30-Sep-2017, 07:01
Well, without trying to sound elitist in any way, I came through 30+ years of Naim ownership, culminating on what many would consider (pre-Statement amp) their premier setup, 500 series with NDS network player. Sounded blooming marvellous, albeit mucho £££'s. Two things caused me to switch camps:-
1) I retired early to TRNC (North Cyprus) and the change in lifestyle caused me to question whether I needed 7/8 large black boxes, stacks (literally) of Fraim, a mountain of cables and all the associated hassles of shipping to a country that (wrongly) still is not internationally recognised. This rules out all normal routes of shipping and just one or two companies that can do it via Turkey. Relish the thought I did not.
2) I was vociferous on Naim forum about the archaic software that handles the UPnP way of delivering stored music. I felt the effort put into software development did not match the goodness of their hardware and the price paid. I still don't, even though new iterations of their Naim app have arrived and even though I do not own any Naim streamer now. I won't go on about Roon here, except to say it was and is a game-changer. Totally. It is the way I want to sift through and play my collection and also to discover new routes to similar or associated music/artists/composers/etc.
So the search was on as to what would replace my pretty large Naim system, ideally I wanted one all-in box of very high quality, and one that maybe one-day would give me the Sonos-like way of amalgamating various sources, be it my collection or from streaming suppliers, including internet radio. I saw that Devialet had this smart range and promoted that soon it would have Dialog/Spark control (aargh, as we all know, that's another story).
Living in Jersey at the time, there was no way I could hear Devialet (without travelling hundreds of miles), but after much research, and talking to various people I took a huge punt and bought a 200 with no live audition. Some would say this is crazy, please believe me I had pangs on this on many occasions, I would like to say it was a considered punt and the one-box solution ticked so many boxes (pun intended), it looks spot on in my realms of aesthetics, and suited the new lounge we were planning for our villa.
Having purchased the 200, it was closely followed by Roon, a new software that seemed to be what I dreamed of for controlling streamed music. Not based on one-step-at-time UPnP hierarchal organisation, this was the cross referenced and amalgamated control that I had been waiting for. My library was now 'attached' to the wider world of music from one control point, one app. Fabulous! Can you guess, I rate Roon as the de-facto software now. Better still, I did not have to wait for the, as yet, unfulfilled promise of Dialog/Spark which completely paled into insignificant in light of the brilliant Roon.
Only one hurdle to cross, how to get Roon into my Dev 200, and I tried various routes, settling until recently on the Sonore microRendu. Now that Roon has made connection with Air, even the Rendu has become redundant, finally a true one-box system (I don't count any 'computer' thingy that is, of course, required to run the Roon Core).
So bottom line, do I miss my stupendous Naim system? Well 30 years of building such a system has to count for something, so with a fondness I would have to answer a qualified yes. But times move on and life styles change, and I can honestly, hand on heart say I have no regrets with the Devialet setup I have now. A lot of you have already touched on the sonic reasons, and I can whole-heartedly agree with those reasons. I thoroughly enjoy the music my 220 produces as much as I did with the Naim system, but maybe in a much more relaxed way. A way that does not cause you to fastidiously question each box upgrade, every connection and cable, nothing touching each other, and to a certain extent the upgraditus that Naim is famous for, and to which their whole business model is based upon. I just listen to all the music now, in all the detail, with all the 'PRAT', and think to myself, yes this is good, yes this is very, very good.
1) I retired early to TRNC (North Cyprus) and the change in lifestyle caused me to question whether I needed 7/8 large black boxes, stacks (literally) of Fraim, a mountain of cables and all the associated hassles of shipping to a country that (wrongly) still is not internationally recognised. This rules out all normal routes of shipping and just one or two companies that can do it via Turkey. Relish the thought I did not.
2) I was vociferous on Naim forum about the archaic software that handles the UPnP way of delivering stored music. I felt the effort put into software development did not match the goodness of their hardware and the price paid. I still don't, even though new iterations of their Naim app have arrived and even though I do not own any Naim streamer now. I won't go on about Roon here, except to say it was and is a game-changer. Totally. It is the way I want to sift through and play my collection and also to discover new routes to similar or associated music/artists/composers/etc.
So the search was on as to what would replace my pretty large Naim system, ideally I wanted one all-in box of very high quality, and one that maybe one-day would give me the Sonos-like way of amalgamating various sources, be it my collection or from streaming suppliers, including internet radio. I saw that Devialet had this smart range and promoted that soon it would have Dialog/Spark control (aargh, as we all know, that's another story).
Living in Jersey at the time, there was no way I could hear Devialet (without travelling hundreds of miles), but after much research, and talking to various people I took a huge punt and bought a 200 with no live audition. Some would say this is crazy, please believe me I had pangs on this on many occasions, I would like to say it was a considered punt and the one-box solution ticked so many boxes (pun intended), it looks spot on in my realms of aesthetics, and suited the new lounge we were planning for our villa.
Having purchased the 200, it was closely followed by Roon, a new software that seemed to be what I dreamed of for controlling streamed music. Not based on one-step-at-time UPnP hierarchal organisation, this was the cross referenced and amalgamated control that I had been waiting for. My library was now 'attached' to the wider world of music from one control point, one app. Fabulous! Can you guess, I rate Roon as the de-facto software now. Better still, I did not have to wait for the, as yet, unfulfilled promise of Dialog/Spark which completely paled into insignificant in light of the brilliant Roon.
Only one hurdle to cross, how to get Roon into my Dev 200, and I tried various routes, settling until recently on the Sonore microRendu. Now that Roon has made connection with Air, even the Rendu has become redundant, finally a true one-box system (I don't count any 'computer' thingy that is, of course, required to run the Roon Core).
So bottom line, do I miss my stupendous Naim system? Well 30 years of building such a system has to count for something, so with a fondness I would have to answer a qualified yes. But times move on and life styles change, and I can honestly, hand on heart say I have no regrets with the Devialet setup I have now. A lot of you have already touched on the sonic reasons, and I can whole-heartedly agree with those reasons. I thoroughly enjoy the music my 220 produces as much as I did with the Naim system, but maybe in a much more relaxed way. A way that does not cause you to fastidiously question each box upgrade, every connection and cable, nothing touching each other, and to a certain extent the upgraditus that Naim is famous for, and to which their whole business model is based upon. I just listen to all the music now, in all the detail, with all the 'PRAT', and think to myself, yes this is good, yes this is very, very good.
Devialet 220 Pro, TQ Black Mains & Ultra Black Speaker Cables, Naim Ovators S600, Sonore microRendu (Roon & HQP) with Uptone JS-2
TRNC (North Cyprus)
TRNC (North Cyprus)
