Mine is arriving tomorrow I think going by what the dealer said to me yesterday. Have you seen now heavy it is ? Apparently 16kg without the box 
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Yep, knew it was a big boy, not as heavy as the 10, but still…Yep, I queried my arrival earlier having been told it would be by yesterday but I’ve just had invoice through confirming delivery for Saturday.
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Did you get yours from a place in Carlisle?
Peter Tyson yes, they’re the only ones I’ve seen this deal at.
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My SA-10 turned up a week before they thgt they had it. So keep an eye out.
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But couldn’t fault service overall
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Like it I assume?
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Yes v much. Built like a tank, and lovely SQ.
Apols not sure I can provide the analysis some provide on here on the output.
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The count down begins with a text from the courier at 08:36 - just six hours or something till delivery 
What a nice bit of kit!
Only some limited, low level listening so far but it’s very nice indeed. Presents more definition and weight at low level, which is absolutely one of the things I was looking for, given listening habits du jour…
Oh, and you can turn the blue lights off, which is a bonus!
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Looks like a bit of a beast though, I would probably need another rack too 
It is slightly larger all round than a Naim box, though it doesn’t look imposing, very smart in fact once the blue lights are off.
Fortunately it will replace a space left in the Quadraspire rack by the CD 3.5 (I already know the SA-12 isn’t going back!)
Nice to find something that I instantly know I like, no A/Bing going on here.
I’ll be sticking one of my Wiims into the digital input at some point and see how that compares with the Auralic for streaming…USB input will get a go too.
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What have you done with the TEAC CD player ? That looked rather smart
best wishes
Ian
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That is a very nice system , heard a Node into a Qutest into a Nait 50 into P3ESR and that was superb
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Thanks. Tell you what, the Sony Tuner I picked up for about twenty quid is no slouch either!
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Unboxed mine yesterday and I’ve had it on repeat most of last night apart from a 30min interlude where I played some discs. First up was, Electronic, (getting away with it) which I played when I fitted a Powerline, and the first thing I noticed was the superb controlled bass and such presence and smoothness in front of me. Next, Alison Krauss & Union Station, (so long so wrong), and wow, I didn’t think this CD could sound much better, but it does. Everything gets improved, bass, better separation and just sheer lovely musicality.
I do think it’ll sound better in time and I’m thinking of changing the interconnect and connecting the coaxial output into the Nova.
So far so good…
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Not mentioned here - last month I heard a demo with an CD-Player by Electrocompaniet - I was stunned and impressed - I never heard a CD sounds better before.
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OK, so got some listening in on the SA-12SE.
Not hours and hours yet but some initial thoughts at least.
In context, this is up against my CD3.5 which I’ve had from new since 1998(!) but Naim replaced the mech and some other bits at ths same time some years back. It came back sounding a big class above how it performed with the old parts so I don’t think it could be compared honestly with a standard, old mech, non-serviced player. This is powered by a flatcap and a Hiline takes the signal to the 272 pre.
In recent months, I’ve tried a few transports into the 272 Dac (Teac, Arcam, Theta) a Roksan Blak CDP and a Rotel 1572. None of those have left me keen to part with the 3.5.FC/HL. And I didn’t want to spend proper silly money replacing things either.
I’ll keep the SA-12, though some direct comparisons showed how bloody good the older Naim kit still is.
The differences:
Naim has a slightly more focussed, front and centre, soundstage. Is bouncy and strident but very sweet. Very musical. Atmosphere abounds and decay in classical violins and piano is one of its lovely features. I never once think ‘this is a bit crap’.
Marantz has broader and slightly higher and deeper soundstage, quite a bit more weight in the bass, very musical again but in a more ‘enveloping’ manner, not as excitable as the Naim but not slow either, just ‘fuller’. Low level listening carries a distinct advantage.
It has 2 filter options which I find surprisingly useful. Most filters just p about with things imo and I leave them alone as a rule, these two can be worth switching between on different CD’s to find your preference however. Not radically different from each other, but worth it.
Stick a very well recorded/produced CD on, spesh vocal, jazz and the SA-12 wins more easily than with messier music.
DAC I think is very good and a streamer gives very similar sonic signature to the CD, having tried Wiim and Auralic streamers into coaxial digi input.
SACD is a bonus, little difference on a couple I tried in comparison to standard red book CD versions but a Dire Straits SACD vs CD and a couple of Living Stereo SACDs were fantastic.
The remote is massive and OTT and I could do with a stop button on the CDP itself but beyond those, no complaints at all.
All in all very happy.
Edit: It does have a stop button on the unit, just much smaller than the play button and I was too excited on setting it up to notice!
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Appreciate your honest review, difficult to get past that sound from Naim.
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