Naim sell out to the mass market and lose their unique appeal...
Originally posted by wadia-miester
Marco, Having a CDS3/552 & CDS2/52 here in the 'office' at the mo, for evo, I have to say, the the newer gear is certainly more mainstream, and less JV than old, space and air spring to mind...
However as merlin stated yesterday trying to charge Krell/Levinson Money for something, isn't going to wash, the older gear at least had a exscue for this, by saying it was different, which to be fair was true.
I agree, the new Naim equipment (in general) has certainly lost its niche factor; particularly in terms of the way the traditional Naim sound has been 'refined'. The olive boxes I have sound quite different to the 'Reference Series', and many people I know, including myself, don't like the sonic signature of the new range of equipment, or the way it handles music. People on the Naim forum also echo these views.
However, there are exceptions. The 552/500, although part of the Reference Series, have always been considered by myself to occupy a separate domain. In my opinion, these are genuine hi-end components where new technology and innovative ideas have been utilised to maximum effect, and their price reflects that. The CDS3 falls somewhere in between, as it has embraced the concepts of the Reference Series, and features many improvements over the CDS2, but is priced below that of the more expensive kit like the 552/500. One awaits a CDS5 to ultimately partner the 552/500, although my guess is Naim have taken CD replay as far as they're able to with the CDS3...at least for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, all the new PSUs from the NAPSC up, all over genuine improvements over their predecessors, and in the case of the XPS2, this totally transforms the performance of a CDS2.
No, my 'beef', if you like, is with the replacements for the CDX, 102, 52, 82, 180, 250 & 135s, namely the CDX2, 202, 252, 282, 200, new 250, & 300. All of these in my opinion have moved in a direction, sonically, from their predecessors that is at odds to what I and many others consider to be the traditional Naim sound, and in our opinion this new sound is not considered an improvement, only something different...and much more commercial. When I said to Mick Parry yesterday that Naim now pander to the mass market, I meant that the sound of the new equipment is much more commercially voiced and has been tailored to appeal to a wider audience. This may be a good business decision, but for me it lessens the uniqueness of the Naim brand. The new Naim sound, IMO, no longer has emphasis on the traits of old, it is not as 'exciting' to listen to, and it has lost much of the valued 'boogie factor'. In effect, it is considered too 'safe-sounding', and this is a view shared by many current users of the olive era range. Consequently, Naim enthusiasts of old can no longer (from new) 'buy into' the Naim sound they were brought up with, therefore upgrading potential (if required) is limited if one doesn't wish to alter the sonic signature of an existing Naim system containing olive era equipment. The only genuine upgrade options, in my opinion, if you don't want your Naim gear going all 'round earth' is the CDS3 and the PSUs, which improve the old kit, and of course, if you can afford it, a 552/500.
The problem I have is that Naim, together with some of their most fervent devotees, appear to be trying to brainwash some of us into believing the new equipment is unquestionably a big improvement over the old, and it's rather amusing at times to see them vehemently defending this position in the face of, at times, overwhelming evidence to the contrary. What you'll never get them to admit, though, is that the existence of the 'Reference Series' was largely forced upon Naim due to the fact that key components previously used in the design of the old equipment were discontinued by a major supplier, thus a complete re-think was required, and therefore a new direction was taken. Now the Naim sound so many of us love is a thing of the past...
Marco.
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