Congratulations @NigelB, hope you get years of enjoyment. 
2 Likes
Get yourself some Fairfield Four too! This is a must:
4 Likes
Thatās a Naim demo playlist favourite!
1 Like
Just played āThese Bonesā on Qobuz!
Oh yessssā¦ā¦praise the Lawd for bass!
4 Likes
You have deserved it enjoy it to the full. Heaven starts here, while some people want us to belief you need the S1 or a full statement for that. The 500 series shows us what was possible as ultimate before, and it still beats most others in the market.
4 Likes
Yes, it does! The 500DR is indeed a superb amplifier.
The 500 DR isnāt āonly a 500ā, itās been optimized here and there over the years. And, of course, the new regulated power supply is a game changer.
Enjoy @NigelB 
4 Likes
Wow, this thing is really starting to come on song.
Just listening to Cara Dillonās The Wanderer. It is so difficult to put into words what I am hearing. Instruments and vocals have more body and presence without sounding forced or in your face. Just more natural and believable, as I said before.
This makes listening a more relaxing experience, no edge of the seat stuff, unless the music is meant to bring tension. Every track is delivered with confidence, as if the musicians and vocalists really know what they are doing. Music delivered with confidence, competence and emotion, and I mean all emotions.
I have just realised I have not resorted to any of the usual hifi descriptors, mainly because they just donāt help, and possibly because they donāt really help describe great music delivered faithfully.
13 Likes
Glad you like your new purchaseā¦ā¦i always find it difficult to describe hifi upgrades. Itās a nice Naim place to beš
2 Likes
On the subject of bass workouts for your hifi, just stick on āBass And Drum Introā from the Nils Lofgren Band Live album. Turn up the wick and warn the neighbours!
1 Like
Not such a good day today with the 500DR. Sounding a little hard and a little thinner.
I realise there are ups and downs during a settling in period. The 500DR is ex dem but the dealer said it hadnāt had much use over the last 18 months and was switched off during lockdowns. I am also using brand new SuperLumina speaker cables and brand new SuperLumina DIN/XLRs, so they will need to burn in. To top it all I am recovering from man flu and my ears are a little blocked.
I am also conscious that my 552 (2008 model) might be due a service and needs DRing. The arrival of the 500DR might just have exposed this more.
I am not concerned because I have already had a taste of what the 500DR does in my system. I would however appreciate hearing othersā experiences of the roller coaster of 500 settling in period.
The trouble with upgrades is that you end up having to upgrade everything else. 
Probably the effects of the bug though. Can play havoc with the hearing !
Hi Nigel, from memory running my Din-Xlrs was a somewhat long winded affair adding to this youāve got a 500 warming up. Thin and brittle would probably be the best description I remember. Oh the joyā¦. 
Best Peter
1 Like
Yes Nigel, but apart from that?
Get well soon and congratulations on your latest acquisition. You have been on a fair journey with Naim.
Best regards, BF
2 Likes
When my 500DR first arrived, my missus, who has a much better ear for music than I, wanted to hear some of her favourite choons, and top of her list was āAvalonā by Roxy Music.
Oh dear.
āI donāt like it at all, itās all harsh and brittle ā¦ ā¦ ā¦ is it too late to return it and get the old one, (300DR), back again?ā
A few weeks later, when visiting Chez Dave, she had another listen.
āWow, that sounds incredible, thereās so many more layers to the music, and you can place Yanickās backing vocals exactly where she is standing.ā
Dinnae worry yerselā @NigelB, itāll aw cum jist great in ra end ā¦ ā¦ ā¦ honest injun!
2 Likes
Yes, thin and brittle is a good description.
I have just had an anally retentive cable dressing session. All the PowerLines were on the floor and touching each other in several places. Also my Ethernet cable was running alongside an unscreened power cable extension for about 4m. Having sorted all that, things seem a little smoother but still visceral. That of course could be post-faffing confirmation bias.
1 Like
Wouldnāt collecting stamps just have been so much more serine and tranquil!? Enjoy Peter
5 Likes
Hang on in there Nigel, it will get better eventually. My experience is that it can take several weeks of annoying changes in sound. Sometimes too bright, sometimes too dull. Then on the odd occasion youāll get a glimpse of what it can really do. Iāve almost been at the point of contacting my dealer saying that thereās something wrong with it. His normal comments are that you shouldnāt ācritically listenā to any Naim equipment for at least a couple of weeks of continual use. I think it took almost six months before my 500DR reached maximum performance.
Unfortunately, itās at the factory at the moment, so when it comes back I will need to take some of my own medicineā¦gulp!
1 Like
Very similar experience when I replaced my 300 with the 500. I found that I wasnāt as engaged with the music or grew tired of listening sooner.
A year or so later I still think that the 300 did some things better or at least listening fatigue still creeps in. As I mentioned in another thread the 500 may have accentuated a low frequency mode that improved by moving the speakers closer to the front wall which was counterintuitive.
Iām now thinking that 500 may be revealing some shortcomings with my Sopra-3 speakers. Not sure thatās correct but will be looking in that direction. I also need to add some Fraim levels to get cables off the floor as you have done.
The 500 clearly does many things better but right now still at a loss at understanding the listening fatigue issue. Maybe itās just me and mood etc. All very complex.
You raise a very interesting possibility of the introduction of the 500DR revealing shortcomings in oneās speakers. My speakers are now of course the weak link in my system.
But what I heard today is a deterioration in the SQ from the 500, turning a little hard and thin sounding. Things have improved over the day, especially after some attention to cables. And yes, I would thoroughly recommend additional Fraim levels to get all (or most) cables off the floor and not touching each other. This sounds like a faff, but it only has to done once.
Back to the speaker debacle. My trusty MA GX300 Gold speakers have always responded wonderfully to all my upgrades over the years, and no exception when the 500DR replaced my 250DR. I have the long term plan to get the 500DR and then eventually better speakers. I knew the MA speakers worked in my room and the 500DR was a no brainer, to join my ND555 and 552. So it was the 500DR first. As I plan to move, no point in getting speakers to work here, when I may end up with a very different listening room, requiring a rather different speaker.
3 Likes