen to equipment at home, and I have found that their second hand gear is no more expensive than that bought through certain sites.
I used a Bryston 4BST2, now that amp on bass and 4 channels of a Bryston 9BST for mid & treble triamped. (9B is like 5 channel 3B)
I wouldn’t call Bryston “bright” (whatever that actually means!), but pretty much neutral, with great control if the speaker. However I’ve only used into PMC EB1i speakers (4B) and same on bass with ATC SM75-150 mid and Scanspeak tweeter (triamped). Choice if speaker can make a huge difference in terms of “brightness” etc, as after all they are the components that stamp the their character on a system’s sound more than any other.