Hutter-ly amazing!

Nice set up. Is the box on the floor a prefix?

I bet you are not using the fan at the moment with all that snow!

Best wishes,

Bob.

Yes, that's a Prefix on a piece of flooring and Black Diamond Racing cones, to be replaced tonight by a special little bit of Mana.

Vuk.

P.S. You want snow?

John

Forget the misogeny!!

I understand that the sport is not particularly common in the UK, but this picture, which has proven conclusively to you that women have two breasts, is actually of a basketball hoop.

In anticipation of an upcoming London vacation, I was kind of hoping the women would be more like Ms. Fox in this respect.

Vuk.

John
Psychology, Codology more like!!

quote:

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I notice in your profile that you've got 2 52-based systems and a set of "spare" components that make up something better than what Sgt. Petrik runs as a primary system.

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Vuk:

Since Joe's now migrated to the US of eh? I figure you must be referring to my illustrious "spare" Sony ES surround system as Naim barely exists in the US (of eh). If Joe's got as much as a Nait he's doing better. Surround sound is probably the biggest waste of money I've ever spent. Not much for music but it's great for crash and bang. Definitely impresses all the neighbors. That's all the use it gets though.

Arthur Bye

I was thinking of : CDS1, CDX/XPS, NAC102, NAP250, HiCap.

You've now got them listed as "odd leftover bits".

Vuk.

Yeah I know what you meant. I was just being sarcastic.

I got tired of always making comparisons between the CDS1, CDS2, and the CDX/XPS and all the other stuff. Wasn't listening to the music enough, so I just decided to have two systems that were exactly the same. I keep one system in my apartment in the city and one in my home in the country. I'll probably unload all that other stuff after a while. The CDS1 and the CDX/XPS being the exception. There's someting about a CDS1 on Mana that really works. Just like the CDX/XPS there some things I like about both of them at times that are better than the CDS2. Just haven't quite figured it out what it is yet. Mostly its more groove, but just with some recordings.

Until then I'm searching for the Holy Grail of speakers(not going to spend 18k US on DBL's. x2)

Finally got all my amps and power supplies on a Mana 4 tier and sources on a Mana 5 tier(phase 2)

Sounds a lot more well defined now, but I think having Mana on the amps and power supplies might be over-rated.

Waiting to hear your review after your stuff settles in. Looks like a nice set up you've got. I'll have to give the Elites a listen if I can find a dealer.

Arthur Bye

quote:

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I'll have to give the Elites a listen if I can find a dealer.

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Arthur.

Please give Mike Pranka (the Neat distributor) a shout and I'm sure he will help you out, whatever it takes (314-454-9966; pranka@i1.net). Also, don't forget to let me in soon on the real estate racket that allows one to have all those top notch CD players kicking around.

Vuk.

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don't forget to let me in soon on the real estate racket that allows one to have all those top notch CD players kicking around.

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Vuk: If you had to sell real estate for a living you wouldn't have enough time to listen to any music. You'd also have to work for a living. As I recall you spend most of your time playing basketball in six feet of snow.

The Mana/Naim Forum would never forgive you for such dereliction of duties. I think both of them should put you on payroll, or at least send you permanent demo models.

The real estate market's just like to stock market; it goes up and it goes down. I've had a pretty good ride, now I getting ready for the downturn. I've got lots of goodies stored up for all the free time coming up.

Just hope the wife never figures out how much all this stuff costs.

Thanks for the Neat contact info.

Arthur Bye

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Joel is a law unto himself and no-one else really understands what he is trying to achieve with his stand arrangement.

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Mostly, I was trying to achieve run in on the 500s before I really get my teeth into the stands. That and easy access on all four sides for mucking around.

But a few points about the setup you saw:

1) I intend to put the whole lot in two larder cupboards, three racks in the left one and TBD in the right, and just have the speakers in the lounge. So aesthetics are a non-issue but the CDS II has to be behind one of the cupboard doors for access.

2) Even if I was keeping it in the lounge forever, I'd set it up for best sound rather than best aesthetics. Do you seriously think I would do anything else?

3) The long gaps are for chiefly for ventilation and to space the PSUs.

4) I use the curved sides on everything except the PSUs because I think they sound better. I bought both and compared, before ordering the rest of the shelving.

5) The CDS II is different from everything else, as usual. It doesn't like the two layer base and it likes its own, low, stand.

6) Here is an abysmal picture of a more aesthetically pleasing Hutter setup. Even if it is beech instead of the grossly superior pear...

Joel

Born to groove

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Ps. I have scanned a load of pics from when we went to Joel's. Is it bad netiquette to post pictures of people without asking them first if they mind?

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I gather it's bad form in the photographic profession to photograph or publish photos of a "private person" -- non-celeb, non-news -- who objects to such. It certainly seems so to me. I tend to make a point of checking with people first.

Dunno about any netiquette.

