Harshness ??....not at all

Hi Ian. Glad to hear you enjoy your sistem. I have a Nait3r/hicap and am very happy with it. Lower end yes but still very good compared to many other brands. Reading here might give you the impression that you need a lot better gear, preferably on Fraim. But don't worry, actually it is possible to enjoy music without one or two supercaps .

I experienced harshness from my cdplayer before I bought a flatcap. Beautiful timing for sure but also rather bright. I completely agree with your findings about improvements brought by the flatcap. About a year ago I made a good deal on a hicap. It brings more of the same, not as big leap as from nude to flatcap but still a good upgrade IMO. Many times when I listen to music the word sweet pops up! Not exactly what you are used to hear about Naim but never the less what I hear. I don't know if it's a matter of getting used to your sistem but I have owned valve amps before so I believe I am not that wrong.

Bjorne

Thats right, reading here does make me want to upgrade to , supercaps and Hi Caps and Fraims and stuff. But I am going to be sensible and just replace my CD Player for now, its letting the rest of my system down for sure. The Linn Helix speakers are still great IMO, and they are well suited to my amplifers.

I would like a 72/HiCap/140 but CD player is the way to go I think.

Ian Marsh

Matt.

I will try Wonderwall, my mate has it on CD, so I will borrow it off him and let you know

Ian Marsh

Ian--

Good to see someone still has and enjoys Helix speakers. I lived with a pair of Helix 2's for something like 4 years and really enjoyed them, especially once I got the Ku-stone stands. Since I drove them with either a Nait 1 or a Linn LK1-LK280 combo I would think a 92/Flatcap/90 would be terrific.

I have always thought they were greatly underrated--they have a well extended and mostly well controlled bass region, sound quite clear, can play tunes, and are involving--just a lot of fun to listen to. At one point I was driving them with a Kairn, a LK280, and a LK280/Spark, which was really something--people were always looking around for the (non-existent) subwoofer. I preferred them to the Nexus, which sounded a bit slow.

Enjoy!

Bob

"'Oasis - Whats the story"

Oasis mixes their stuff with alot of compression and the level set high. This helps give the "wall of sound" effect they are after.

If it sounds hard and compressed when you turn it up, it may be that it is sounding exactly as it should.

- GregB

Insert Witty Signature Line Here

Brightness is one of the major causes of tension in the human/system relationship and as such is probably responsible for more breakups than any other single factor, so it's quite important.

Some years ago I had my system in a large room in a double brick house with plaster walls. The technical term for the ambience was "live". A hand clap sounded like a pistol shot. After trying every tweak in the book and trying to kid myself that my ears had stopped bleeding, the final solution was to unlock my wallet and get some smoother sounding equipment. In retrospect I probably should have moved.

Along with greater ease of delivery with better gear you also get more control and detail so that the "wall of sound" you are talking about for example, actually sounds like a bunch of big distorted guitars (which can be quite comfy sounding) instead of an F16 with a broken muffler.

The corollary of all this is that there is no reason why a small Naim system can't be musical and smooth at normal listening levels provided it is well set up and in the right room.

Bob.

I am using the Linn Helix with the Kustone stands, and you are spot on with your description of the bass.Very well controled and tunefull, while at the same time powerfull. I got the Helix in 1989 and they were my old setup Linn Axis / Arcam Alpha 5, but when I put them on the end of my Naim NAC92/FlatCap/NAP90.3, the difference was outstanding.....well it should be I guess.

I may upgrade the speakers some day, but for now they still sound great, maybe some Intro's would be nice.

Ian Marsh

Ian--

When I finally did replace the Helix 2's I went to a ProAc Response 2.5--rather a grand leap forward pricewise. So if you ever want to upgrade the speakers, I would think that Allaes, SBLs or something similar would be a better upgrade speakerwise. And I'd think you'd want to invest your money in your source and amplification before thinking of changing out the Helix--they are quite good and will reveal every improvement you make farther upstream.

Best,

Bob

Thanks Bob

I will be upgrading my CD Player very soon. My budget is around £1200 for a new CD Player. So the obvious choice would be a Naim CD5. But if I can stretch out my budget a little more, I may consider a second hand CD5 with a second hand HiCap. I think that would be great considering my amplifier setup. A Naim CDX would be better I presume, but the costs wont go that far. I am sure my Linn Helix will benefit from this upgrade.

