melton show

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by zanash, Mar 11, 2010.

  1. zanash

    zanash

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    As I'd not seen anything relating to this show ..

    I thought I'd start one ...

    many thanks must go to organisers and exhibitors ...!

    but as always there were some niggles ...

    parking seemed an issue ...didn't seem that there was too much

    Trade stands ...these seemed an after thought ..imo either you have a load or none !

    exhibitor rooms ... ranged from the tiny to huge, wonder how they were allocated !

    over all it seemed a great deal of effort had been made by all concerned ...

    sound wise ....the range was from outstanding to truely horrid

    creditable mentions must go to dr rock....not the best sound but by a mile the best presentation!

    My mate who came along [having a back ground in music rather than hifi] note after the third or fourth naim amplified system that something seemed amiss with there sound ....well hay how about that ! his comments in a nutshell.... it was almost mono .with no decernable imaging ..no height depth or width ...just a fat pudding of a sound sat between the speakers ....I have to say can't disagree !

    that is not to say they bad sounding .....just lacking

    After three hours of searching up and down corridors to find that last exhibitor , we had both had enough!

    would I support it again ....yes of course !
     
    zanash, Mar 11, 2010
    #1
  2. zanash

    RobHolt Moderator

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    Thanks for the report Pete.

    What do you think caused the Naim amplified systems to sound so poor?
    System set up or some failing in the electronics?
     
    RobHolt, Mar 11, 2010
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  3. zanash

    Pure Sound

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    It's certainly the hifi event I most enjoy going to.
     
    Pure Sound, Mar 11, 2010
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  4. zanash

    SCIDB Moderator

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    Hi,

    I was there, very enjoyable it was. I was on the first floor playing a system that included,

    Tag Transports
    Audio Sythesis Dax Decade dac
    Marantz PM4 amplifier
    Living Voice Avatar OBX speakers

    Also a Django TVC was used later in the day as a pre amp using the PM4 as a power amp.

    Plus I brought loads of music.

    SCIDB
     
    SCIDB, Mar 11, 2010
    #4
  5. zanash

    timpy Snake Oil free!!!

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    I thought almost all of the systems there were very good considering the vastly different rooms. It certainly brings home the fact that the systems assembled there are very personal and within 30 seconds you could tell what the owners priorities / preferences were and as such it was a lot more meaningful than a stanard show or hi-fi dem.

    I was there for 5 hours and I barely got round half the rooms, but some of the best ones for me were:

    Gazar's Wadia / Focal system
    Serge Aukland's EMT Turntables
    SCIDB's (above) that bounced along despite have a small room
    Steve57's for sheer headbanging to a Valve amp
    Russ Abbot (royds brother) with the Audio space amp that proved to me there is some hope for valve amplification after all
    Oldfogey's Geddes Nathan speakers
    OB1's System with the Audio Physics

    Great to see Dean again too, and meet some of the other folks. Very enjoyable day.

    Cheers
     
    timpy, Mar 11, 2010
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  6. zanash

    SCIDB Moderator

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    Hi Tim,

    It was good to see after a long time. It was a very good day. I didn't get to see all of the other systems. I only saw a few, none were bad, all were different.

    I hopefully will be there next year.

    Dean
     
    SCIDB, Mar 11, 2010
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  7. zanash

    SCIDB Moderator

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    Hi,

    Here are a few pictures of my system from the show.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    SCIDB
     
    SCIDB, Mar 11, 2010
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  8. zanash

    chrissyman

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    I briefly heard your system ' i love the OBX speaker's they have a lovely breadth of tone .
     
    chrissyman, Mar 12, 2010
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  9. zanash

    zanash

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    rob ...

    not poor sounding ...but poor presentation,
    rather flat dimensionally.

    I've noticed something similar ...this is not meant as a naim kicking opertunity ! as I said the sound s produced weren't poor..

    some years ago I visited a chap with my quad99cdp ...he had one of the naim cd players .cdx ?

    anyway patched into the same system avi amps as I recall and diy speakers ....

    the sounds produced were for the most part very acceptable ...just differed in presentation

    if I can use a photographic analogy ....the quad produced a 50mm image where as the naim had fisheye quality

    so that all the sound from the centre of the image extended to fill the area between the speakers and any extreme left and right sound were shoehorned into the remaning image space ...

    this worked fine for solo works ...single artist centre stage ... ie elenor mcavoy .... but when dsotm ...espially track 2 was played ......

    the turbo prop aircraft that taxis from lower right to extreme mid left then takes off from left to top right ....was almost absent when compared to the quad presentation ...

    now I'm not saying that the either is wrong just different !

    I happen to prefer the quad presentation ....

