System Pics 2005

quote:

did you gain no sonic advantage using a Wiremold strip?

dave,

Not in my rig in the past. Actully, it made the system sound *less jump*. It had a tendency to make a note rounded off which for some, might be a good thing.
( I haven't tried it with the 300 & Fraim, tho )

quote:

1) What order are the units on the right-hand rack (from top to bottom)?

That's the power supply stack.
552 PS
XPS2
Space
300 PS
( no. I haven't played Geoff P's 'Fraim Gaim' )

quote:

2) What speakers are you using?

They are made in the US Paramount Hamilton. And the company no longer exists. They have been a work-horse along with my valve amps for last 5 years. They are good all-rounder and worked well in my room out of speakers I've auditioned, then. ( I've ditched a floorstander for them )

quote:

3) What improvements have you heard from the 300 over the 200?

I wanted to make do with the 200. You know how much I love that amplifier.
But its headroom is very limited. Altho, I do a lot of low-level listening, when I wanted to turn a wick up, it seems to trip over on frequency extremes. My speakers are on the avearge sensitivity with a relatively flat impedance curve, but in order to have a better control of the dirvers and the bass extension, they seem to need more power than the 200 could provide.

The second difference from the 200 to the 300 was that you gain more of naturalness making this amp a bit closer to my valve amps. Sort of similar move from the CDX2 to the CDS3.
I'm gonna get my head bashed in for saying this , but the 300 is more of a *round-earthed* amplifier.

A 250.2 hints at doing that, but not very well. As I hear it, a 300 is the improved version of a 200. ( not the 250.2 )
The 300 keeps a better timing and does the *hi-fi* thing, too. I am not sure how this amp would fair amongst the Naim traditionalists, but it fits my criteria well.

The 300 comes from *nowhere* in the Naim product history. It just popped up after the intro of the 500. It's a sort of an odd-ball product. Whilst I still do not get the bass authority,dynamics and even better headroom of the 500 ( unfortunately, Naim holds off those traits till the top range ) , I thought that my 300 offered a pretty good VFM delivering not quite the 500 level performance, but maybe around 400.

Kuma, your systems looks fantastic, I'd love to have a house that would enable me to place my speakers in such a way, (in the same way as J.N too!).

Speakers look great, very small but I bet they sound 10 times bigger than what they look!

Well in.

Thanks for your answers kuma, very interesting. I've heard a lot of good stuff about the 300 and whilst it may not have the ultimate bass extension of the 500 (or even a 400 is such a beast exists! ) it would be an amp I'd happily live with in my own system.

Your answer re the rack order is very instructive as I have plans to get my system on twin-racks in the near future but, like you, I am reluctant to play the Fraim Gaim!!

Cheers,

Jon

My humble CD5 Nait5 on my home made "fraim", since pic was taken I have dropped the nait down a shelf and gained some noticable sonic benefits.[IMG] [/IMG]

quote:

it would be an amp I'd happily live with in my own system

Jon

but what about the neighbours

Kuma.

That looks like a nicely finished system that you have there, oh apart from an LP12 with a decent tonearm

quote:

Originally posted by Webke:
your systems looks fantastic, I'd love to have a house that would enable me to place my speakers in such a way,

Thanks Webke.
The problem with the current arrangement is that many flat-earth speakers won't work ( exception being the 'Briks ).
Picking speakers right for the room go a long way and these happened to work to my advantage without fussing over room acoustics nonsense!

The trade off is lack of real bass.
Nothing beats the full range speakers coupled to the right room.

A nice rack you made!
Say, your shelves look too lonely. What are you planning to fill them with?

JonR.

I am not plannign to play the Fraim Gaim in the future. I think I had enough of playing around with the rack to get to the level I am now reasonably happy with. ( this was my SO induced purchase )

quote:

That looks like a nicely finished system that you have there, oh apart from an LP12 with a decent tonearm

Yes!
Next thing I have to do is to drill the holes on the floor and route the speaker cables and DIN/XLR lead to the valve amp via basement.

Now I've solved the 'valve situation'. The 300 would be perfect for the summer. i'll switch back to my regular amps for winter.

And yes. I am still a look out for a better arm for my Baby Linn.

quote:

Originally posted by kuma:
And yes. I am still a look out for a better arm for my Baby Linn.

