The sound

Open, clear, dynamic and rhythmic. Those are the terms that come to mind when listening to the Naim system. Vocals are unprecedentedly easy to follow; every layer, every nuance. It’s incredible how this Naim system can pick this out so accurately. Voices are so real it’s almost scary.

Especially the Kudos Titan 606 is tight and precise in terms of vocals. The center is a bit more prominent with this speaker. At least: relative to the Focals. And certainly compared to the Vienna which is very relaxed in the middle, as we have written and shown in the measurements before. If you would listen to them one after the other, your jaw would drop to the floor.

Very different

If you put the Focal, Kudos and Vienna’s side by side, you will notice that they are three very different speakers. From very calm to energetic and punchy. The Kudos may look ‘old fashioned’: it is a very modern speaker that works very precisely. We did not really expect that at first. Appearances are deceiving. The Naim system lets these differences be heard without difficulty. Probably because the system can show a lot of detail and drives the speakers in a very controlled way.

The ND 555 is simply a surgeon. We really hear ultra high resolution. Every nuance is audible, tangible. Without effort. For the NAC 552 this is the same. We felt it that there is in fact no pre-amp. And so it should be, of course. However, the volume could do its job a little more precisely via the remote control. A tap does nothing, but a push again just too much. It’s a tricky game that way, shall we say. We feel the NAP 300 DR has an abundance of power… in short: each speaker is driven to the maximum with this set-up. And that exposes the good and less good elements.

Now you will think after these descriptions that the music is presented in a very analytical and overshapened way. But it is not. At least, if you pick the right speaker. And pay attention to the cabling used. Let’s explain that in more detail.

Matching

We notice after a few days of listening that the Naim system has special qualities. After a few days? Yes… this just takes some getting used to for us. A switch from our reference to this is not done like counting to 3 (it’s a Dutch saying…sorry about that ;-)) Sometimes that just takes a while. Just like with a new album where a musician has gone in a totally different direction. Give it some time. Then maybe the penny will drop. Or it won’t.

With the Naim system, the penny has certainly dropped. Album after album came by. The new Steven Wilson, Massive Attack, Angus & Julia Stone, Beth Gibbons, Muse… the ND 555 has been very busy. And with almost every album, one notices how layered this system can reproduce music. We discover new nuances without effort. Bizarre. Especially in that beautiful, open midrange, this hifi-system shines. And the bass is tight and punchy. Delightful.

But it’s wonderful, provided the speaker doesn’t color too much themselves. Because then especially the punchy bass can become a little bit too much. So it’s a bit of a fragile balance. A balance that was lost with the Vienna Acoustics speakers. It was to punchy. And therefore the whole system became a bit tiring after a while.

But with the Focals and the Kudos set it does go well. There it is a matter of taste what is best. The Kudos has an unprecedentedly beautiful midrange with an enormous resolution. Every fiber of a string is audible. Very impressive, but you must also love that way of reproduction. The Focals are excellent as far as we are concerned. But fair is fair: they do not have the resolution of the Kudos Titan 606 in that midrange. It is still very nice. And it’s all a little more conversational. But if you put on a piece of acoustic guitar or vocal work, the Kudos knows how to get more out of it.