[whytejon]

Hey guys,

Ive got the Naim HDX on home demo at the moment, just thought i would share my thoughts after a week of listening.

To begin with i was impressed at how musical it sounded versus my DCS system, but it didnt have the same imaging, or detail.

So i went back to the Naim dealer and picked up the 555PS.

This transformed the HDX, and it now sounds huge, with a big accurate soundstage, massive bass, lovely midrange and good top end.  It is superbly balanced, very detailed, but most of all, extremely musical.

Compared to the Meridian Sooloos i tried a few weeks back, the Naim HDX / 555PS blows Sooloos clean out of the water on sound quality (and build quality).  Granted, the interface isnt as good on the HDX, but it depends where your priorities are.  (but dont forget the HDX / 555PS will cost twice as much)! 

Very soon, i plan to reconnect my DCS transport and DAC to see how it compares going back.

Will let you know, but at the moment, anyone who is considering going diskless, i cannot recommend the HDX highly enough (on sound / build quality at least).

[whytejon]

PS - interestingly, the HDX sounded better using the analogue outputs than it did with the digital outputs running into my DCS DAC (even without the 555PS).

I really didnt expect that.

[richidoo]

Thanks for the info Jon. Keep it coming!

[golfugh]

Jon
Thanks for the information!

How did the HDX without the 555PS sound compared to the Soolos?
Mark

[JLM]

I'd be more interested if it cost a whole lot less and had a better user interface.

[whytejon]

Jon
How did the HDX without the 555PS sound compared to the Soolos?

The HDX sounded better than the Sooloos even without the 555ps.  For me, its a no brainer, ill take the HDX over the Sooloss any day.

Tonight ive unplugged the HDX and plugged back in the DCS Transport and DAC.

Im going to reserve judgment until ive given it 24 hours to properly warm up again, but first impressions can be summarised easily:

DCS

Slightly better imaging
Slightly more organic / realistic sound
More air? not sure thats the right word, but it seems like there is more space around the instruments - gives the sound more of a live feel.
Better midrange, (vocals, piano, guitar etc)

Naim HDX

Much better bass
Generally more musical
Tonally balanced
More dynamic sound

So which do i prefer??  Well thats a tough one, cause there really isnt that much in it.  There are aspects of both that i really love.

Perhaps the addition of the forthcoming Naim DAC would take it to another level, and have the best of both worlds but thats adding another cool 5k!! (prices are in GBP).....

Not sure what the prices are in the US, but in the UK, the DCS system i have cost 20k and the Naim HDX / 555ps cost 10k, although the DCS i have has now been replaced by the Scarlatti, so its not the latest technology.

Bottom line for me, im probably going to sell my DCS kit, probably get about 5-6k for it, then im going to have to put up another 3-4k for the Naim set up, so it seems like ive got a bit of a decision to make!!

Tell you what though, going back to changing CDs already seems a bit clumsy and a bit of a chore!! 

[whytejon]

I'd be more interested if it cost a whole lot less and had a better user interface.

Yeah i must admit, the user interface isnt nearly as good as the Sooloos.  I think Naim could have done a bit better there.  It can be a bit slow to respond to commands sometimes, which is a bit irritating.

But hey, its all about the music for me, and the sound quality far surpasses the Sooloos.