I wasn’t 100% happy with my IBL’s and have been hankering after a pair of Spendor A5s so I bit the bullet and found a lovely second hand pair. I have owned S6Es before and these are similar in presentation. After a bit of moving around to tame the bass, I’m really happy. Not as detailed as the IBLs and SBLs but they are deep and punchy where I want them. The 250 works well, I may see how the 160 fairs at some point.
Bluesound node. I keep meaning to compare it with the ndx2/xpsdr, but not sure what answer i want!
Its a very flexible little device for the £400 i paid.
Not that i know of. No burnt cables so far. Although the nap250 was freezing when i got it home. Gave it 20 mins to warm up, then cranked the whole lot up. Left it on, will monitor over next few days. But whole set up is impressive. Those little Dalis sound great for £80 or so.
If the New Classic range is released as expected I wonder if we’ll start a thread wanting see all those black boxes like we do with the old olive and chrome stuff. Do you think they’ll be the same love and sense of nostalgia with the current (for now) classics.
The first Naim components I saw were Classics and I was bowled over by their aggressively minimal look. The fins on the sides of the Solstice boxes look like decorative indulgences by comparison!
The fact that current classic range has stood the test of time I suspect they will be a design classic when we look back and reflect.
Let’s hope the new classic range can have as good a run as as the current classic range albeit “new classic” isn’t the most creative name in the history of marketing but I guess it works!
They are indeed ‘decorative indulgences’, most certainly in the case of the phono stage, which doesn’t generate the heat to warrant such heat sinks. An example of where form doesn’t follow function.
But an ideal opportunity to drive another round of ‘upgrading’ and price hikes based on some seriously doubtful ‘scientific’ chuntering about improved performance which will be so marginal as to be virtually undetectable.
After all, many folk on this forum appear wholly content with their boxes from generations gone by.
Like any company they have to find new markets. A design change is fine by me as long as the sq is kept. As has been said anyone wanting a previous generation of cb, olive, black boxes can find them on the pre owned market and have them serviced to as new condition.