There was certainly more tolerance of an LP12’s engaging warmth (read ‘inaccuracy’) on the 80s when other record players were often so bad. For all the imperfections (esp early on), CDs showed that you did not need a warm glow to sell kit or make music engaging and I am sure Naim took note of what the market wanted.
Some still prefer a pre-Valhalla and pre-Cirkus LP12, and there is nothing wrong with that. Mind you, I doubt that many of them like streaming or even the best CD player much.
On any event, as made clear above, this may be more of an issue when comparing 35 year old kit with 25 year-old kit than with anything more recent.
I’m now classic but still use CB gear in secondary systems . It can be a bit relentless and as you say if one has a bad source feeding into them, you are in the road to hell.
I had a Valhalla LP12/Ittok/Asaka. It was wonderfully musical and engaging but I think in absolute terms the sound was warm, soft and with a soggy bloated bass. Which perfectly complimented my 42.5/HiCap/110 and Kans! Much was made of system synergy in those days and this was a classic ‘flat earth’ system.
Are there any guitar players in the room? At the risk of making this discussion a bit silly, would you say that:
Recent Naim gear sounds like a Strat
Olive sounds like a Les Paul (fuller, more body)
Chrome Bumper sounds like a Telecaster (more twangy and dynamic, occasionally a tad rough) ?
Recents sounds like a NI Massive X
Olives sounds like a Minimoog Model D (serviced of course)
CBs sounds like a Eurorack with all patch cables nicely dressed
