new hi-Fi advice please.

[Spud21]

If anyone can remember i popped in here and made the horific mistake of asking for some advice on a new Hi-Fi system , at the time i was happy in my little world where a cheap (ish) stereo would be fine, but was told to look second hand so have been having a look around and gauging prices for the last month or so.

Then i made another elementary mistake of taking a job at the Bristol Sound and Vision show, then just to complete my series of wallet damaging mistakes i looked around the Naim stand and was blown away by what i heard, oh and i went to the B+W stand as well which was a mistake

Anyway getting to the actual point i'm pretty much decided on this set up and just want to know i'm not doing anything stupid and buying things that won't work together.

So this is what i will be getting, money will be in place in a couple of weeks so just got to wait until stuff comes up on fleabay or somewhere else.

Amp - Naim Nait 5
Cdp - Naim CD5
Speakers - B+W Dm602 s3 speakers.

Will that all work together ? the amp and Cd player will have no problems but will those speakers be happy ?

Sorry for the long whinded post, but this is all your fault, if it wasn't for you i'd already have a comparatively cack stereo, so i would like to thank you for your advice last time, but my wallet hates you

 

[9designs2]

DO NOT BUY ANY OF IT .....................

For now forget the 'Bay, you can't choose a system off it... only buy exact items you know you want/need !

Go to a dealer and listen to the above, do you like it ???
and then other stuff they can offer, is better or worse......????

Try and get some good exdem deals on some or all of it......

THEN, when you have an exact list of items you want after listening you can look on the 'bay

Then you can post back here and tell us all what works well together for YOU

It's worth the effort to get the sound you want, a guy at work just bought similar new, went for new Rega CDP, Naim 5i and Totem Arrow Speakers.
The Rega player was cheaper and just as good...to HIM.

 

[DRZ]

Has he not already experienced the "house sound" of the above manufacturers at the show?

Obviously I am not advocating going in blind here, it is always preferable to hear what you are about to buy but he has clearly heard the kit and made a decision based on that. Some of this kit is old, is it not and therefore unlikely to be found in a dealer?

It is the kind of kit that carries little risk providing it is in good condition and the price is right - he can always sell it on and almost all of the depreciation has been taken care of already

I would say that its worth listening to 9 and going for the thorough dem approach but if you cant find it and dem other kit that doesnt "fit you" as well as the Naim "house sound" that you have already heard, take a chance on it. Buying kit like that isnt going to leave you massively disappointed no matter what, depending on what you are coming from, of course

 

[Spud21]

DO NOT BUY ANY OF IT .....................

For now forget the 'Bay, you can't choose a system off it... only buy exact items you know you want/need !

Go to a dealer and listen to the above, do you like it ???
and then other stuff they can offer, is better or worse......????

Try and get some good exdem deals on some or all of it......

THEN, when you have an exact list of items you want after listening you can look on the 'bay

Then you can post back here and tell us all what works well together for YOU

It's worth the effort to get the sound you want, a guy at work just bought similar new, went for new Rega CDP, Naim 5i and Totem Arrow Speakers.
The Rega player was cheaper and just as good...to HIM.

I've heard the Nait 5 and the CD5 in action with some different B+W speakers, but i have only been able to extensively demo and listen to the b+w's i'm looking at with a higher spec naim set up, as the shop only had the seperate pre and power amps, and a different cd player, can't remember the model but it was ****** expensive.

So i haven't not heard what the components can do and as i have been lead to believe by people on here and in everything i have read most companies have an in-house sound, which although the quality from the low end to top end stuff varies the basic sound is similar, i,e the punchyness of the bass is replecated to varying degrees throughout the range although the quality varies obviously, and from what my ears and others have told me Naim stuff is very much happy to play heavy rock/metal.

So i'm not charging in blind, and if i gave that impression i appologise, i have listened to a fair amount of stuff, although i'm probably going to pop in and listen to a few more bits and bobs, want to try some Rotel stuff and some Arcam stuff although from he tiny bit i heard of Arcam it didn't seem brilliant with heavy stuff.

