System Pics 2024

My first exposure to Naim was heavily with a Nait 3, so I’ve always had a warm spot for them.

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The shelves are deliberately empty for space between components. I am not filling them!

Where is the loch, lake , Lin in the photo top central? And great sonic set-up :musical_note:

Those end grain stools is nice!

Hi. I recently posted some pics of my 20 year old system on the Naim Olive thread and was encourage to post my latest system here. This is it:

Here’s a close up:

Some background - We moved house a while back and we now have a much bigger lounge. Here, my SL2s sounded a bit light on bass (never bass monsters anyway) so I swapped them for a pair of Wilson Benesch ACT 1s. Earlier this year I had all the drivers updated to the latest Tactic 2 spec and refurbished the crossovers. Before that I was missing the speed and musicality of the SL2s but the upgrade has really paid off. Now fast, musical and plenty of bass!

I also swapped my NAP 135s for a 500, “because it’s there” :grin:

My final change this year was to upgrade my Hana ML to a Umami red. The ML is a great cartridge and to my ears the Umami slightly improves all its best qualities.

I’m really pleased with these changes. They work well in the new room and give me a fair step up in musicality. Hopefully that’s it for another 20 years. See you then…

PS Maybe I’ll move the clock to another room :roll_eyes: It’s a free upgrade!

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Mine with a Nait tout court

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Hi, I’m interested in two things. The 500’s vs the 135’s, how much difference? Also considering the cost difference your remark ‘slightly improves’. Worth the cost difference? These are both areas for my next upgrade when my boat comes in.
Edit. BTW system looks excellent.

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For me, the clock makes the room! What’s the white rectangle above the mantle?

Noticing some similarities between your system and mine. Sometimes I think about a 500 but my room is a lot smaller than yours.


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Nice story, which I did see over in the other thread.

Quick question?
Curiosity - What equipment platform are you using there?
Thank in advance

BW
R

That is from Helvelyn in the Lake District and Striding Edge.

I loved the green box sound.

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The 500’s vs the 135’s, how much difference?
For me, very little. It’s completely subjective of course and in my case I listen mostly to classical / BBC Radio 3, at normal-ish concert levels, 9 o’clock on the volume control. The 135s were easily up to the task, making it hard for the 500 to shine out in comparison. I’m pleased with it, though, because I know it’ll be up to the task if pushed.

‘slightly improves’. Worth the cost difference?
For me, yes. I didn’t do a side by side comparison, but swapping in the Umami was a clear step up. It’s that good. When the time comes I’ll have the Umami retipped or exchanged for new; I won’t be reverting to the ML, great though it is. To better the ML is a bit special, and the Umami does it by slightly improving everything.

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Thanks. The clock’s great! It’s from around 1770 and still keeps good time, but it’s probably been serviced and upgraded :wink:

The white rectangle is an untitled Bridget Riley print from 1978.

Nice to see your system. Is that the same kind of vintage as mine (2000-ish)?

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Beautiful turntable. But I would put an isolation platform under it personally.
I am intrigued by the painting. What does it represents ? Emptiness ?

IMG_3333

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Hi. It’s 20 year old Quadraspire Q4 with Audiophile Base platforms under the boxes. Mostly - when I added the phono amp I’d run out of shelves and didn’t bother finding another Base. Maybe I should, though.

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It represents my phone camera being not up to the task! It is an abstract work - Bridget Riley spoke about how she would look at the patterns in the sea and wanted to paint them.

Thanks for your suggestion. The turntable is supposed to be pretty stable (it’s 28Kg), but maybe an isolation platform would help. Can you suggest a product?

The little fella has been on loan with me for over a month now, and Naim told me last week that all being well I should get mine by mid December.

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What a treasure that clock is!

Yes, my olive gear is the same vintage as yours.

Is your 500 a DR or non-DR?

I had before an SME 20/2 turntable. Around the same weight, with elastomer suspension and damping fluid. When I put under a 3 cm granite shelf, I was surprised how much better it sounded on my rack.
There are so many isolation shelves on the market. A nice vernished butcher block would be nice. One of the most effective is the HRS one , but around 2k.

This one should be good. @JosquinDesPrez had one before.

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I actually had the Delos, not the ZaZen. But for the price they are quite good. It really took the HRS to bring put what my TT has to offer. Performance is significantly better now, but if you can’t spend $2k for the HRS, isoAcoustics is the next best thing I have experienced.

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