The Naim New Classic Range - Part 2

I would 1000% not have what I have today without this forum :smiley: So I guess, thank you all.

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Wish we had met up with Pete a few weeks ago

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Iā€™m in the Uk every now and then. If there is some get together Iā€™m mad enough to travel if domestic live permits.

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I would have liked that to Gazza.

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I donā€™t need to watch movies with an amplified sound. My tv has no additional speakers and amps. I leave that for those who like to see commercial movies with a lot of sound effects.
Fast and furious, Batman and Godzillaā€¦.are not the kind of movies I watch.

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Same here. Hey, thereā€™s probably enough Dutchies to do one here!

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Still, even voices sound a lot better. If your TV is between the speakers, why not run a cable to your preamp or DAC? Certainly wonā€™t hurt.

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Iā€™d have to agree while Iā€™m not a huge movie watcher having your tv connected to better speakers does help. Mrs Pete has a hearing problem (might only be when Iā€™m around) and finds that the dialogue is much easier to hear.

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My two cents-
Every product developed by the late Julian, including the 500 series, has a uniqueness reserved only for the Naim company.
Any product developed after his death, unfortunately, comes to compete in a very difficult market and has no uniqueness or justification for its price.
It is clear to anyone with an understanding that the shareholders, in the holding company of Naim and Focal, want to see profits, but products at the level of the 200 and 300 series do not constitute a musical leap above the classical series (and this without hearing the 300 series) and therefore do not constitute an ā€œattraction Naimā€ that was so unique.
I would suggest to the Naim that they also concentrate on servicing the products that have been sold so far, to their loyal customers, to the same extent that they concentrate on marketing new products.
For example,
Has anyone tried, recently, to upgrade to DR and found upgrade kits , at their dealer?
Or spare parts for CD players/speakers?
This is my opinion, and Iā€™d love to read, am I wrongā€¦ :thinking:

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As previously posted on here, Naim had to suspend this as certain parts were getting very difficult to source in the numbers required. It had caused delays to production and Naim were catching flak for this from dealers, and customers. Naim had been offering the DR upgrades for some years so it was felt that most who wanted it would have already jumped and suspending the upgrades and prioritising the parts for production was a fair trade off under the circumstances. I asked about this when I was last down at the factory and supply for the parts is still not so easy so suspension remains in place at the moment.

CD player mechs are a constant issue. Naim have, since they started ,making CD players, tried to keep good spare mech stocks, but itā€™s not easy as mechs donā€™t keep that well and yields can be poor. The Philips mechs havenā€™t been officially made for many years now, so it has been a case of constantly looking and sourcing where the quality and yield looks promising - but it doesnā€™t always work out well, as most out there are not great. IIRC, the service department have been assembling good VAM1202 mechs from parts to try to keep the spares going but by accounts itā€™s quite the uphill struggle - Naim have certainly not abandoned trying their best here though.

As for speakers, Naim did a last ā€œlifetimeā€ build of drivers before the speaker department was closed in order to make more space for electronics production. Obviously parts do eventually get exhausted, some much quicker than others, although I did see parts such as tweeters for SBLs still on the shelf, along with other bits - note that SBLs havenā€™t been made for at least 20 years!

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I had a 5.1 surround system . . . 30 years ago. I donā€™t miss it.

As our ears age, dialog does become very important. Currently under our 70 inch Sony we use the bigger of the Sonos sound bars. Dialog is quite good and I must say it enhances the overall experience of taking in movies and TV shows. If I turn it off and just listen to the onboard TV speakers . . . itā€™s not as good.

ā€œThatā€™s what she said.ā€

Indeed Richard, I understand and know that,
But this is my argument on the subjectā€¦

Indeed. But no one. No one is unlocking and realising the potential which lies within mine! :rofl:

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I have a sonos arc as well! I love the enhanced dialogue option, it really helps with bad sound mixes found in a lot of shows.

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TV doesnā€™t even need to be between the speakers. Brain (well at least mine) adapts very quickly to sound coming from picture. Huge benefit to sound quality

Of course used is cheaper, but can you really find any equipment that is only a year old at half the price in Sweden, Slamdam?

I still have a 5.1 system on the living room TV, not because we want it, but just because weā€™ve had it for 20 years. If I ever make a change, Iā€™ll do what I did for the bedroom TV: use a Mu-so2. That is just about perfect for us.

Iā€™ve never heard an explosion or gunfire in a film that I thought
I wish that was more musical. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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100% with you on this!lol

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