I was literally asking will that combo work, not sound good as i know that i like the sound of the amp and cd player with different speakers, and i like the Naim sound in general with the speakers i want, i meant literally work, as in the amp won't bugger the speakers or the reverse. I assumed not as well they work with more pricey naim Stuff, but i wanted to check.

Oh and as for what i'm coming from it's a Logitech 5.1 surround system on my pc, whihc cost me about 80 quid a couple of years ago, so even if i went blind and bought a Naim set up i would be somewhat baffled if it didn't sound better.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

If you're happy that you've listened to a variety of kit and prefer the Naim style, then go for it. There's no denying that it has a certain raw "fun" value that eludes most other kit, though it brings along it's own compromises. I was certainly more than happy with Naim kit for close on 5 years.

As for the B&W speakers, well I've never really got on with any of them, but again that's my personal opinion, and if you like em', buy em'.
Note also that choosing speakers in a shop is actually far more dangerous than most electronics.
That's because of room interaction, whereby some speaker simply will not work in certain rooms, whilst others can be great. There are few real hard and fast rules, but in general if you have a small room, you'll probably suffer from "room nodes", whereby bass response around 30-40hz can be massively exagerated, to the point of being uncomfortable. So in small rooms, it's common to have people suggest speakers that simply don't extend as far down, so as to avoid this issue.

Hope that helps. Once you've finally decided, let us know how you're getting on.

 

[Spud21]

If you're happy that you've listened to a variety of kit and prefer the Naim style, then go for it. There's no denying that it has a certain raw "fun" value that eludes most other kit, though it brings along it's own compromises. I was certainly more than happy with Naim kit for close on 5 years.

As for the B&W speakers, well I've never really got on with any of them, but again that's my personal opinion, and if you like em', buy em'.
Note also that choosing speakers in a shop is actually far more dangerous than most electronics.
That's because of room interaction, whereby some speaker simply will not work in certain rooms, whilst others can be great. There are few real hard and fast rules, but in general if you have a small room, you'll probably suffer from "room nodes", whereby bass response around 30-40hz can be massively exagerated, to the point of being uncomfortable. So in small rooms, it's common to have people suggest speakers that simply don't extend as far down, so as to avoid this issue.

Hope that helps. Once you've finally decided, let us know how you're getting on.

Ah right, cheers, the room that the system is going in is around 4m x 4m, minus a small built in cupboard in the corner.

 

[DRZ]

Ah right, cheers, the room that the system is going in is around 4m x 4m, minus a small built in cupboard in the corner.

You might have problems at 41Hz and at every harmonic of that fundamental - there is an equation to work it out (exactly what is what) but you might not want to go there

 

[Spud21]

You might have problems at 41Hz and at every harmonic of that fundamental - there is an equation to work it out (exactly what is what) but you might not want to go there

Probably for the best that i don't.

 

[9designs2]

Was just try to offer a steady hand of caution, personally wouldn't go much on what is heard at a show, probably very unlike your listening room.

Nor would I select speakers only heard with much higher front end source and amp, sure this will sound good. But hooked up to something less could be terrible. Don't no the speakers you mention, so can't comment on how well they "scale " up or down with various kit. Not a problem with connecting them up, you won't "break" anything.

Starting to think this "house sound" line is getting over used.... A Linn or Naim system from the 80's early 90's doesn't sound like today's kit. The "house sound" has been evolved/changed. Sure both still major on timing and tunes/rhythm, but the presentation has changed. To the point if you mix old and new Linn kit you don't always get the result you want....
All that said I don't think either company has produced a bad bit of kit

Square room !!!!! ahh another customer for some Bass traps

 

[DRZ]

another customer for some Bass traps

You are buying some? You can make a first approximation of how many modes your room has with some spreadsheet work - you might be suprised what you need to diffuse/absorb!

If you are serious about treating your room I will research some links for you (or you could go and get The Master Handbook of Acoustics out from your local library.

Hope your maths is good

 

[9designs2]

Sorry bit off topic....

Is there not some software (free) and a mic (I have a measurement mic) that could give guide to the resonant points. Then some construction work.... sounds like a project you should work on