My parents got it about 50 years ago. Ugly but a decent sound (that’s what my brother said when we got it). I did ask my wife if we could get rid of the piano to make space for going active but she said an emphatic no!
I think you’ve settled on a healthy compromise…
Is Titan 808 holding back the system now or still a great end game speaker to you?
Stunning Tim. A dream system for many.
(I’ve only heard Statement twice and TBH both times I wasn’t blown away as I presumed I’d be – but then they were one off demos and using those bleedin Focal Utopia things that Naim seem to have their hands tied using……I’d really trust a proper home system like yours really shines as you’d expect….)
Aside from the audio aspects, I’ve always liked the Statement’s industrial design – the casework is stunning.
I agree with @What_Are_You_To_Me that the Titans really are a good visual match to the Statement with the middle band – uncanny!...and then the Fraim is also a good match to the Titans…!
I’ve always thought the Fraim jars a bit with Statement though, especially when close, but that’s just me…A design matched adjacent support system from Naim might have been an idea for Statement owners…!
I presume that’s the right speaker we can see in frame and not the left i.e with all the kit in between…!?
Brilliant.
SC
As the music says on the piano, Trust and Obey!
I had heard the full statement a couple of times into some huge Focals and not been at all impressed
I heard an S1 pre with 500 into 808s at the Acoustica show (so in a hotel room) and it didn’t sound as good as the 552/500 into 808s at home. This was just before I got the S1 so I was a bit worried but when the S1 pre arrived here it was huge step up over the 552
I had a similar experience with the statement power amps - 500 at home sounded better than statement at the show but when installed here the 500 was blown away
The speaker shown is indeed the right hand one. Apart from anything else there’s a fireplace between the speakers
I have heard more than a few people say they have been less than impressed at shows hearing the Statement. I guess it must all be down to the room size, acoustics and the number of people in the room. I wonder if the mains also plays a part given there will be multiple rooms all drawing power for different systems?
ps. I have no doubt it sounds fantastic! This was just an observation on your comment of listening at home vs shows
Another factor is that the statement needs to be left powered up for an age to be at its best. The 2-3 days at a show are not nearly enough
I hope I wasn’t being too defensive - that wasn’t my intention. It was more to emphasise the improvement in a home setting. I also seem to be very fortunate in my room being very sound friendly. Lots of soft furnishings, a big rug, but solid floors, an asymmetrical shape etc so the hard surfaces don’t really set up any bad reflections
Not at all, I also thought the warm up may be a factor after I clicked reply on my post. I do not have the same level of equipment as yourself; but I have also now learned that it needs a good few days switched on to be at its best.
I think the other thing is that the huge focals take a year to burn in. There is someone on here who has them with full statement. He said it took a year to receive them after order. And then a year to burn in. He has statements in separate room to the speakers.
My own experience of Focal speakers is the beryllium tweeter does take time to bed in after buying them 6 months old mint they have improved with age.
So big new Focals and new Statement will all take time to bed in. Such is the case with very high end products. The top of the range Focal speaker costs £220k. The Focal Grande Utopia Em Evo speakers.
Give it time and you will have a very high end system. You have the Naim bug.
Very nice indeed,
With all due respect to the Kudos 808, IMHO, it is disproportionate, the Statement deserves a lot more, this is kind of a waste…Sorry for spoiling the party here:)
The song on the piano has seven-bar phrases, unusual.
Well said that man! I had the same experience. The S1 is real Master Conductor with all things Music. It really does “interrogate “ the music before serving it up in a presentation to die for. I was really happy with (who wouldn’t be!) with the S1 &500DR serving (i must get away from the food annolgy!!) to the 808’s!
I then made the decision to upgrade to the Statement mono’s.
The night before the amps were due to arrive my system really “come on song”. Absolutely glorious, which is testerment to the 500DR. The doubts, the sweaty palms started…had I done the right thing. What struck me initially about the complete Statement was how beautiful it is. Absolutely stunning.
As soon as we cut the ‘umbilical cord’, of the 500DR and connected the Mono’s it was clear from the off that Statement immediately became the sum of its parts. It takes an age to warm up, longer…much longer to run in. But when it does…o wow!
May I just add, that I am fortunate enough to have the Atom HE for headphones duty. I use this mainly early in the morning when the family are asleep and yes, the HE is incredible. Maybe one day I’ll just have that and a pair of active speakers……just not today
They have a list of the meter of the hymns and exchange melodies. I find that very very odd from musical point of view but it happens.
Would be interested in your choice of speakers
Old school and SL2 = super musical system!
Maybe you are right, in the absolute reality. But much more signifies a much bigger room. Then there’s also the WAF factor. I doubt something like Wilson Chromosatic or Magico M7 would work in his room.
Tim has listened to 552/500 on his 808 and found a great improvement with the Statements. It’s the most important. He has probably the best possible sound he could have with the constraints of the room, WAF, and personal tastes.
The big advantage of the 808s is that they can go close to the wall, rather than needing to be 2m out into the room. It’s far easier to keep the room looking like a living room rather than a dem room that way.