Newly retired, new house, rekindling an old flame (music)

Glad the day went well for you :) Not surprised to hear that the Lintons did it for you, and I reckon your 4x5M space would be more than big enough for them.

No idea what you'll make of Naim amps, though I did hear their Statement amp powering some Focal Scalas last year, and that was quite nice. And at close to £200,000 a total bargain :)

Assuming you're happy with the Lintons/WiiM, I would recommend having a chat with Hifi Dave regarding amplifier choices. I'd expect him to have some models as capable as, if not more capable than any amps you heard this morning.

It sounds like you had a good day. I thought Richer Sounds also stocked NAD?
Personally, I am not a fan of Naim, but I wish you the best of luck on your amplifier search.
It does sound like you have a good contender on the list though.

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Originally Posted by hifi_dave

Lots of great gear missing from that list.

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Of that I have no doubt.

With sufficient time, patience and knowledge I'm sure I could work my way through such a list; however, of those atributes I only have time!

What would you add to the list?

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Originally Posted by CageyH

It sounds like you had a good day. I thought Richer Sounds also stocked NAD?
Personally, I am not a fan of Naim, but I wish you the best of luck on your amplifier search.
It does sound like you have a good contender on the list though.

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Morning Kevin.

Unfortunately, RS Belfast do not supply NAD equipment. I guess the almost semi-autonomous nature of their branch management allows them to choose their ranges to suit the locale?

With the knowledge gained from yesterday, and a little confidence, I'm tempted to go back to Cloney, who are a NAD stockist, and audition some of their equipment, for research purposes, at least.

Alistair

Morning all,

Just a short one. I've been sitting here since yesterday's demo, and I'm finding myself oddly frustrated.

Not with RS – they were brilliant. Not with the kit – the Wharfedale/Cambridge pairing sounded genuinely lovely. And not with any of you, who've been nothing but helpful.

It's me. I'm impatient.

I went into that demo hoping for a moment of absolute certainty. The clouds parting. A voice from above saying "this is your system, Alistair." Instead, I came away with... more information. More comparisons to make. More research to do.

I know that's the sensible way to do this. I know a £4k decision shouldn't be rushed. I know I said I wouldn't buy on the spot. But now I'm back in my quiet house with no music and a room still full of boxes from the move, and I just want it done.

The Wharfedales are still the front-runner. But I keep wondering: what if I'd heard them with a Naim amp? What if I'd tried floorstanders instead? What if, what if, what if.

Anyway. No real question here. Just needed to vent. I'm sure I'll settle down in a day or two and make a sensible decision.

Thanks for listening.

Alistair

Sounds normal to me.

It's a hobby. Obsessing on it is natural and very hard to get away from. But that's all part of the fun.

You will buy something, and you will change it at some stage.

It's the law;)

Don't get too hung up on the amplifier thing. High fidelity solid state amps don't have a 'sound signature' regardless of what you might read.

The Naim won't be any different to the Cambridge amp, it just costs more. You can't listen to an amp without hooking it up to some speakers, and the speakers and the room acoustic will dominate what you hear. It's a pointless exercise.

Lots of other speakers you can audition within your budget, doing that makes more sense as even if you still decide to go for the Lintons you'll not be left thinking 'maybe I could have got something better for the money.'

One tip I will give you - concentrate on listening for what the system does badly, not what it does well. Listen for problems. Over the long term it's the flaws that will irritate you.

The issue with going to Cloney is that they don't stock Wharfdale?

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Originally Posted by CageyH

The issue with going to Cloney is that they don't stock Wharfdale?

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Indeed they don't, but they do have some alternatives, and as Macca has suggested above, it makes sense to have explore options.

I think I'm trapped in a loop...,

Just when I thought I was getting closer to a decision, I've gone and thrown a spanner in my own works.

I spent this morning reading reviews of the NAD C 399 – partly because someone mentioned it in another forum, partly because I have too much time on my hands and apparently enjoy torturing myself.

And now I can't stop wondering.

The reviews are glowing. The built-in BluOS streaming (no separate streamer needed). The Dirac Live room correction (which sounds perfect for my bare-floored, awkward new-build room). The power. The flexibility. Everyone talks about it being warm, musical, engaging – exactly what I said I wanted.

So now I'm sitting here thinking: what if I paired the NAD C 399 with the Wharfedale Super Lintons instead of the Cambridge EXA100?

Would the Dirac sort out my room issues better than a rug and some trial and error? Would the NAD's warmth play nicely with the Lintons' warmth, or would it be too much of a good thing? Would I even need a separate streamer, or does the BluOS make the WiiM redundant?

I don't know. And that's the problem.

The Cambridge sounded genuinely great in the demo. I had no complaints. But now I'm second-guessing everything. What if the NAD is better? What if I buy the Cambridge and spend the next five years wondering?

I know the sensible answer is: go listen to the NAD. But that means another demo, another trip, more time. And I'm impatient, as I mentioned yesterday.

So here I am, back where I started, but now with an extra amplifier on my mental shortlist and a fresh layer of confusion.

Has anyone here heard the NAD C 399 with Wharfedale Lintons (or similar)? Does Dirac Live actually deliver on its promise in a real room, or is it another box-ticking feature?

Any wisdom – or sympathy – gratefully received.

Alistair