doesn't anyone have an opinion

[gary]

what does a naim lover do to upgrade appart from the usual spend megabucks on naim stuff

[Marco]

Gary,

Plenty of opinion on this. Will post tomorrow. Off to bed!

Laters,
Marco.

[Steve Toy]

Densen is a good value-for-money alternative to Naim. A top-flight Densen system (B400XS/B250/B330 or B350 monoblocks) holds its own against anything by Naim this side of the CDS 555/Nac 552/Nap 500 combo (imho.)

Ok it will still cost you around the 10k mark for the above boxes.

Then you have modern valve amplifiers - the ones that do bass drive and PR&T. Our resident valve amp designer Anthony TD can modify either a Yaqin or a Puresound amp from China. The latter is already pretty good for the money and is ready to use. The former has a lot of potential but don't even switch it on if you manage to get one off Ebay. Just send it to Anthony who will not only make it safe but will make it sound better too.

Marco and I have already done this. I've gone for the Puresound as my starting point, Marco went for the Yaqin that he picked up off Fleabay for around £300. The Puresound cost me £1100 but it comes with decent transformers and a circuit that work with UK voltages.

Either which way you'll get a killer amp capable of seeing off most commercial offerings this side of 5k for around £1800 or less.

We both come from a Naim background so we don't exactly go for a pipe, slippers and chin-stroking sound. What we do get is an amp that, into the right speakers (90+ dB and either 4 or 8ohm but not too much in the way of deviation from the stated nominal impedance across the frequency range), gives you all the PR&T you could wish for with added realism, separation, tonal colour and texture thrown in for good measure.

[John]

I heard the upgraded Yaqin very good value once its been upgraded a few other atlernatives along the valve route would include SAC from Thailand no upgrade needed and they sound great also might be wirth checking out the world Audio designs as well. A more expensive option would be EAR

[StanleyB]

Quite a few Naim owners from just about every part of the globe have been buying my Beresford TC-7510 DAC in the last couple of months. It gets mentioned regularly on the Naim forums. Do a search there to confirm. I am not clued up why that is, since we are talking about my £110 DAC versus Naim stuff costing 20X or more. But a lot of them have emailed me to say it is a worthwhile addition that allows them to add things like SB3 or Airport Express, and they get to keep their original Naim stuff.

Stan

[gary]

What would you avoid

[jandl100]

I know that some Naim owners have been pleasantly surprised when they have tried even a cheap valve amp! A very different presentation which gives a different view on the music.

[jandl100]

Quite a few Naim owners from just about every part of the globe have been buying my Beresford TC-7510 DAC in the last couple of months.

Stan

Hey! Hi Stan - so you've been hiding out in the Naim forum, huh? No wonder I haven't spotted you around.

Yup, I can strongly recommend the Beresford DAC as a good sound at far too cheap a price - I've told Stan in the past that he could and should charge far more for this excellent sounding device!

Lots of digital inputs and outputs & a fine headphone amp included too! - here it is on eBay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Beresford-TC-7...QQcmdZViewItem

Oh, and it's got a pre-amp/volume control section, too. Honestly, Stan, you should be charging £300 for this - and it would still be a sonic bargain!

[purite audio]

Gary Hi, you have to go and listen to some different systems, speakers make the most difference, try and find a pair of speakers you like and then build a system around them, if you are going to keep your current speakers ( what are they btw ) then you need to look for an amp that will drive them properly, personally I would stay away from valves unless your speakers are very efficient, Keith.
Gary just saw your other thread proacs! Jerry ( jandl100 )had a pair of those fairly recently I believe.

[Togil]

I think he has Proacs Future.

I would go for a good Class A amp ( Pass Lab , Dartzeel ) or Nuforce Class D, the latter leaves plenty of spare cash for a good preamp .