The Naim New Classic Range - Part 2

[Bjorn]

@MrFixit

I assume Naim’s promo material.

No promo material, own pictures.

[jan]

@Mr.M

I’ve no idea if XLR is somehow compromised vs DIN relative to the design approach of Naim either. I can say that in all the videos I’ve seen on the New Classic ranges that they make a point about the grounding benefits of DIN and that Naim have implemented a Balanced Impedance XLR.
In the real world I expect most folks will eventually gravitate towards XLR unless they have a need to IC to legacy Naim kit and carry on using a DIN IC.

Currently the market prefer balanced cables (XLR). But I have seen a small number of designers saying they get better result with single-ended with various claims (like balanced cables being sensitive to RF). Especially for shorter lengths. I am currently running an Aavik on loan and they are one the few openly preferring single-ended but it is an integrated amp so I only need one pair of interconnects (I have recycled an old lavender and terminated it with Eichmann Bullets :-)).

But balanced can mean many things. A fully balanced system (6dB worse on noise if I read the Aavik guys correctly) or converting at the connectors which can be done with electronics or with a transformer (a Linn Klimax DSM have Lundahl transformers which you can enable in config).

So I dont know which is best. Having a single DIN fixes the potential problem of a ground-loop you can get between two RCA:s.

[CrazyRiver]

That’s not a sentence.

[TimOopNorth]

@HungryHalibut

Or even discreetly.

Not if he’s going to do it one at a time?

[TimOopNorth]

@CrazyRiver

That’s not a sentence.

Where’s the parrot whoosh emoticon when you need it ?

[MrFixit]

Nicely done then!

[Blackstar]

[n-lot]

Depends on your definition of dated I guess. Aesthetically it’s very 90’s, which is 30 years ago. Not old enough to look vintage, but certainly dated in my opinion.

Whether it’s considered dated from a technology or sound perspective I’ll leave for others to decide.

[Bjorn]

Dated or not, who cares… It’s beautiful either way

[PaulDavies]

@ElMarko

I don’t know why, there’s an open slot where the NDS resides on the newer streaming platform. It’s long overdue.

IIRC, Naim felt that the NDX2 was such an improvement over the original NDX and was close enough to the NDS that it obviated the need for an NDS replacement in the range.

[PaulDavies]

Given that the 500 series amplifiers have been in production longer than the classic series that has already been replaced by the NC series, expect an NC 500 series some time in the near(ish) future.

[Damien0]

Its already available mate, at the time NDS was the top player and was replaced by the ND555 as the top player

[ElMarko]

That’s interesting b/c I didn’t find them to be that close in sonics. Was this an official statement from Naim?

[PaulDavies]

I seem to remember reading it on this Forum. I can’t find chapter and verse, unfortunately.

[ElMarko]

Yeah, well there tends to be a lot of speculation on the forum which is why I asked.

[anon17748768]

The NDX2 was no way a replacement to the far superior NDS, only IMHO of course having owned same…

[PaulDavies]

The statement (pardon the pun) came from someone at Naim Audio. It wasn’t speculation by a user.

[IainO]

Here’s one view from a respected poster. Perhaps this is what you recall?

@NigelB

When I asked the Naim rep about the new gen streamer range at the Bristol Show a few years ago, and why there was no replacement for the NDS, he told me that the NDX2 was so close to the NDS that there was no room in the new range for a NDS2. When pointing out the huge price gap between the NDX2 and the ND555 (with the PS555DR of course), I was told it was not possible to have an interim streamer that gave a sensible price/performance step between the NDX2 and the ND555.

[PaulDavies]

Yes, that’s it!

[ElMarko]

Ok, that makes sense, not really saying they’re that close in sonics, it’s more to do with the pricing scheme/position in the range.