The Naim 'sound'


i have an accuphase cdp which on the whole i like a lot but sometimes i wish it was more dynamic in its presentation of the music. overall though i feel it gives me plenty of detail and a real sound. i have also thought about a naim cdp but for every person who seems to love the Naim 'sound', there seems to be someone else who hates it with a passion and thinks the 'sound' Naim creates is false. the main criticism seems to be that yes, it does give you a very dynamic explosion of sound and is very fast but that it misses a lot of the musical and that the naim 'sound' is actually quite artificial. i would be interested to hear if people agree or disagree with this argument. i have not done a direct comparison yet between an accuphase cdp and the naim cdx2(which is the player i would be thinking about)but whilst i might sometimes crave a bit more dynamism from my accuphase, i would not want to sacrifice the accuphase genuine sound for something that may be slightly artificial
merseyboy

Showing 1 response by chashmal

I truly dislike Naim products, especially the amps. They are pleasant enough alright, which is the problem right there. They play it safe by trying to not color sound at all, but instead imbue the gear with 'dynamism' which is just a brightened flattness without real depth or emotionality, IMO.

Having said that, I think that their best gear are the CD players. The ones at the very top are wonderful but horribly overpriced (15-30 grand). I prefer about 20 other players at that price.

Then again, I am a tube guy, which is an opposing aesthetic altogether!