    This effect seems to relate to the way the naim amped systems presented the imaging information at the show ....

    please don't think I didn't enjoy some of the sounds these
    systems were making .......

    which reminds me of the last heathrow show I visited ...2008ish ?
    naim had a room with there top end system in it ...low and behold ..it presented much like "other " sytems ......no fisheye !

    I recall that many people who heard this, and were naim fans didn't like it !

    But don't lets get too hooked up on my preferences ......it was a great show ..I wish I'd had longer to stay in many of the rooms .

    What my friend and I also noticed was that there is no getting away from the fact that its easier to produce good sound than bad ! but it real helps if your using larger speakers .

    Any body remember who's room had the refirbed 57's .... in a small room ...it was like wearing a huge pair of headphones !..

    I remember noticing a very slight low freq distortion in the left channel ..but forgot to mention it at the time ....When we played my lorenna mckennit cd The overall sound was very good, every thread of the performance laidout ...but for the slight distortion in the left speaker [if thats were it was !]
     
    zanash, Mar 12, 2010
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  10. zanash

    zanash

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    thanks that answers almost everything ...

    I must have arrived as the standard car parking was just about full ...before the new section had been opened up !
     
    zanash, Mar 12, 2010
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  11. zanash

    DrMartin

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    Well it sounds "wrong" to me.

    I've never heard Naim gear, in fact I've hardly heard anything other than my own systems, but if what you say is true then I have to admit that I'm quite shocked. Are you saying that the Naim electronics, that a fair few people rave about, are actually incapable of rendering basic panning effects?

    After reading your post I played the track on my old Sony CDP and it's all there just as you say.

    Surely if these effects were put there by the engineer they should be heard? and if they can't be heard through Naim electronics then there is something very wrong. Surely, imaging is the whole point of stereo reproduction isn't it?
     
    DrMartin, Mar 13, 2010
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  12. zanash

    zanash

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    I don't want to get hung up on this naim thing .....

    its a question of presentation ...

    if you have not heard it ...its fairly simple ...just go compare almost any other gear and then add in naim amp or cdp ...

    I suspect that many people like this presentation other wise naim kit would not be so popular ...

    its does not mean that they are poor amps or can't convey music ....which they patently can

    its just not my cup of tea .....again I'll stress that doesn't make it right or wrong just different ...

    But as I keep trying to say its simple enough to hear the difference if you want to ...once its pointed out .

    I've always believed that what the artist/engineer placed on the software ....is what you should be striving to hear ...

    I also think that any further discussion of this topic realy needs its own thread ..rather than hogging this one about the great show at melton !
     
    zanash, Mar 13, 2010
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  13. zanash

    sq225917 Exposer of Foo

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    The quads at the end of the corridor were Rabski's. not sure how anyone could claim to be able to make any discerning judgement on them shoehorned into that room with towels behind them to damp them. Apparently golden ears can discount speaker placing and room effects from what they hear.
     
    sq225917, Mar 13, 2010
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  14. zanash

    RobHolt Moderator

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    For me, pointing it out is the problem.
    Shouldn't need to if the effect is consistent through the electronics range.

    I hear that effect in older Naim (and other wall proximity flat earth) speakers but not the electronics.
     
    RobHolt, Mar 13, 2010
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  15. zanash

    RobHolt Moderator

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    Were they modified in any way?
    Perhaps the rear padding inside the speaker had been removed.
    Quad put it there for a good reason.
     
    RobHolt, Mar 13, 2010
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  16. zanash

    sq225917 Exposer of Foo

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    I've no idea they'd just come back from a full service and had replacement treble panels with only a few hours on them.
     
    sq225917, Mar 13, 2010
    #16
  17. zanash

    Purite Audio Purite Audio

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    Complete 'one thing' overhaul, and there was a sub hidden behind one I believe.
    Keith.
     
    Purite Audio, Mar 13, 2010
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  18. zanash

    RobHolt Moderator

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    One Thing (thankfully) don't remove the felting or thick sacking behind the panels when they refurbish. Should be possible to operate them is a small-ish room as a result and get good sound.
     
    RobHolt, Mar 13, 2010
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  19. zanash

    JonR

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    I couldn't help noticing there were quite a few comments on HFWW in praise of the Naim systems at the show, so I find zanash's comments a bit odd, frankly.

    But then again, I guess I'm just a little bit biased, espcially as one of the Naim rooms was mine...!! :D
     
    JonR, Mar 15, 2010
    #19
  20. zanash

    RobHolt Moderator

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    What?
    Jon using Naim?

    Never in a million years! ;)

    How the :JPS: are you?

    regards,
     
    RobHolt, Mar 15, 2010
    #20
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