Naim Atom, why does my budget system sound better???

diavolo

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So after months of research and money put aside, I finally decided to downsize and chose the Atom.
I auditioned one at a local hi-fi shop, I tested it with the speakers available at my budget: Dynaudio M20, Dynaudio M30 and ATC SCM 11.
I was so disappointed. I was expecting to be blown away but the whole experience was so underwhelming.
I went back home, played the same tracks on my cheap system (NAD C326 BEE, Beresford Bushmaster DAC, Squeezebox Touch, Mordaunt Short 906 floorstanders) and it sounded a lot better.

Now, are my ears not audiophile enough? Am I self persuading myself subconsciously to save the cash? Not sure, but I'd love to listen to the Atom with budget speakers like the Q Acoustics 3050i or Fyne Audio F501 (also a good package deal available at an online shop) but there are no retailers near me that stock these combinations.

I know... if the Atom didn't sound right with the more expensive Dynaudios and ATC how the hell would it sound better with cheaper speakers?

Thoughts anyone?
 
I thought ATC speakers were power hungry?
You should rejoice if what you already have sounds better to your years.
 
I tested the Atom and the Star (which both went wrong in separate demo’s) with a variety of speakers, MA’s, Harbeth, Spendor, Proac, maybe it’s the Naim sound signature, it seemed almost clinical and neither unit did anything for me On any speaker I tried it with. I appreciate I may have been unlucky with the reliability, but, I wouldn’t swap the Yamaha as2100 and and Arcam streamer through my MA gold 100 speakers for any of Naim Uniti series.

I’m currently saving up for the Lindemann Limetree Network Streamer which when I add up the cost of amp and the streamer, will cost around the same as the uniti Atom and a £1000 less than the Uniti Star! Sorry Naim, not for me.
 
I don't know anything about the Naim Atom itself, but Naim has been very polarising over the years. Some people love the Naim sound, and others find it unimpressive. I'm in the latter camp.
 
So after months of research and money put aside, I finally decided to downsize and chose the Atom.
I auditioned one at a local hi-fi shop, I tested it with the speakers available at my budget: Dynaudio M20, Dynaudio M30 and ATC SCM 11.
I was so disappointed. I was expecting to be blown away but the whole experience was so underwhelming.
I went back home, played the same tracks on my cheap system (NAD C326 BEE, Beresford Bushmaster DAC, Squeezebox Touch, Mordaunt Short 906 floorstanders) and it sounded a lot better.

Now, are my ears not audiophile enough? Am I self persuading myself subconsciously to save the cash? Not sure, but I'd love to listen to the Atom with budget speakers like the Q Acoustics 3050i or Fyne Audio F501 (also a good package deal available at an online shop) but there are no retailers near me that stock these combinations.

I know... if the Atom didn't sound right with the more expensive Dynaudios and ATC how the hell would it sound better with cheaper speakers?

Thoughts anyone?

Fear not, Naim worthy as it is, doesn't click with everyone - myself included.
 
I think you are perhaps kidding yourself if you think your system sounds better but you have saved yourself a lot of money.
 
We all hear different things in hifi, I’m confident in my ability to make my own informed choice, I leave the kidding to salespeople and sheep.
 
I think you are perhaps kidding yourself if you think your system sounds better but you have saved yourself a lot of money.
"Sounds better" is entirely subjective. One person can think A sounds better and another can think B sounds better, and they can both be right.
 
40 Wpc + 85 dB sealed box bookshelf must be as exciting as a 1 litre engine in a range rover.
 
Naim tends to be accurate and very detailed and doesn't always give you that immediate "hit" that some systems do. Extra bass weight can be missing and poorly recorded and streamed music can sound a bit "empty" and missing that connection on the Naim.

It really depends upon your music tastes and listening preferences. You might well find that some tracks from high resolution sources sound stunning on the Naim, with extra detail suddenly appearing that you were not aware was even there, but for more casual listening to a wider range of music, the Naim might well not suit.
 
I wonder if the problem at the dem was store related? I have some Naim equipment (Olive active SBLs so vintage-ish, but pretty fair) and was knocked out by a Naim Atom driving Dynaudio M20s at a show. The M20s were on dedicated Dynaudio stands taking the total speaker cost to around a thousand pounds and the source was a naim server with ripped cds IIRC.

As alluded to by noiseboy 72, could the source material have been a compromising factor perhaps?

Jim
 
Agreed. It could be a myriad of things that affected the demo.
The source was Tidal playing hi-res files.

The speakers were not positioned properly perhaps. The M20s were excellent when playing slow vocal tracks with sparse instrumentation but when playing tracks with more going on in the background they just sounded messy.
The M30s were better but naturally more bassy being floorstanders.
I have a preference for floorstanders also for esthetic reasons but they didn't convince me.
 
