Preparing To Stream--Questions:
Posted by: Russ on 28 August 2012
To all those of you who have helped an old codger who remembers when mono records were replaced by new-fangled "stereo"--who have helped me understand digital and in selecting a system--on to the next phase--provided you have not all run out of patience! I have listened to your advice--and am acting on it.
OK, suppose I now have my Guru speakers ready to enclose in their cabinets--to emerge out front onto their stands when I am ready for a listening session. And suppose further that I have blown all my money on said speakers, stands, and a Superuniti (or, if I can't afford it right now, an interim Unitiqute).
In the process of selecting the SU, just as I once gave up my vinyl for those funny little CD s, I have now given up my dependency on them as well. Henceforth, I will be committed to digital sources, served, streamed, converted to analog, amplified, and routed into my speakers.
In the process, I have also listened to the majority who say I do not need the convenience of the Unitiserve--at the very least for now--and in giving that up (again, for now), I might--repeat MIGHT be able to just afford the Superuniti. So someday, I may want to put everything I have on the SU. In the meantime, I think I will have to start out with an old PC and peripherals and make the transition, first to a NAS, and then (perhaps) to the Unitiserve.
That long introduction leads up to what I am now hatching in my dull brain: I am the proud owner of an old Gateway laptop loaded with Vista, with a 256 Gig hard drive (128 or so currently availa
ble), with a Core2 Duo Intel Centino, a wireless connection to a screaming internet connection, and an optical disk drive that doesn't work any more. Here is my thinking:
1. I buy an external hard drive.
2. I buy an external optical CD drive.
3. I plug both into USB ports on the decrepit old Gateway.
4. I install dbpoweramp (or some such software) for ripping WAV or FLAC files.
5. I use the external CD drive and the ripping software to rip to the external hard drive.
Meanwhile, at some point, the Guru speakers and the Superuniti arrive at my front door. I place the speakers in their chosen location--and because SWMBO has decreed there will be no visible electronic boxes visible in the same room--the Superuniti will take up residence in a closet (on a sturdy shelf, since I cannot afford a high-dollar rack). I will not be able to control it through the wall using the remote, so I will load nstream onto my Iphone and make a wifi connection through the very walls. Magic!!
The first fare will be stations such as KING FM Classical in Seattle--great stations. The second will come when I schlep the external hard drive into the closet and plug it into the USB port on the Superuniti. I will play music from there--hopefully using nstream--perhaps somewhat clumsily--until I can buy, configure, and figure out how to set up a NAS.
I have my music ripped, so it can ultimately be transfered to the NAS (complete with musci serving software) or to the Unitiserve--or whereever.
Please let me know what you think of my plan (and be assured as I progress, I will return to whine for more help)--positive--or not so much. Your help is--as always--so much appreciated.
Best regards,
Russ
Alexb: Thank you for confirming that. I am getting better with all this "kit" as folks across the Big Water from me say 
, but my confidence in my understanding usually bears some confirmation. I agree with you in that I absolutely love the appearance of Hi Fi gear and would stack it all about the house if I could. But I, of course, am not the only one living in the house!
Since you brought up speaker cables, I will put a couple of questions on that subject before the house. I was not going to bring this up until some time in the future, but I could do with some information on the subject, since I am building a new house and pre-stringing of cables would be favorable. So far, I do know the following:
1. All things considered, the shorter the run, the better.
2. Even though there is some debate about it, the cables should be equal in length.
3. The longer the run, the thicker the cables should be.
For aesthetic reasons, I may place the Uniti unit I end up buying in an air conditioned closet with one wall between it and the two speakers. If so, the speaker cables will simply pass through the wall and 15 feet or so each should be sufficient.
However, I may place it in a separate closet, situated such that the cables would need to rise up 9 feet into the attic space, run about 24 feet laterally, then descend through the walls at the respective points where the two speakers are situated, then out through the walls and into the backs of the speakers. I would conservatively say that I would need to allow 45 to 50 feet for each cable run.
So, is that a disasterously long way to run my cables?
And to make it easy to pull them through the walls, what do you folks think about running them through conduit? I know they should be as far away from mains power lines as possible.
Russ
1. All things considered, the shorter the run, the better.
2. Even though there is some debate about it, the cables should be equal in length.
3. The longer the run, the thicker the cables should be.
Russ, there is a wealth of info on these forums. Use the search function and read up And read the Frequently Asked Questions -- everything you just asked about speaker cable is answered in one post there
https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/3819189062263093
1. Naim recommend a minimum length of speaker cable. With Naim "kit," the shorter the better is not true.
2. With Naim, I have heard no debate; the cables should be equal length.
3. With Naim, use the Naim cable (NACA5). As stated in the FAQ, runs up to 20 meters are quite alright; your 45-50 feet per channel is well within the recommended ranges. NACA5 of that length will get expensive, but do not short-change yourself (And if you shop high-end speaker cables you will see that NACA5 actually is quite competitively priced.)
Naim do some things a little differently than other hi fi companies, and if you've been reading message boards for other brands, or on general hi fi hobbiest sites, you can get misled. There is a little bit of religion around setting up Naim stuff the Naim way, but almost always a solid technical reason behind their recommendations. The good thing is that it's all here right on these forums. As are plenty of folks happy to help you along the way.
Yeah, Bart. On all my posts, I have been trying to research everything before throwing out the questions--got a little lazy, and when I saw the words "speaker cables", I started slobbering out questions like one of Pavlov's dogs looking at a picture of hamburger. I have to admit that the hardest thing for me to wrap my mind around is the cost of upgraded cables and interconnects. Don't get me wrong--I believe what I hear--although I did see one veteran reviewer who threw up his hands at interconnects that, as he put it, cost more than a small car. So when I first saw the price of the Naim speaker cable, I reached for the nitro glycerin. (Here I will add for the sake of those watching the internet for terrorism (and happy I am that they are there!) that I am referring to that substance in its capacity in tiny pills as a preventative for myocardial infarction--as opposed to massive amounts used for mayhem. 
So having read the blurb on FAQ on speaker wire, I see that 7 meters is optimal. I'll have to price that out--while my relatives reach for the defibrillator.
While checking out the FAQ, I searched for another answer I have been thinking about--whether when streaming, a straight run of ethernet with plugs only on the two ends--is essential--or whether you can go with the tidiness and convenience of a female wall plug near the streaming device and/or the NAS server. I would think this dissolves into the controversy of whether one can really hear any difference where bits are concerned. In any case, I would assume--prior to being shot down--that multiple connectors on the digital side of things--is less prone to affect ultimate SQ than on the analog side.
Russ
Thank you, gentlemen. Interesting thread there, Bart. It never ceases to intrigue me how on any forum--on any topic, you can find people who, if sitting togrether over a drink or a cup of coffee, could have a perfectly civil conversation--even about politics or religion--but in the anonymity of an internet forum, can call each other epithets such as "ignorant" over a piece of stranded wire! I personally feel strongly both ways. In any case, the situation reminds me of times when I am driving down the street (and I might mention that here in the 'States, we drive on the correct side of the street), and one of my fellow Texas drivers tries to run me off the road. I have no doubt he or she would never be so rude if we met in the library. But make no mistake, I do plan to go with the NACA5, whatever my setup. Just too much testimony as to its effectiveness from too many Naim enthusiasts to do otherwise.
Simon, I do appreciate the advice. Kind of what I thought.
Russ