Decision made,box ordered
Posted by: Scooot on 29 August 2013
Hi,
Some of you may be aware I have had on demo a qute,nd5xs and ndx.
After many hours of listening I have opted to go with the nd5xs.i tried all combinations apart from ndx into my ndac as I could not afford this option.I am at the moment listening to the dem nd5xs analogue out and I am absolutely loving the sound.i actually think it sounds better than the bare ndx to my ears. more musical,enjoyable and a bit less hifi.after Christmas I will try a xp5xs or xps2 on the nd5xs and ndac to see what direction I want to go in.i really don't want a 3 box source so am hoping the psu on nd5xs will do it for me.no rush though.
Scott
Happy days!! 
Hope you enjoy it.
Nice choice Scoot. You have a nice system looking at your profile. Will the squeezebox leave the system ?
Hi iver,
Thanks for the kind words.yes the sb touch will go.it has served me really well and I will miss its ease of use and rock solid performance but I have had the itch for a long time to go all naim.having said that the qute,ndx and nd5xs were basically plug and play after enabling twonky on the qnap.
The nd5xs dem unit will go back to the dealer at the weekend so I will swap back to the touch until my unit arrives.the sb touch seems to be selling for more than I paid new and the money will partially fund a power supply at some point in the new year.
Regards scott
Very interesting. I was considering upgrading my Duet but from your comments there still seems to be a lot to be said for the discontinued Logitech products, not to mention the money I'll save.
Hi,
Some of you may be aware I have had on demo a qute,nd5xs and ndx.
After many hours of listening I have opted to go with the nd5xs.i tried all combinations apart from ndx into my ndac as I could not afford this option.I am at the moment listening to the dem nd5xs analogue out and I am absolutely loving the sound.i actually think it sounds better than the bare ndx to my ears. more musical,enjoyable and a bit less hifi.after Christmas I will try a xp5xs or xps2 on the nd5xs and ndac to see what direction I want to go in.i really don't want a 3 box source so am hoping the psu on nd5xs will do it for me.no rush though.
Scott
Hi, you came to Same conclusion as mangomonkey regarding nd5xs vs ndx.
interesting!
have heared the nd5xs for a while a was very pleased with it.
have Fun with it and enjoy.
:-)
Bare, the ND5XS is a lot more fun than the NDX. However, if you are planning on getting a XPS-2 eventually, than you might be better of getting the NDX. The % in cost difference between a NDX/XPS-2 vs. ND5XS/XPS-2 isn't much (due to the constant cost of the XPS-2) and the difference is totally worth it. The same $$ difference between the NDX and ND5XS makes the latter a better buy...
I'm running the NDX/XPS-DR into the 202/200/HiCapDR and like it a lot. (Even better than a 282/200 or 282/250 in the same system - probably due to speakers/room matching and other bottlenecks). The nDac doesn't add much...
One other option to try - use NDX bare into the 202/200 - it's pretty good, and you can sell the nDac off.
Having said that, since you've already got the ND5XS - just enjoy it. It is an awesome piece of kit -
Believe me, you will get used to listening to it bare even without the nDac. Not as detailed, but you'll get used to it.
Just give it a month or so to break in...
Cheers mango,yes I am listening to the dem nd5 xs at the moment bare into 202/200/hicap dr/napsc.all I can say is this combo seems to really work for me and sounds fantastic.at some stage in the new year I will have to try a psu on nd5xs and nd5xs/ndac but for now I am going to enjoy.
I can't set up the automation with the dem model as it has old software on it.when my box arrives could you tell me if any 3.5 mm jack to rca will work.
Thanks regards scott
So Scooot, NDX5XS sounds better than SBT+nDAC, in your system. Could you please describe the differences?
I didn't say the nd5xs was better just different and at first impressions more to my liking.
Sbt/ndac or nd5xs/ndac I could honestly not tell the difference.
I was not intent on trying the nd5xs bare as I did not like the ndx bare as much as the qute/ndac.
With all the units I had on dem the dac was turned off for the bare ndx dem so I thought I would give it a go.
I will struggle to say in words what my thoughts are but would say it sounds warmer,potentially less fatiguing over time.while singing along in my head i also want to dance if that makes sense.
I certainly have not give up on the ndac yet not enough listening for that decision.when I will know what truly grabs me is when I try a psu on both units.i am hoping though that a psu on the nd5xs will satisfy me as I really don't want a 3 box source.
Scott