Joel

Born to groove

The pear looks quite nice, but the Beech definitely sounds better

Joel,
Did you try stacking the isolation bases Mana style? I'm tempted to give it a go if you haven't already tried it.
John

Music is the answer.

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Did you try stacking the isolation bases Mana style? I'm tempted to give it a go if you haven't already tried it.

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I haven't yet, though I mean to take a look at it some time to see if they'd line up. Let me know the results if you try it first.

Joel

Born to groove

Music is the answer.

Your little exchange has indicated a potential problem.

Do the different woods have different sonic properties.

I prefer the dark woods such as cherry to blend in with my mahogany furniture.

Hutter seem to push beech.....is that because it sounds better or is it just some fashion fad. I know young people prefer light coloured wood whereas us more mature chaps of better taste prefer darker woood.

Regards

Mick

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Do the different woods have different sonic properties.

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Mick,
I was joking about the beech sounding better, I have no idea whether there is any difference. With most hifi products offered in different finishes such as the LP12, SBLs, etc. there is usually some opinion about one particular wood sounding the best but I think the differences are minimal. Beech is one of the standard Hutter finishes that does not need to be specially ordered which is probably why it sells a lot. I think most of the stands that Naim have used have been in Maple (the very pale, almost white coloured wood). So just go for the wood finish you like, I'm sure it will be excellent.
John

Music is the answer.

enjoy... (cant see you having any problems here...!)

ken

Music is the answer.

quote:

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is there some narrative you have posted about how it sounds

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No, I can't think of much to say about it. Other than that it suddenly got hugely better on Saturday, for no apparent reason.

Joel

Born to groove

Would be interested in any thoughts you have on why you impressive system suddenly got better on Saturday.

Was it related to mains power supply?

What mains power supply set up do you use?(dedicated spurs, earth, connections etc.)

Interesting that if it is mains variations that even after having the top of the range Naim gear (NAC52 + 3 * NAP500s no less!!!!) that Naim is still very suseptable to variations in sound quality - not too much of a hassle if each change the quality gets better but if it gets worse after building up such a system it must suck!.

Richard

quote:

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Would be interested in any thoughts you have on why you impressive system suddenly got better on Saturday.

Was it related to mains power supply?

What mains power supply set up do you use?(dedicated spurs, earth, connections etc.)

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Unlikely to be mains -- I've never experienced much in the way of mains-style fluctuation thoughout the day. Not everybody is a martyr to mains...

Mains is a Grahams Hydra (made of Naim cables) plugged in a normal wall socket. No spurs, earths etc.

Joel

Born to groove

* Kans Is are great but I believe they are tonally screwed. I had a pair of Kan Is and they honked (among other things) which ultimately led to me swapping them for a pair of Quad ESLs, which definitely don't honk but have other problems. (I should fess up that I had a modest system at the time and at least half of the honking was probably attributable to the system and set up.)

* Kan IIs are musically 98% as good as Kan Is but are tonally about 150% better. I should have bought these instead. Important lesson: Sometimes a deal isn't a deal.

* Saras -- OK, they really aren't the focus of this thread but in my view these are the most honky hi-fi speaker I've ever heard. Made Sid Vicious sound like James Taylor. Shit, they made everyone sound like James Taylor. If you played James Taylor backwards, no sound emerged. Complete and total anililation. But they do have nice, juicy bass.

* Elites -- Well, if Vuk had not redone his floor, moved the bookshelves into the corners of the room, bought a 52, got a Prefix, and Mana'd his system up the wazoo since the last time I was there I might be able to say what they sound like.
But he did redo his floor, move the bookshelves into the corners of the room, buy a 52, get a prefix, and Mana'd his system up the wazoo.

* Breasts -- Yup, women have two of them. Mmmmmmmmmmmm boobies.

Joe

quote:

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I had a pair of Kan Is and they honked (among other things) which ultimately led to me swapping them for a pair of Quad ESLs, which definitely don't honk but have other problems.

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Tell us more, what did you not like about the Quad ESL (one of the very few speakers out there that actually interest me).

Tony.

PS Is Vuk's system any good?

Glad to see you made it back safely!

quote:

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* Elites -- Well, if Vuk had not redone his floor, moved the bookshelves into the corners of the room, bought a 52, got a Prefix, and Mana'd his system up the wazoo since the last time I was there I might be able to say what they sound like.

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Oh come on, I thought you and Joel had the amasing ability to factor out all extraneous variables, no matter what they were! At least thow the homies a bone.

I'm pissed off I didn't take the deck to Phase 4 while you were here--as you can guess, I did follow your advice and pop in the extra Soundstage a few nights ago. It was like throwing $7k (using our private "Naim CDN dollars" formula) at the P9. I'm still in musical shock. When you visit next year, I trust that, given my upgrade curve, you won't have trouble sorting it out from the new 52.5 and NAP500.

Vuk.