Feedback From the Festival of Sound

[Tom Tom Audio]

Thank you very much everyone for the feedback over on the Naim Forum:-

http://forums.naimaudio.com/displayForumTopic/content/1550482287815...

Here are just a few of the comments:-

Just got in from the morning session. Thank you to James and his team along with Dougie and and everyone from Naim for a very well run show.

Apparently it was the first public demo of the DR upgrade. I know lots of you are wanting to know what it's like. Well, start saving your pennies, IMHO it's worth it. The XPS on the NDX, then the 555PS with the NDS were compared followed by the Supercap on the SNAXO and finally, and for me the greatest improvement, the 552PS.

Steve J

I was at the morning session too. Firstly huge thanks to james, Henry and the tom tom team for another entertaining event and some cracking scones and cream!

So after 300s last year we were treated to three 500s this year which really underpinned the demo and fully illuminated the changes and improvements in the front end. Couple of early thoughts from me (still reeling truth be told)

New regulators: for me they are a clear improvement and may well be worth the upgrade (depending on price of course) but for calibration purposes I would say that the old 555 easily sees off the new xps2 so 'evolution' not 'revolution'.

NDS: I think this sounded substantially better than the ndx. Actually with the new 555 ps I suspect that it is the best naim digital source .....I've "only" got a cdx2/DAC/xps2 though so perhaps it would be better if those with cd555s answered that one!

Martin C

Just got back from a fascinating afternoon. This was my first experience with the NDS and after all the positive reviews I was not disappointed! What a fantastic bit of kit... A real game changer in the world of streaming and one that has forced me to rethink my options for future upgrades. I've been using the DAC for about 2 years, and was planning to add a 555PS shortly, but the NDS seemed far more musically compelling than I was expecting, so I'm now seriously considering dropping my trusty Transporter and joining the Naim streaming fraternity. Still need to hear NDS vs DAC with various power supply options in my own room, but I'm pretty sure the NDS is they way I'll be heading soon.

 The other highlight was of course the new DR power supplies - I can only echo the words in the DR thread - these are a massive upgrade. The most noticeable change was swapping a standard XPS for a new DR version on the NDX; totally changed the presentation. Much more open and transparent, with far more of the subtle musical texture coming through. Further improvements were noted after the swap to an NDS as progressively each PS was swapped to the DR version. Even on a more modest system in the other room swapping a HiCap to the DR type totally transformed the sound.

 So, in summary the DRs really work, and the NDS is probably the best streamer in the world...

It was also great to see so many forum folk - FixedWheel, BigH and others - sorry I'm crap with names, and tying forum names to real names to faces etc is often beyond my capabilities... So, for anyone I met I was the big bugger with the stripy shirt.

Best wishes all, and thanks to James, Naim and the Tom Tom crew for another great event.

Dave BK

Evening all. Here are my findings from my notes taken at the Tom Tom today. But first a big thank you to James for putting it on. To Chris for selling vinyl ( it made for a very expensive day out ). And especially to the Naim Team With a very big thank you to Mark Ragget.

So how was it. It was cracking, I reccomend it if you are thinking of going tomorrow.

The DR is a very positive upgrade. It's much easier to focus on the difference in the smaller Hicap room than the big room. Not because it was any less but because the overall sound was so captivating. The biggest difference was connecting an NDS to a DR PSU. Wow! What a fantastic sound the NDS made. Next was the DR on a 552 which was at least equall to the difference a 552 makes when upgraded from a lesser preamp.

The FlatEarther