System Pics 2020

Yes, but I found the bottle of wine straight away -there’s a worry

Hic

Have you thought about the larger Q Acoustic floor standers with your set up?

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I’m happy with the little ones. Besides, they fit the taste and space of the flat’s owner.

Good

How are you getting on with the Rega Aethos? Looks like an impressive amplifier.

It is a very impressive amplifier, I am very pleased with it.

It runs warm, but not hot and can do “muscular” and “delicate” with equal aplomb , there is the faintest of hums but nothing to worry about .

When they were designing it, I am pretty sure they had the SN2 in their sights as a main competitor so I am sure it was designed to go head to head with Naim integrated amps

Very pleased with it’s grip on my little Harbeths , it could be with more efficient speakers such as Neat /PMC/ Spendor that the difference is less pronounced

Thanks for asking

Ian

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Not heard the Aethos (would like to), but I was really taken with the Osiris I heard at one of Rega’s demo days I attended, fed by a P8 & Aura, the Osiris driving ATC SCM40 speakers, rather effortlessly in a large room too. A lovely system all round - very impressive, yet very simple.

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I went to audition the SN3 believing it a shoe in, but the Aethos had much better synergy with my speakers. Very sad not to have bought SN3, but suspect with these speakers some other amps that would normally not be considered competitors for Naim would have shone especially those from Denon and Yamaha

So I am not bashing the SN3 just sad that there wasn’t the out and out synergy the Rega showed.

I also wanted to reduce box count for various non hifi reasons

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I think overall synergy can be overlooked when looking for new components (esp with brand loyalty). I know I’ve certainly made that mistake in the past (naively buying kit on just press reviews). I still have Kevin Scott’s words ringing in my ears from years ago “don’t forget it’s a whole system”.

Agree on the box count. Of late I’ve come around to the less is more approach, reinforced after hearing a Clearaudio Innovation Basik with Exposure 3020S2 integrated and Larsen 4 speakers at Cranage - sublime! Same with a WT Versalex, Nait2 and Neat Ekstras in the Neat room, plus that Rega dem as mentioned. In each case those systems just worked and added up to more than the sum of their parts.

Anyway, back on topic, apologies for the thread diversion.

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I rather like this approach … my example is not so tasteful.
This is my system in the study, except you can only see the speakers. The ‘Qute is under the stairs on the other side of the house. I like this room because it has a door onto the garden that permits my dog (and hens) access, I can look at one of my favourite paintings, and I can sit and read listening to music without resorting to artificial light (and yes I need a new light bulb).

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Thanks Huw.

My girlfriend is passionate about interior design. Some of it has rubbed off on me. My pic above is her kitchen/ living room. I’d rather see the rooms that our Naim sets are in, rather than the systems themselves. But that’s just me and I know it’s not the purpose of this thread.

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Hi John…Have you got the Plex as a stereo pair, or did you get just the one speaker ?

Been wanting to demo Plex against a Sonus Move, but obviously that’s not possible at the moment.

Like you, I would use it as a Roon endpoint.

You happy with the sound?

Cheers :+1:

Like the painting.

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I agree, everyone knows what a black box (or ten) looks like. Rooms are far more interesting.

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It’s often the smaller systems without ten identical boxes that I find appealing, especially if they have
a) vintage or unusual turntable (did you see the LP12 with SME arm?)
b) NAT01
c) Unusual or eye catching speakers

The speakers in Christopher’s photo are designed to harmonise with the room and the audiophile in me sees nothing wrong in that.

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Thanks - it’s from Zimbabwe; the artist is Lovemore Kabudzi.
I bought this when visiting Harare in 2001.
I should add that Lovemore won a scholarship to study down under - I think NZ - he wanted to develop / seek inspiration for another style or motif, going beyond pictures of queues. However, it did not work out and he returned to Zim without developing another style.

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I’m having to make do with a Quad FM4 whilst my NAT01 is on holiday in Salisbury. I could stream through the ND555, but I like the ease of switching simply to the tuner. The FM4 is a fine tuner, but it doesn’t have the depth or majesty of the NAT01.

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Suspect little else does. They are plentiful on the bay , far more so than Naim tuners

You make me regret my beloved NAT05 XS that I let sail to Singapore early this year.

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Although I have 2, I’ve not used them as a stereo pair, just as single speakers in 2 different locations.

It’s probably a good idea to head over to the Roon forum Bluesound section and see what the experience there is.

.sjb

Sorry looking mess of a rack with pre and streamer both in Salisbury for some TLC, so some Vinyl cleaning taking pride of place…

And a big queue waiting to be done while I listen to what I can courtesy of BBC Sounds, Radio 3 building a library back catalog and Johnnie Walker’s Sounds of the 70’s through the Ultimate Ears beatbox. does the job!


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