Why this naim system sounds harsh?

I think the ceiling hight is about 2.5 meters.
the mcintosh amp with naim source never sound fatigue in my non treating room, but I’m sure I can get better after room treatment.
but Mcintosh just don’t offer me as much details as naim.

thanks for the advice.
my dealer will help me for room treatment.
I will watch the video now

My dealer got the longest dealership in Vancover , they are selling naim systems for decades, and many people have bought separates from them back then. they used to have 500 series even Statements on the floor many years ago. but only for a short period of time, and they sold all the demos couple years ago.
My dealer told me naim is still popular with them, but most customers will only buy entry level equipments, like Atom, Nova or Supernait3.

Until recently there was no one Naim dealer with 500 series as demo here in France. I don’t think it had prevented some to buy a 552/500 and Nd555.
Does it really demand such a great expertise to connect correctly the burndys, destress them, and split power supplies and other components in two different racks ?

Nope…but for me the real revelation was getting a really good quality ethernet switch and Russ Andrews evolution power cords…
I think both items reduced rfi … massively…so be mindful or rfi…

Do you have pictures wha they look like ? So you don’t use naim powerline for power cable ?

No this is a personal choice…the powerlines are good…but they are not that effective at filtering rfi…do a bit of research…its not fair to Naim for me to preach this and that…but rfi is definitely really important…you could try really good grounding that should do a similar job…I hope this helps…I certainly found it did.

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Surely if there is a way to improve what ND555 does through stopping RF reaching it, then it is helpful to users, and hence to Naim, to shout about it!?

Regardless, are the cables and switch blocking RFI, or just changing what RF gets through?

Some people may consider the modulating effect of RF to improve sound quality (ground plane modulation reportedly increases apparent “brightness”, which for some people/systems may be perceived as beneficial, even if a departure from true fidelity.). If blocking is critical, might it not be more effective to do that just at the entry to the streamer? And, perhaps, completely isolate the source or the DAC from ground, to stop ground plane modulation by RF (as opposed to digital signal modulation), reportedly a cause of sound quality changes in the DAC even with the greatest attention to trying to block RF…


It appears that the speakers have about a feet (or less) from the ceiling that is sloped out into the room? Are you able to push the speakers further out into the room so that they are not so close to the ceiling?

I cannot agree more on this. I suspect this close placement to the side walls may have exacerbated the bright or harsh sound with the Naim. The McIntosh amps may have toned down the detail and energy with their smooth presentation.

FWIW my smaller stand mount speakers have about 62cm from the side walls, clear distance from side of cabinet to wall. Anything less than 60cm they don’t sound good. I assume the much larger Sonus Faber floorstanders require more space from the side and possibly rear wall for optimal performance.

Apart from the amps, I believe more effort to optimise the speaker placement in the room will help improve things.

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ok, Thanks for sharing.

yes I can , I have try that with mcintosh system before, but there was no brightness problems.
I will try it again.

ok I will try that. if I Keep 60 cm or more from the side walls, I guess the speakers will be a bit too close to each other .

As the placement is limited by the width of the room, you may try to find the best balance ie. 2.0m apart @ 50cm from side walls or 1.8m apart @ 60cm from side walls.

The placement of my speakers is also limited by the width of the room (3.2m). My speakers are about 1.8m apart which is the most I could give them. I tried up to 2.0m apart but they were too close to the side walls and the sound wasn’t good so they remained at 1.8m apart. You may also try pushing the speakers further out into the room if you can.

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thanks for the details, yeah that will work.
maybe the extra 10 cm distance really matter.
my seat is over 3.5 meters away from me so it’s far enough

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thanks for the details, yeah that will work.
maybe the extra 10 cm distance really matter.
my seat is over 3.5 meters away from me so it’s far enough

You mentioned that your dealer stocks Gryphon? I’ve never heard any of their amps but they get excellent reviews and their (I believe) class A design may give you something in between the smooth Macintosh and Naim sounds. I would try that. At least it gives you another reference point. If you must buy blind and don’t want to spend £50k on 552/500 then 252/250 would be the minimum for me and would get you the Naim sound. You could then take it from there.

I also agree that room treatment and speaker placement are critical!

I agree with you Richieroo. A good dealer should tell someone that a 152/200 combo will raise to 552/500 with a good quality ethernet cable and specially a Russ Andrews power cord.
:joy:

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There is a good article on rfi and grounding in the HiFi Critic…check it out…

A bit late to the party but here’s my 2p worth.

Many are saying the 200 is not powerful enough for your speakers and I totally agree. I’d also argue the 152 isn’t good enough for the 200. Also the addition of power supplies, whilst improving things, won’t get you to a good enough level for those speakers. You need minimum 252/300 and likely a 552/500 in order to make a meaningful comparison. You’d be crazy to spend that kind of money blind, or rather deaf.

If you’re intent on pursuing Naim amplification then a small outlay travelling to somewhere you can actually hear the amps seems sensible. Not so easy in Covid times but if I were in your shoes it’s what I’d do.

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I do not agree with the view that such a combination of Naim Amps as being discussed here cannot sound good because the speakers are mismatched costing £25K plus.

I have seen/heard a long demonstration of Naim kit (by Naim themselves) from entry-level to Statement amps and the only constant was a pair of £30K Sonos speakers. All setups sounded good but of course, as one might expect improvements were made as they upgraded the system with power supply and replacement NACs and NAPs.

I am not saying the more entry-level Naim amps will sound better or the same as the Mcintosh units.

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