Naim good or overrated

[James the Albarry lover]

Wow, a couple of years back this would have been an incendiary thread on the 'Wam! Now two hours in and no abuse, fantastic
To the OP I actually hated the old' olive' era Naim sound, never could get what was good about it, it made music sound small, shouty, and congested to me, and the upgrade paths had a strong whiff of marketeering about them. Now I read that their new products are far more neutrally voiced and rather engaging, possibly even to my tastes? I haven't heard them though so best taken for what it is, hearsay. Definitely well made stuff though.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

Yeah I was expecting some angry comments, how dare you speak ill of Naim! Stuff like that lol they look the part in a no nonsense kind of way, I was planning on going for an active Naim pre amp for my Albarrys

[RothwellAudio]

My experience of the newer Naim stuff is limited (ok, non-existent) so I can only comment on the older stuff from Julian Vereker's time. I don't think it's particularly well-engineered at all and sounds dreadful to me. It's hard, abrasive and two dimensional. I once heard a sound at a show that was so bad it was comical - and the amps were Naim.
However, I'm told the newer is quite different.

[farflungstar]

Based on the older units I've heard I wouldn't touch it with a dead man's todger!

[hifi_dave]

Latest Naim sounds nothing like the older Naim. It is now more rounder and warmer, some say it is now lacking excitement and attack.

It is good gear but now is far from being the value for money it once was. There is better for far less money.

[James the Albarry lover]

Latest Naim sounds nothing like the older Naim. It is now more rounder and warmer, some say it is now lacking excitement and attack.

It is good gear but now is far from being the value for money it once was. There is better for far less money.

Yes I agree the pricing is shocking for what you get

[Manicatel]

Yes, its good. Very good. The new Unit range are excellent at what they do.
However,It's not to my taste, I had Naim for many years & have now gone a different route. I didn't like the never-ending "just add another box" upgrade path.
Is there better VFM elsewhere? Yea, probably.
It's a good strong brand, with some excellent engineering & highly dedicated personnel.
You have to listen to it to work out whether its right for you though.
Just my opinion.

[speedracer]

Way back when I first got into "proper" hi fi, I moved from a Creek amp to a Naim pre & power & PSU, can't remember the model numbers but I have to say I rather liked it & it wasn't long before I upgraded to the next model up. In fact I did that twice, until I went to a hifi show at a posh hotel in Buxton of all places. I sat in on a demo which had what seemed a whole wall of Naim kit, & I thought it sounded amazing, even now one of the best sounds I have ever heard in a large room, but then again it should have, the retail on that lot must have been 6 figures. It was then that I totally changed direction, because I didn't want to be forever looking at the next "better" amp on the upgrade path. I traded it all in for a Michell Orbe/SME IV/Ortofon Rohmann, Unison Simply 4 valve amp with Simply Phono phono stage & Audio Physic speakers, & I was in love, totally seduced by the glowing tubes, in fact I have never had SS amplification in all the time since.

[Mikeandvan]

I do often wonder though why my system sounds so harsh with certain genres! The thing is one Naim user will listen to music where Naims faults or signature sound may not show up so much, personally I listen to a lot of music which was made to sound harsh and raucous, so an amp which carries this sonic signature is I guess too much. All the criticisms made by others here ring true! I've also just upgraded to a more revealing, solid TT, so it really is time to try something else. Having had not much experience with other amps I find it hard to say what makes Naim different, I do remember having an Arcam Alpha 7 which I found lacked punch. The marketing / upgrade side is also a bit nauseating. What I do like is its slightly chamber sound, which seems to accentuate rhythm, which works with some music but not others! I currently use 'olive' half width amps, though with after market boards, plus the power amp has been altered by Avondale, like many Naim users, our systems aren't really Naim!

[fatmarley]

My little Onix OA21 beat the pants off my old, much more expensive Naim 102 pre 180 power.

[Yomanze]

Compared to other gear, Naim is overpriced. It also has an insidious upgrade system where some very expensive gear is only really competitive when more power supply boxes are added, at huge cost. It does hold its value well, and there do seem to be some Naim classics out there that are well worth consideration, like a well-sorted pair of NAP135s or even some bolt-down gear.

I've always preferred Exposure gear though, in comparison Naim seems to have this 'high contrast', less neutral house sound.