Join the Owners Club for Naim Users
I began buying music in the early eighties when I was at secondary school aged about 12 and playing it on my parents ‘music centre’. At the time I was massively into rock music, Rainbow, Iron Maiden, that sort of thing.
By the mid-eighties I completely bought into the tales of perfect sound quality from CD. As soon as I started earning a little bit of money I bought my first system from an independent high street shop in Walsall. I hadn’t a clue what I was doing. I just asked for a CD player, amplifier and speakers that cost no more than £600. I was given a Kenwood DP-860 CD player, a Yamaha AX-500U amp and a pair of Celestion DL8 Series2 speakers and some doorbell wire. It was very exciting however I was a bit disappointed with the sound quality, and so the journey had begun. No internet in those days, so I had a flip through the odd HiFi magazine, which alerted me to the importance of cables and set up. I bought some half-decent QED speaker cable mail order and a better interconnect from Tandy. Some Target speaker stands arrived later, as a Birthday present. By now things had started to sound quite good and I had learnt my first HiFi lesson. I could now create some serious rock noise when my parents were out of the house, which caused some friction with the neighbours – my second HiFi lesson.
The next purchase came in the mid-nineties when I started earning a bit more money. I foolishly believed that I could take things to the next level and build a great system simply by choosing 5 star rated components from HiFi magazines. So I went to a local dealer with my chosen list of CD player, amp and speakers, planning to take a quick listen before handing over my credit card. This proved to be my third HiFi lesson – the sound during the demo was not impressive, no better to me than my Kenwood/Yamaha/Celestion gear. How could that be possible given the money I was prepared to spend and that the components were all 5 star rated? I was really disappointed. I think the dealer knew how this demo would go because he’d already got an alternative setup warmed ready to swap to. What a difference, musical, engaging, free from the confines of the loudspeakers. The CD player and amp was made by a company called Naim Audio (CD3.5 / NAC92 / NAP90) and the speakers were Keswick Audio Volantes. The total cost was less than my budget. I ordered the system and so my relationship with Naim started.
The Naim kit was really quite scary for a newbie. On/off buttons at the back! A big thwack through the speakers when you turned it on! Leaving it on all of the time! Opening the CD draw by hand! And the appearance was not like anything I’d seen before. It gave the impression of being almost arrogant with its own ability to deliver great music, leaving me apologetic when soiling it with a CD by someone like The Cult or Pulp.
I was now bitten by the bug. Two Hicaps followed, for the CD3.5 and NAC92. I couldn’t believe the weight of those small boxes, or that the lights in the flat dipped when I switched them on! But the effect was amazing. This provided satisfaction for many years.
It was the late 00s before I got itchy feet again. I picked up a second hand NAC82 and NAP250 to experience what the higher level gear could bring. It was also around this time that I became aware of an imminent Naim DAC. This made me start thinking about the benefits of moving away from CDs to computers/streaming. It was also at this point that I came across TomTom Audio, James and the delights of St Albans. Over the past few years James has provided us (my wife and I) with a great opportunity to try out options and work out what works for us. We have been in the fortunate position over this time to have now given a home to a DAC, 555PS, 552, 500 and Ovator S400.
I've come a long way from the start point. I still love listening to those first few CDs, but now hearing details and life-like qualities that were lying hidden all along. What's better though is taking in a much wider spectrum of music now compared with my narrow minded younger self.
Here's the setup:
NDS arrives along with the DR upgrade
It’s true to say that the launch of the naim DAC re-ignited my interest in HiFi and changed the way I listen to music. The freedom to apply my own digital source to the DAC had great appeal, along with the countless options to tweak and improve the ‘digits’. After two and a half years of running a computer/DAC arrangement I’ve learnt a few important lessons, both positive and negative:
I’m sure there are many ways to address these points, but as a committed ‘naimee’, the launch of the NDS was exciting news for me. I heard one at the Bristol show and then at James’ Festival of Sound event. It was clear that the NDS/555PS combination would improve upon my existing system and at the same time simplify the setup. The DR upgrade for power supplies was also debuted at the Tom Tom event which gave me a further option to turbo-charge the system.
James proposed a cost effective way to make the jump from DAC/555PS to NDS/555PS-DR. So here I am, looking back at how the reality compares with the promise.
One point to note: from my experience over the past few of weeks, this combination needs time to settle. At least a couple of weeks before you can make a fair judgement of sound quality.
Running through the 6 points from above:
Point 1. The NDS/555PS-DR is a clear step forward compared with the DAC/555PS. Even more detail, realism, bass control, all the things you expect, while maintaining that essential naim character. It’s fair to say though, that the upgrade also confirms how good the naim DAC is, even with a humble computer.
Point 2. This is the item that has really blown me away. Running n-Stream on an ipad is brilliant. I don’t have to mess with the HiFi system at all. I can do everything from the ipad – pick a song or an album – adjust the volume – switch over to internet radio – whatever I want. With Asset UPnP server software on my pc, I can even use the listen again services, such as iplayer. All of this has proved to be a big deal for me. Well done naim!
Point 3. The NDS includes digital inputs for a connection to my freeview box. Without this feature I simply would not have bought the NDS. As well as boosting the TV experience, the freeview box gives me another way to access radio and doesn’t eat into my internet download limit. The sound quality of radio from freeview is great through the NDS. In fact, the sound quality from any source is great with the NDS.
Point 4. The naim boffins have put loads of effort into optimising the NDS, so I can stop fiddling, just relax and enjoy the music.
Point 5. My wife is now comfortable operating the system using n-Stream, which I’m very happy about, others may have a different opinion! The play queue approach to loading music has proved fun with friends, passing the ipad around and each choosing a song to add to the queue.
Point 6. In contrast to my laptop, the NDS is permanently installed and ready to go at the touch of a button.
So in summary, all is good. The NDS sounds great no matter what you feed it. Even long forgotten mp3 files lurking on my computer are now finding the light of day. They don’t sound quite as good as my carefully ripped WAV files but the NDS is making me care less about stuff like that. I think I have been assimilated into the ways of n-Stream - Find Music - Play Music – Enjoy Music!
System Balance
With the NDS/555PS-DR now settled in, my system has gained an overall ‘rightness’ that I hadn’t recognised was missing before. It may seem a strange thing to say, but every time I listen to music now I get this sense of nostalgia, of how it reminds me of my system from years ago, maybe with the CD3.5/92/90. While all of the upgrades since then have given me so much more, something must have been getting lost along the way and now it’s back.
I’m not sure what this ‘thing’ is – a balanced rightness – everything being in its place – nothing standing out in the mix – hearing just the music flow out with no sense of the system getting in the way or adding any fireworks.
When I read this back it sounds like I’m saying that the NDS is safe and comfortable, like an old pair of slippers. Not at all. The drama can be palpable and I can hear more detail than ever before. I think I have reached a really good place where everything is in balance.
8 discussions
© 2025 Created by Tom Tom Audio.
Powered by
