Bought a nd5xs 4 months ago and wished I bought the ndx....what do I do?

Option 1. Add an XP5XS to your ND5XS

Option 2. Add a Chord Hugo to your ND5XS

I reckon those are probably your most cost effective options and would cost approximately the same. 

Option 3. Be happy with your existing system. After all you've not had it very long and it may just be that the novelty has worn off a bit.

If you do decide to upgrade, make sure you demo at home first.

Option 2

I haven't heard option 2, but I recently added an XP5XS to my ND5XS and the improvement was awesome: better soundstage, more detail, more bass (and more controlled)..

I added an XPS to my ND5, but adding Hugo blows it out of the water. But as always try for yourself

Have you really tried the NDX and compared it with the ND5XS with SN2?

I currently own ND5, NDX and Hugo.  The NDX is a significant step up from ND5 with my SN2.  The NDX-->Hugo-->SN2 is an even bigger improvement than ND5->NDX.  I have not tried the ND5--> Hugo but am confident it is the best option.

Kevin

any chance at some point you could try replacing the NDX with the ND5. Would love to know if there would be any worthwhile audible difference between the two with Hugo inline.

Graeme

+1, yes please!

Thank you for all your comments.  having a demo of the nd5 into hugo v bare ndx this evening thanks to my very friendly and accommodating local dealer.  Won't mention names for fear of breaking forum rules but there the same dealer that's having a Naim BBQ on the 26th !!!!

Nice one. Give us an update of your thoughts after your demo

Graeme,

Ever considered starting up a comparison website? 

Steve

I had a thread running, but it got deleted.

Post on some of the well known forum sites and see if anyone is looking to go the other way? You never know. 

change your amp instead.  

Returned from demo. Fascinating experience thanks Paul. 

starting  point a few tracks with my home system as a reference -   nd5xs into sn2 and pmc 20.23 - yep still sounds great. 

next up nd5xs into hugo into sn2 etc.  wow huge difference  sound stage massive, levels of detail that were just not there before, really tight ...all  the superlatives voiced by others.

 back to my reference point  nd5 direct to sn2 - image closed a little more muddled but still very pleasing.

next ndx to sn2.  big wow again. Big step up from the bare nd5. A very familiar presentation, image much wider than nd5 but nowhere near that of the hugo. Very different presentation to hugo, ndx less detailed but more mature i.e less flashy. The ndx is so so good but doesn't quite have the sparkle of the hugo.

back to nd5 into hugo into sn2.  it's so different to the ndx, not necessarily better  just so very different. Ndx ooozes sophistication, hugo just brilliant at removing noise floor, opening the sound stage and digging out detail.

we played with other setup incl ndx into hugo, adding a hi cap etc but in truth I know I'm not going there so I simply sat back and enjoyed the show. Yes they all add incremental upgrades so you can climb the upgrade tree but there is obviously the law of diminishing returns.

For me the cost of a upgrade is broadly the same whether I go hugo or ndx. Im in the queue for a home demo of the hugo and  I suspect that will be the route I'll take.... time will tell.

Apologies for the typing, iPads can be a real pain

c

Probably will not be able to do that as I've loaned the ND5 to my nephew on a semi-permanent basis.

Thanks for the write up,@Macbags!

what at least I would be interested is addressing the comparison from slightly different p.o.v: with Hugo as a given is there a SQ advantage btw ND5 -> Hugo vs NDX -> Hugo or rate SPDIF out of both ND units is no different (in which case ND5 would suffice as a SPDIF source Into Hugo and the better quality components and bigger power unit in the NDX provide marginal SQ benefits)?

were you able to formulate an opinion on the above?

Hi Macbags

Thanks for the update, and its great you got to try so many permutations. I totally agree with your points about the NDX being more mature sounding to the ND5, i found this too and was the main reason i moved up to the NDX. Could you hear any advantage of NDX into Hugo compared to ND5 into Hugo. Just curious.

Graeme

I also added a XP5XS to my ND5XS and found massive improvements particularly to the 16/44.1 material & just made the 24 bit music sound wonderfull. The additional of a HiLine (DIN to RCA) as I have a non Naim amp, just seemed to round everything off & smooth it all out.

The use of Asset on a RPi over Twonky on a NAS improved the usability of my growing library, but that's indepedent of the front end streamer, but a good UPnP server is essential, as the music library grows, as is ensuring the metadata is correct.

So at this point, I'm happy as I don't believe the incremental step to NDX is that great, as it has the same architecture, streamer & DAC. So my move will be the jump to NDS, reusing the separate PSU (Then upgrading to the 555PS, plus a pair of B&W 802s etc)

Now where's that winning lottery ticket!

DrPro & Foxman

not unsurprisingly the jump with the nd5 with hugo was the biggest but you would expect this because it jumps up from a lower base.

adding the hugo to the ndx was also a big leap, it was undoubtedly the best system as it maintained the maturity of the ndx and expanded the horizons with the hugo. 

I'm a real sceptic and am pretty objective when it comes to real and pseudo improvements.  I'll try to set out my opinion by way of a scale of 1-10 assuming the bare nd5 at 0 and nirvana at 10.

by adding a hugo to the nd5 you go from say 0 to 5

bare ndx I would give a 4 or 4.5

ndx and hugo I would give 6 or 6.5 if pushed.

putting it further into context when we were playing around after the main event we added a hi cap and I would say

bare nd5 and hi cap say 1 or 1.5 max

nd5 hugo and hi cap 5.5

bare ndx and hi cap 5  ( but a very different 5 to the hugo and nd5!)

ndx hugo and hi cap solid 6.5

no real surprises, it's the law of diminishing returns, that why the 6th pint never tastes as good as the first

hope it helps. 

My next step is a home demo of the hugo.  Anyone any recommendations for cables?