Where to listen Naim

gopi

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Hyderabad, India
Folks, All the reading has led me to believe that Naim sound is something that I want. Where can I hear this in Bangalore/Hyderabad.
Urgent reply would be helpful as I have a trip to Bangalore this weekend.
 
Hi Gopi,
To the best of my knowledge Mr Marbin Colah( 91 9819257839) is the only importer of Naim gear. Dont think u will find naim in bglore/hyd. Call him and take it from there.
Regards
 
All the reading has led me to believe that Naim sound is something that I want.
Please tell us what you have deduced from reading about it!!! What is your current setup?
There's no distributor for Naim in India at the moment.
 
dinyaar, thanks for the number. I'll contact him asap.

awedeophile, the main difference I see between what I want and what others typically seem to speak about is that, when I listen to the music I want to feel like dancing or tapping my toe. For me its not about how close it is to natural or if all the details are there. Don't get me wrong that I need tons of bass or listen to high volumes. Normal insane pure music that I can totally get immersed into completely. Somehow, after listening to the usual suspects for a year under the lakh category, I never once said wow for anything. On reading, the PRaT made me feel as though it was behind that I am for. Not sure. So, wanted to check out.
 
Hi Gopi
Do let us know if you get to listen to Naim. I am out of touch with Naim products now but the last I knew about them (many years back), the price points are much higher than what you are looking at.

cheers
 
Dear Gopi,

Please post after u have spoken to Marbin. He has been selectively importing and selling Naim in bbay but never seems to have much gear to audition!
Regards
 
awedeophile, the main difference I see between what I want and what others typically seem to speak about is that, when I listen to the music I want to feel like dancing or tapping my toe. For me its not about how close it is to natural or if all the details are there. Don't get me wrong that I need tons of bass or listen to high volumes. Normal insane pure music that I can totally get immersed into completely. Somehow, after listening to the usual suspects for a year under the lakh category, I never once said wow for anything. On reading, the PRaT made me feel as though it was behind that I am for. Not sure. So, wanted to check out.


gopi if you are talking about the PRAT factor , NAIM and Linn used to eb the "flat earth" manufacturers who used to be different from the usual "soundstaging" world like the rest and focus on what they called PRaT. but over the past 4-5 years the lines have really blurred. a lot of equipment manufacturers have also brought in the "PRaT" factor in theor designs.

i would advise you not to get carried over by these reviews now ..Naims might just be a bit more expensive for the value you might expect from it... these days the choices are many and would suggest you look around !

do remember more than half of what you hear as sound quality is due to the recording quality as well as the room !
from what you are telling, you could try out some of the SET based setups....
 
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I spoke to Marbin and he said he currently he will get a Naim Nait5i this week , but the price was slightly above a lakh making it out of my budget. Also, there doesn't seem to be a place where i can audition it.
So, I am considering the following then:
1. Creek Evos or Creek Destiny
2. A nice deal on Roksan Kandy L3
So, can we categorise these as amplifiers with nice PRaT.
SET amps I thought were more for nice slow songs. Am I incorrect.
I am not really keen on sitting on one place and see the pin point imaging and also probably soundstaging. For me its about filling of music. Something like you hear in headphones.
 
that is a misconception about SETs... they can have a slam factor too.in fact there is an audiophile in bangalore who is all into floyd et al and has settled for a SET :D

imaging is more to do with the speaker and its placement in the room (contribution of electronics is comparatively minor..unless it is of the destructive nature via distortion !)..but having a nice soundstage also means that the electronics are doing its job (although in the end it is all about how the recording engineer visualised the music !)

but considering your tastes, tubes very well might be what you are looking foe..so do try out the Prima Luna etc of the world too..
 
You should give creek 5350se a listen, should be around 70k.
The evo is decent but i'm not sure if it will be to your liking the destiny i resume will be over your budget.
As for roksan & SET i can't comment.
Ditto arj on the spk placement, Infact the whole chain is imp. Your source & pre stage of the amp is critical for the kind of sound you wan't.
Cheers

I spoke to Marbin and he said he currently he will get a Naim Nait5i this week , but the price was slightly above a lakh making it out of my budget. Also, there doesn't seem to be a place where i can audition it.
So, I am considering the following then:
1. Creek Evos or Creek Destiny
2. A nice deal on Roksan Kandy L3
So, can we categorise these as amplifiers with nice PRaT.
SET amps I thought were more for nice slow songs. Am I incorrect.
I am not really keen on sitting on one place and see the pin point imaging and also probably soundstaging. For me its about filling of music. Something like you hear in headphones.
 
