How to connect to AV2 for maximum sound quality?
Posted by: HT-Kingpin on 09 February 2007
Hello everybody,
I own a dvd5 and an av2 and was curious about a few things about connecting none-Naim electronics and subwoofers to the AV2.
Now, I understand that the power supply/mains supply is very important and also the 'quality' of the electricity feeding Naim gear. So I put all of my Naim electronics on a separate spur and arranged my Naim boxes within the mains block in the order I was recommended. This is supposed to help with the common earth, right?
But my DVD5 is now connected to the TV via scart and therefore has a current flowing between the "impure" TV and the Naim system. Same with my vcr, sat receivers and media box. They were connected with a RCA cable. So another current flowing there.
I replaced the RCA by converting the analogue audio signal to a digital audio signal using one of these converters http://www9.yatego.com/images/430dbd8940f3d2.4/conv-adv.jpg and am now using toslink instead. So one less electrical connection.
But I was wondering how much difference it would make to remove the scart cable or maybe should I just remove the outer metal ring on the scart plug (which I think carries "earth")? Or is the scart plug on the DVD5 designed to not interfere with the sound?
Before I changed from RCA to toslink I found that turning the TV, the satellite receivers etc. ON or OFF lead to a slight 'plop' from all my speakers. Especially when the subwoofers were turned on. So I guess there is some interference to be had.
Will the subwoofer cable influence anything? Because when the subwoofers are turned on, the little plop you hear when switching inputs, is a good bit louder. And would a projector maybe make it even worse?
I guess it all more or less boils down to how to connect it all in order to get maximum quality. Would it be best to keep Naim on one spur and everything else including the subwoofers on another and use the analogue/electrical connections anyway or would it be best to have it all on one spur but then of course get noise from the other electronics directly through the power chord instead of/or in addition to through the signal cables? Or [
] would it be best to try and remove every analogue connection (which might be problematic with the video output )?
Hope this wasn't too long a post
I own a dvd5 and an av2 and was curious about a few things about connecting none-Naim electronics and subwoofers to the AV2.
Now, I understand that the power supply/mains supply is very important and also the 'quality' of the electricity feeding Naim gear. So I put all of my Naim electronics on a separate spur and arranged my Naim boxes within the mains block in the order I was recommended. This is supposed to help with the common earth, right?
But my DVD5 is now connected to the TV via scart and therefore has a current flowing between the "impure" TV and the Naim system. Same with my vcr, sat receivers and media box. They were connected with a RCA cable. So another current flowing there.
I replaced the RCA by converting the analogue audio signal to a digital audio signal using one of these converters http://www9.yatego.com/images/430dbd8940f3d2.4/conv-adv.jpg and am now using toslink instead. So one less electrical connection.
But I was wondering how much difference it would make to remove the scart cable or maybe should I just remove the outer metal ring on the scart plug (which I think carries "earth")? Or is the scart plug on the DVD5 designed to not interfere with the sound?
Before I changed from RCA to toslink I found that turning the TV, the satellite receivers etc. ON or OFF lead to a slight 'plop' from all my speakers. Especially when the subwoofers were turned on. So I guess there is some interference to be had.
Will the subwoofer cable influence anything? Because when the subwoofers are turned on, the little plop you hear when switching inputs, is a good bit louder. And would a projector maybe make it even worse?
I guess it all more or less boils down to how to connect it all in order to get maximum quality. Would it be best to keep Naim on one spur and everything else including the subwoofers on another and use the analogue/electrical connections anyway or would it be best to have it all on one spur but then of course get noise from the other electronics directly through the power chord instead of/or in addition to through the signal cables? Or [
] would it be best to try and remove every analogue connection (which might be problematic with the video output )?Hope this wasn't too long a post
Hi AV@Naim
Thank you for getting back to me
Actually that wasn't quite the issue I was interested in. I think everybody can hear a slight plop when switching inputs. Probably because the speakers are muted while switching or something like that. That's really not a problem or issue and it is certainly very quiet.
It was just an observation which caused me to think about what influences there might be by earthing of the non-Naim equipment. Simply because when the subs are turned on, the plop slightly changes.
Because if I remove the common earth from the scart plug I will remove any electrical connection the other kit has to my Naim. There are no audio signals running to the Naim system and the only connection between the non-Naim and the Naim is the scart cable. Which cannot be replaced with optical connections as there is no such thing for video in the consumer field.
My main question hence was, whether there is any influence on the sound if
- you connect the DVD5 to the TV via scart
- if you connect the subwoofers to the AV2 via RCA
- if you connect vcr, sat receivers etc. via RCA
- if you connect a projector to the DVI
- basically if you connect anything "electrical" from a different spur to the Naim system on the dedicated "Naim-spur".
My dealer gave me great advice on the order in which to stack my Naim in my rack and the order in which to plug in the power chords and helped me set everything up.
So this is really just the cherry on the top. I thought you might be able to say whether you designed the AV2 to be completely immune to any noise running into the AV2 or into the DVD5 or whether it was simply not necessary.
After all, most Naim electronics sound even better if you choose exaclty the right input and the right working environment.
Just looking to optimize it all even further
Cheers, Alex
Thank you for getting back to me
Actually that wasn't quite the issue I was interested in. I think everybody can hear a slight plop when switching inputs. Probably because the speakers are muted while switching or something like that. That's really not a problem or issue and it is certainly very quiet.
It was just an observation which caused me to think about what influences there might be by earthing of the non-Naim equipment. Simply because when the subs are turned on, the plop slightly changes.
quote:why remove the outer sheild on SCART. All scarts devices are common earthed anyway...
Because if I remove the common earth from the scart plug I will remove any electrical connection the other kit has to my Naim. There are no audio signals running to the Naim system and the only connection between the non-Naim and the Naim is the scart cable. Which cannot be replaced with optical connections as there is no such thing for video in the consumer field.
My main question hence was, whether there is any influence on the sound if
- you connect the DVD5 to the TV via scart
- if you connect the subwoofers to the AV2 via RCA
- if you connect vcr, sat receivers etc. via RCA
- if you connect a projector to the DVI
- basically if you connect anything "electrical" from a different spur to the Naim system on the dedicated "Naim-spur".
My dealer gave me great advice on the order in which to stack my Naim in my rack and the order in which to plug in the power chords and helped me set everything up.
So this is really just the cherry on the top. I thought you might be able to say whether you designed the AV2 to be completely immune to any noise running into the AV2 or into the DVD5 or whether it was simply not necessary.
After all, most Naim electronics sound even better if you choose exaclty the right input and the right working environment.
Just looking to optimize it all even further
Cheers, Alex