I was at the same demo as @Gazza today, and here are some of my thoughts.
Letās get the visuals out of the way first. Some photo angles of the 222 I have seen before today make it look a little awkward IMV. I am pleased to say that in the flesh it looks great, as do the 300 power supply and the new 250.
It has to be said that the big room at Signals is not ideal for a system of this āstatureā, but I was impressed by the way the system ādroveā this large space, mostly attributable to the new 250 I guess.
Without the 300 power supply the sound was rather impactful, considering the large space, but the bass was a little soft in places. Adding the 300 power supply was rather transformational, opening up the soundstage, with vocals more impactful and more control of the bass which now sounded full bodied but more focussed. There was a rather natural feel to the music which I found to be a subtle departure from the Naim signature I have become accustomed to.
I didnāt find the ideal listening position in that large space, not even sure there was one. The system was struggling to create a realistic soundstage in such a large space, but that was more a fault of the room rather than the system.
However moving to the smaller listening room with the same 3-box system, but Russell K Red 150 speakers, showed how capable this new 200 series is at creating a lovely soundstage and that lovely natural vibe I have referred to. This room is much more representative of our listening spaces at home and the system was starting to really sing. Alastair reminded me that the system in this room had only been running for a few hours, so it clearly had more to offer.
It was rather difficult to get a real handle on the abilities of the new 3-boxer due to the less than perfect listening conditions and music I am unfamiliar with. Once the iPad was handed over to the masses and chit chat ensued, all hope was lost of a proper evaluation. But this is to be expected at an informal group demo, but I heard enough to know this new Naim range is a bit of a game-changer, with a rather lovely shift in sound signature.
As usual a demo on your own with music you know well is essential. A home demo would of course show off the new 3-boxer at its very best.
All that is left is for me to do is to thank Alastair and Andy for a great day and laying on such a lovely, informal demo. Thanks also to Darren of Naim who I was able to āinterrogateā before the demo.