Gopi,

Ya the pricing in our country is always an issue. How large is the room and what are the speakers u have /proposing to acquire? Speaker sensitivity is very relevant in how loud ur set up will go.
The Roksan and primare integrateds are sweet , musical amps but i doubt they can drive inefficient speakers to blaring levels. In fact the primare was great at modest volumes in a small room with my B&W 805s but lost composure once cranked. Have never heard creek so cant comment.
What about the odyssey stratos amp? Heard lots of good things about the sound on this forum and from what i hear its moderately priced.
Regards
 
folks, my trip to bangalore has left me more confused. Must surely thank Sridhar and Pankaj for their patience. I checked the Usher's and few other models. But, looks like the filmi music I hear doesn't go well with tweeters which give details. I am back to square one. In short this is what I want:
1. Roomsize 12 * 18 * 9
2. Music genre : Mostly filmi music like AR Rahman, Ilayaraja etc; But few other names I do have ranges from Floyd, Beatles, Coldplay, Norah Jones, Eminem, Moby, Joe Satriani etc;
3. Preference of listening is that with melody numbers I might just sit and enjoy at a place primarily the vocals. While I play a dance number or such numbers I might not be sitting at one place and instead expect to be dancing(only if nobody else there in the room :) ) or atleast in short they should be fun and exciting.
4. Volume level is medium at max, definetly not very high and low.
5. Nice bass is preferred, but I can live without it.
6. Budget for amp plus speakers a lakh max. I am open to second hand stuff.
7. Most of the recent indian music recordings seem to be harsh sounding if listened on a revealing system with good volume. So, I am ready to have a tweeter that doesn't put out much detail and instead probably focus on the vocals more. I am not too keen if all the details are shown. I do listen to music for couple of hours. So, no fatigue , nothing like on my face. In short with a sense of warmth and lots of slam when required.
So, is SET the way to go or what else would you suggest.
 
hi gopi

As regards the amplifier you have mentioned , the Naim seems to the better one .... but for your budget the Roksan L3 is better then the creek , i have listened to the L3 and was blown with the quality , pair with proper speaker and you will enjoy your system for a very very long time.

regards

david
 
Have you checked out KEF ? I feel an ??iq7? or ??iq8?model from KEF will work for you. Do check it out.
Naim systems are ruthlessly revealing. I don??t think filmi music will work with them.
 
I'll definetly give KEF a shot. Regarding Dynaudio's I think I had the wrong pairing when I listened to them. It was with Primare and Arcam. Probably something with more attack I should have listened to.
 
Bollywood music will always have a tough time esp the new ones as the recording leaves a lot to be desired. May the only way out is to have a extra cheaper, less revealing but warm source to play all bad recordings.
 
Hi,

To confuse you more allow me to suggest you Jolida 1501 RC. This monster of amp , delivers 100 WPC, it is a hybrid design with valves at pre stage and MOSFETs at power stage. This arrangement gives you best of both the worlds . For you music interest (Film scores) this is ideal one. Lots of power and bass punch , fluid mid range and crisp uppers. It is speaker friendly so pairing is not a problem. Its warm sound (valves) and forgiving nature will suit your music interest. It is built like Tank l(I mean it) and despite that it has got a out and out clean aesthetics. I once owned this particular amp before upgrading to Class A amp.

Mahendra Dave of Oceanic Pune deals with this brand. I got my 1501 RC from him in Oct 2006 for 45K with bill and warranty. Jolida have another worth looking , cheaper model 1701 (I believe) too , it is 50WPC while rest other things remain same.

Check with Mahendra, he can arrange for a demo. For speakers look for Jamo, MS or even entry level Dali.

Hope this helps.

SUhas

folks, my trip to bangalore has left me more confused. Must surely thank Sridhar and Pankaj for their patience. I checked the Usher's and few other models. But, looks like the filmi music I hear doesn't go well with tweeters which give details. I am back to square one. In short this is what I want:
1. Roomsize 12 * 18 * 9
2. Music genre : Mostly filmi music like AR Rahman, Ilayaraja etc; But few other names I do have ranges from Floyd, Beatles, Coldplay, Norah Jones, Eminem, Moby, Joe Satriani etc;
3. Preference of listening is that with melody numbers I might just sit and enjoy at a place primarily the vocals. While I play a dance number or such numbers I might not be sitting at one place and instead expect to be dancing(only if nobody else there in the room :) ) or atleast in short they should be fun and exciting.
4. Volume level is medium at max, definetly not very high and low.
5. Nice bass is preferred, but I can live without it.
6. Budget for amp plus speakers a lakh max. I am open to second hand stuff.
7. Most of the recent indian music recordings seem to be harsh sounding if listened on a revealing system with good volume. So, I am ready to have a tweeter that doesn't put out much detail and instead probably focus on the vocals more. I am not too keen if all the details are shown. I do listen to music for couple of hours. So, no fatigue , nothing like on my face. In short with a sense of warmth and lots of slam when required.
So, is SET the way to go or what else would you suggest.
 
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Suhas,
I see that you sold your Jolida a year back. If you don't mind can you tell me why. Also, can you ping me with your phone number.
 
Yes, I sold Jolida last year when I upgraded to Cadence VA-1 20 WPC Pure Class A amp. But when I decided upgrading to all Cadence products (VA-1 , ANINA Electrostats) , I had to let go Jolida. There was nothing wrong with Jolida and I still miss it for its bass punch and power. Will send you my contact numer via PM.

Regards

SUhas



Suhas,
I see that you sold your Jolida a year back. If you don't mind can you tell me why. Also, can you ping me with your phone number.
 
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