Even so I personally wouldnt go that way.

For 2 grand a pair of Kef LS50 Wireless is difficult to surpass with separates IMHO.
 
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Can I suggest that you wait for the arrival of the Lyngdorf TDAi1120 that you'll start to see reviews of in the next month. It has built in media player and includes the best room correction system in the world called RoomPerfect.

The weakest link in a good audio system is typically the errors the room creates and RoomPerfect is unique in removing these errors while preserving the sound of the speakers.

Here is a review of its bigger brother. The room correction, bass management etc. is identical.

Its £2195 inc VAT in the UK.

www.lyngdorf.com
 

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Hi Fi has far more to do with room acoustics than any other limiting factor. So its more likely that your room produces a more agreeable sound to your ears. My honest opinion..... test everything in your own room, then make a choice.
 
Hi Fi has far more to do with room acoustics than any other limiting factor. So its more likely that your room produces a more agreeable sound to your ears. My honest opinion..... test everything in your own room, then make a choice.

So right! Should be in capital letters.
 
You are more than likely tuned to a warm sound (with your current system) - Naim have a clinical sound that might be to different to what your are used to and add ATC 11 to the mix could have made it even worse. I used to own a pair of ATC 11 and they were very analytical even with my Icon Audio tube amp.
As for those giving you advise of roomperfect amps, completely ignore them as they are implying the dealer can't set up a demo room correctly and as your current system sounds good to you, why on earth would you need a room equalizer?
Go and get a system demoed at home a good dealer would give you a home demo.
 
Musicphil – I don’t think you understand the problems that rooms create.

Assuming you bought good speakers, they will provide even frequency response so each note on a piano say, will be heard as loud as the next. If you measured their performance, the graph would show a smooth, even line.

Place these speakers in a room and listening from say 3m away and they would sound very different. If you measured their performance from the listening position, the graph would show big peaks and troughs in their performance.

You can see the before and after measurement graph below.

RoomPerfect measures the sound of your speakers and then all of the listening room, so that the negative effects of the room are removed so your speakers sound the way they were intended to sound.

Without this technology, your speakers will sound different when placed in different rooms.

It simply isn’t possible to do this by moving the speakers or listening position, treating the room or any other equipment changes except some form of measurement and correction process.

Picture1.png
 
Hang on a minute Rob Sinden.
You implied the OP needed roomperfect, what because he went to a dealer and heard a system at the dealers that didn't sound good to him - why on earth does the OP need roomperfect? He has already said his current system sounds very good to him in his own room.
Nothing to do with him needing a roomperfect. The OP only needs to demo a system at home, remember he has already said his current system sounds better than the Naim/ATC setup he heard at the dealer.
 
Because the same speaker will sound very different in different rooms.

This shows the same speaker placed in 6 different rooms. You can see it will sound totally different from room to room. RoomPerfect will get the best results from whatever speakers you use and will make them sound very similar in room after room.
Same speaker in 6 different rooms.png
 
But he doesn't have a problem at home!
His own system sounds good at home, it was the demo system he heard at the dealers he said he had a problem with.
You are now implying the said dealer doesn't have a good sounding demo room. Behave yourself!
 
But he doesn't have a problem at home!
His own system sounds good at home, it was the demo system he heard at the dealers he said he had a problem with.
You are now implying the said dealer doesn't have a good sounding demo room. Behave yourself!
Well, obviously, he should get roomperfect to take to dealers for demos! :D

Oh, oh... no, he should use roomperfect to make his room as bad as the dealer's!
 
The demo room may be wonderful or awful, who knows, what I can 100% guarantee is that it will sound quite different to the clients room. Anyone who has moved a hifi from one room to another will know what an impact it makes.

So, however it sounds in the dem room, it will sound different in the customers home.

RoomPerfect will make it sound better in either room and will make it sound very similar in both.
 
The demo room may be wonderful or awful, who knows, what I can 100% guarantee is that it will sound quite different to the clients room. Anyone who has moved a hifi from one room to another will know what an impact it makes.

So, however it sounds in the dem room, it will sound different in the customers home.

RoomPerfect will make it sound better in either room and will make it sound very similar in both.
Rob, I don't mean to be rude, but you're not listening. We *know* about how different rooms have effects on sounds - nobody is disputing that.

What you don't seem to be getting here (or maybe there's some miscommunication and maybe I'm not getting it) is that the OP is perfectly happy with the way his room sounds. So how does room-tweaking technology help *in his room with which he is happy*?

Why would he want to use roomperfect in his own room to make it sound like the dealer's room where he didn't like the sound?
 
It will improve it.

If he doesn't want it to sound better, then he definitely shouldn't consider RoomPerfect.
 

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