Have your say & ask the experts

matthewpiano:

So more Arcam products that lack drive then. Why do they never seem to capture the rhythmic qualities of music successfully? Arcam amps do so much that is good in terms of soundstaging, tonal qualities etc. but they seem to sound consistently boring. Where is the sheer enjoyment that their earlier Alpha series gave? Has the aim for technical perfection overtaken the actual listening process? As for Naim, I would seriously challenge the negative comments about reliability and quality. Their amps last forever and, when they do go wrong, the company provides excellent service. I've suffered more reliability issues with Arcam gear.

Matthewpiano, I would actually say the new range is an improvement. They are not boring per se and I can see a lot of people liking them for their relative neutrality. It would'nt be my choice but they (some of them) are a good compromise and I kind of find they strike the 'all things to all men' relatively well. High End it is not but then you would'nt expect that at the price. There are more characterful alternatives though. 

Hughes123:

ifitsoundsgoodlistentoit:

Hughes123:

Where as with Naim, their reliability leaves alot to be desired...

while i definately agree with you about the Arcams i have to disagree with your statement about Naim. From the numerous articles ive read Naim are actually at the forefront of build quality and subsequent reliability in their price range.

Have you looked inside them? My friend built better for his £80 GCSE project - seriously, the sum of their parts is pathetic in competition to products from Marantz, Arcam & Roksan just to name a few...it's a miricle they sound good - but they do, so all we have to do is thank either the engineers at Naim or just luck.

But don't let me put you off them - they are still great electronics!

I find that a rather silly comment. They have evolved over a great number of years and whilst the Nait is an amplifier clearly built to a budget it sticks resolutely to a design philosophy of very short signal paths and solid components. Something you can see if you look at a copy of a rival publisher. Luck it aint and even if I'm personally not a fan of the brand sound I can't argue with the value of the Nait (unlike the supernait). Add to that a nice solid casing and 800 quid is a fair reflection on todays RRP compared to other products if you happen to like the sound. 

drummerman:

I find that a rather silly comment.

No, honestly! I'm not commenting on the quantity of parts used - I'm commenting on the quality of the parts used.

Hughes123:

drummerman:

I find that a rather silly comment.

No, honestly! I'm not commenting on the quantity of parts used - I'm commenting on the quality of the parts used.

I think even there you're missing the target. They use rather less stuff in there than some others. Compared to your average Arcam, Audiolab etc. its a positively sparsely populated board.  Apart from that I believe that for example the volume pot is taken directly from NAC252 pre-amp and the pre-amplifier section again owns a lot to more expensive Naim product. If you start to break it down purely into internal component cost, it probably would be worth a tenth of its price if that. Factor in the cost of manufacturing for the casing,  the most expensive part, cost for R&D, advertising, the margins for manufacturer/retailer and it adds to the total cost. Plus, manufacturing in the UK does'nt come cheap where labour rates are many times as high as in the far east.

Honestly, I'm not in an argumentative mood whatsoever ...

drummerman:

I find that a rather silly comment.

Graham_Thomas:

drummerman:

I find that a rather silly comment.

Leave the personal japes out drummerman - live and let live? This is a discussion thread in a discussion forum. Let's discuss and let people have their opinion please?

Personal? What exactly is your constructive comment regarding Hughes posting Graham_Thomas? I thought I was fairly objective. I can't wait for your thoughts...

drummerman:

Graham_Thomas:

drummerman:

I find that a rather silly comment.

Leave the personal japes out drummerman - live and let live? This is a discussion thread in a discussion forum. Let's discuss and let people have their opinion please?

Personal? What exactly is your constructive comment regarding Hughes posting Graham_Thomas? I thought I was fairly objective. I can't wait for your thoughts...

Graham_Thomas:

drummerman:

Graham_Thomas:

drummerman:

I find that a rather silly comment.

Leave the personal japes out drummerman - live and let live? This is a discussion thread in a discussion forum. Let's discuss and let people have their opinion please?

Personal? What exactly is your constructive comment regarding Hughes posting Graham_Thomas? I thought I was fairly objective. I can't wait for your thoughts...

I don't really care - there are ways and means of constructing a post with some humanity and empathy for other people's thoughts - is all - rather than resorting to words such as 'silly'. If someone likes a certain house sound or has a certain opinion then so be it...... C H I L L

... what??

Graham_Thomas:

drummerman:

Graham_Thomas:

drummerman:

I find that a rather silly comment.

Leave the personal japes out drummerman - live and let live? This is a discussion thread in a discussion forum. Let's discuss and let people have their opinion please?

Personal? What exactly is your constructive comment regarding Hughes posting Graham_Thomas? I thought I was fairly objective. I can't wait for your thoughts...

I don't really care - there are ways and means of constructing a post with some humanity and empathy for other people's thoughts - is all - rather than resorting to words such as 'silly'. If someone likes a certain house sound or has a certain opinion then so be it...... C H I L L

... what??

You see it started SO well, and then you can't resist it, Drummerman - i've deleted your abusive response and don't want any more petty squabbling (from any of you!)

Let's get back to what started as a very thought-provoking thread, please. Good robust debate, of course, always welcome

Clare Newsome:

You see it started SO well, and then you can't resist it, Drummerman - i've deleted your abusive response and don't want any more petty squabbling (from any of you!)

Let's get back to what started as a very thought-provoking thread, please. Good robust debate, of course, always welcome