It really does make a big difference.

Gregg

PS I don't want to start another Aro/Ekos debate after what I have been through!

This is another thread which might have some longevity!

quote:

Originally posted by mtuttleb:

quote:

it would be an amp I'd happily live with in my own system

Jon

but what about the neighbours

Mark,

Don't worry. My financial situation is such that by the time I can afford a 300 I will have probably long since moved somewhere else!

Cheers,

Jon

quote:

Originally posted by kuma:
A nice rack you made!
Say, your shelves look too lonely. What are you planning to fill them with?

Thank you, yes the rack is certainly ready for a few more boxes, next stop for me is CDX2, then 282, then a 200, I am currently a student though, so its very difficult to buy much naim for the time being! - I do graduate in a few months though.

Here's what my slightly eclectic setup looks like:

Thanks for the info re your rack, Mus

Here's a PEE POOR image (I NEED a better digicam than that el cheapo-for Glastonbury Fuji thingy):



Note the Ford Capri model

THE flat earth of telephones
...the only phone we can hear over the hifi:



The av stuff (in my bedroom):

quote:

Originally posted by domfjbrown:
The av stuff (in my bedroom):

domfjbrown,

I've spotted Kenny.
Here's mine.

Yeah - Kenny rules! Just don't look TOO close (there's some Teletubbies there, AND fluffly dice on BOTH systems!).

There's also an Action Man (eagle eyes) and a slightly maimed Cindy (done out as Lara Croft, courtesy of extra Action Man clothes) hidden from view on the left in the AV shot - both dolls came out of my sister's house when spring cleaning (she's a teacher). He he he...

Hello kuma,

what's that for a "Ninotchka" on the poster?

quote:

Just don't look TOO close (there's some Teletubbies there, AND fluffly dice on BOTH systems!).

yes. I saw the Teletubbies. ( didn't wanna say anything. )

Love that red telephone, tho.


Sergei,

It's Lubitsch's Ninotchka

The best film Garbo ever made. ( it's a Lobby card from old film I collect )

quote:

Originally posted by kuma:
Love that red telephone, tho.

Yep, an Ebay purchase last summer - a 1970s BT 741 jobby in (obviously!) lacquer red, cost about £29 including postage, and was fully reconditioned.

I also have a 1970s Kundo anniversary clock and a 70s pouffe (inherited from a neighbour when he died, who, incidentally, also left us his 1972 Ford Capri 1600XL, hence why I got into them and built a Lego model (mk3, as I didn't have enough grey bricks for the "chrome" of a mk1 ).

It's good that the Naim stuff looks 70s-esque, as it fits in

quote:

It's Lubitsch's Ninotchka

I see, I see

ok,
It keeps on telling me that the file is to large.
What do I need to do?
Help Please.
Billy J

If you want to use the "Add Attachment" (like the one attached, here...) feature, make sure it's "small" by either changing size of the picture or the compression factor. In any case use JPG as the format.

Pics of an arbitrary size can be "linked" to - using "display image" feature. You'd have to put it on a Web Server reachable by everybody, and just point there.

cheers
Stefan

domfjbrown sorry but a pedant point the phone is a 706, a 741 was the wall mount version.Those bells were loud. Does it dial ok? I thought the 10 PPS support was being phased out, may be 21CN(21st Century Network) it will be.

Regards

Howard

746 is the updated table top version of the 706.

quote:

It's good that the Naim stuff looks 70s-esque, as it fits in Smile

Yep.

I love their Chrome Bumper casing, too.
Very retro.

Here is my small but great setup. Nait 2, CD3.5 with Hicap. And i think it sounds great!
Damien

Looks good, Damien

I'm also using a Nait-2.
(olive-green model though)

What speakers are you using ?
Could you place a picture of the whole system ?

regards,
Alco

Alco,

Thanks!

I am using Aegis AE1 speakers at the moment but would like to get some Linn Kann, mind you i have bought all of the Naim stuff this year so need to slow down on the spending. The TT is only cheap but then again i do not have much vinyl and the tape deck does not get used much.

Damien
PS: why when i look at these thread are some of the picture not there and you get a red sign, like on my last post?