Regarding an amplifer upgrade well I am not able to afford it for a long long time, but I am more than happy with the NAC92/FlatCap/NAP90.3 combination.

Ian Marsh

Alex.

From what I have read on this forum a CDX will out perform a CD5/HiCap. But I will listen to both options to make sure.

Correct me if I wrong here, but the cheapest second had CDX I have seen is £1600, and thats a bit to much over my budget, well I think it is anyway.

Ian Marsh

Actualy having just looked again I have found a second had CDX 1998 for £1350 . So maybe getting one is possible and not just a dream

Ian Marsh

No doublt less-than-steller CDs are the norm. Just seems like Oasis go for a particular sound that could misguide the unknowing audiophile. Imagine spending waaaads of cash to increase teh dynamics of a system only to find out that a compressed sound is what the musicians/engineers were after!

- GregB

Insert Witty Signature Line Here

I do love my CD5 FC2 (much better than the 3.5) and thought a CDX was way over the top when I bought my system. Now I'd like to hear one, but think that my 92 is the choking point in my system. Funds are not currently available for an upgrade. Maybe someday I'll have my 282 and CDX2.

I'd love to get rid of this upgraditis but I think I'd have to stop looking at this forum. I think I'm addicted to it as much as my gear.

quote:

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Originally posted by bjorne:
Hi Ian. Glad to hear you enjoy your sistem. I have a Nait3r/hicap .......Bjorne

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Nait3/Hicap? I didn't think this was possible unless the Nait3 was converted to a pre-amp? Perhaps you mean a CD player!
Terry

quote:

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Originally posted by Ian Marsh:
Alex.

From what I have read on this forum a CDX will out perform a CD5/HiCap. But I will listen to both options to make sure.

Correct me if I wrong here, but the cheapest second had CDX I have seen is £1600, and thats a bit to much over my budget, well I think it is anyway.

Ian Marsh

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I sold my 1999 CDX for £1320 a couple of months ago.

I think that you should be able to get a CDX for less than that - I'd say 1600 is the absolute maximum (mine was a late one - s/n 182xxx, at £1575).

Plynnplynn. Indeed I have a hicap on my Nait3r. You can still use it as an integrated.
Bjorne

Well I am happy to now find out that a CDX is possible for me to afford then. I am sure it will be a massive improvment over my 9 year old Micromega stage 1.

My amplifier setup NAC92/FlatCap/NAP90.3 may not be good enough to hear a CDX at its best compaired to say a 72/HiCap/140 or even better, but I am sure it will still sound great. There is just no way I can afford to upgrade both. So I think the CDX is the right direction to go in.

Ian Marsh

quote:

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Originally posted by Ian Marsh:
Well I am happy to now find out that a CDX is possible for me to afford then. I am sure it will be a massive improvment over my 9 year old Micromega stage 1.

My amplifier setup NAC92/FlatCap/NAP90.3 may not be good enough to hear a CDX at its best compaired to say a 72/HiCap/140 or even better, but I am sure it will still sound great. There is just no way I can afford to upgrade both. So I think the CDX is the right direction to go in.

Ian Marsh

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I bought a Micromega Stage 1 many years ago - in fact still have it in the loft - and it was a nice CDP, but the CDX is in a different class.

quote:

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Originally posted by bjorne:
Plynnplynn. Indeed I have a hicap on my Nait3r. You can still use it as an integrated.
Bjorne

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I still have my Nait3 and I have just checked the manual. It doesn't mention this as a possibility. Have you had yours modified?
Terry

Plynnplynn. It needs to go to a dealer to be converted to accept a cap. After that you can choose to use it as a preamp or an integrated.

Bjorne

The trick is to cut the internal wires that feed d/c to the preamp stage but not the signal links. You could also have the full modification done and connect the pre and power stage using some SNAIC.

Anyway, I have a Nait3/HiCap combo as well and pretty much enjoy it. Although my first impressions after the mod left me in shock for some hours The Nait sounds different now, in fact so much that I was not shure at first wether I really liked it. But I do :-)

quote:

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Originally posted by bjorne:
Plynnplynn. It needs to go to a dealer to be converted to accept a cap. After that you can choose to use it as a preamp or an integrated.

Bjorne

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OK thanks Bjorne
Terry

quote:

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.....sounds different now, in fact so much that I was not shure at first wether I really liked it. But I do :-)

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This often happens with upgrades. It takes time to recognise what has improved.