A New NDS

Posted by: Miki185 on 02 January 2016

Hi everyone,

I have listening to the CDS-2 + 555PS DR + Hi-Line for a long time. I listened and enjoyed tens of discs, but less than a hundred.
The sound was very exciting with the CDS-2.

After I listened the SuperLumina speaker cable, it was very impressive so I decided to order the full-loom + NDS + another 555PS DR.

From the beginning the NDS sound was very tricky(with a single 555PS) - one day I loved it , and another day the sound was very poor.

The mixing results leaded me to connect the NDS to the second 555PS that was connected to the CDS-2 before.

From this moment, the sound was also tricky, one day good, another day not good.

I decided not to change anything and let the new components to break-in.

However, yesterday, after a month, the sound stayed poor - thin, unpleasant, harsh - just like a piece of dust on a cartridge.

I entered the forum and searched for similar topics, Darke Bear's and other respected forum members' advices.

It was very interesting and my findings are below:

1. Do NOT put the 552 on the top of the rack;

2. Do NOT put the NDS on the middle of the rack;

3. Do NOT put the main leads of the NDS (analogue + digital) near an electrical outlets.

---

In my system, all of them were wrong. I called my son and we quickly gathered all the needed information, set up the plan, and immediately got to work.

It was none but a revelation. Extremely different. The poor little drums became a massively bigger.
The edgy high frequencies became soft but defined. It was the most clean/pure sound I've ever heard from a system.

The piano keys became total ivory made.
The voices became more refined.
The bass is much more precise.
It sounds like the speakers were grown.

And above all, the music is much much more interesting to listen to, I can listen to discs I never thought I will listen to,
and I'm enjoying them.

Thanks to all those forum members who guided me.

Happy new year,

Miki

Posted on: 02 January 2016 by Chag...

Interesting. I always read, and understood, that more than any other pre, except maybe for 252 which is tricky to tweak, 552 needed clear and large space above if not on top of rack or Fraim for that matter. As for NDS, I can hardly believe that SQ can be very poor as long as I/C and lead do not get into contact indeed with any other lead.

Chag -

Posted on: 02 January 2016 by ken c

glad you nailed it down anyhow and the sound is now how you want it. sometimes its good not to follow convention blindly and just be led by what works for you. conventional 'wisdom' says the 552 should be on top, but this may not always work -- depending on all sorts of things that you only discover by trying out.

the fact that you had to disconnect the NDS and 552 and then connect them up again may also have a bearing on whats going on here. and also that the NDS and other bits may not be fully "run-in".

but hey, you're happy - thats all that matters...

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 02 January 2016 by Jason

Hi Miki,

You are not alone! I too have my pre above the NDS which I believed to be conventional wisdom!

I may try and swap them to see if this changes anything. When you mention the power leads for the analogue & digital supplies being near power sockets, do you mean the Burndy leads? If so, I've failed there too....although I'm not sure I would be able to do much to resolve this due to space constraints.

Interesting reading though, thanks.

Jason.

Posted on: 02 January 2016 by Minh Nguyen

Let's have a look at this from another angle. One day the NDS sounds great and on another day it sounds poor. This is experienced over the course of a month when the system remained in the same configuration. Therefore, what explains why it sounded good on one day and poor on another?

Even with the perfect configuration, there will be days when the music sounds poor. In general, the system does not change, it is us that changes.

My suggestion would be to keep diary and do some reflective writing. Make a note of how you feel before listening. You will find that there is a correlation between how you feel and how the music sounds

Posted on: 02 January 2016 by David O'Higgins

Start by getting rid of the TV!

Posted on: 03 January 2016 by Hook

Hi Miki -

Given you live in an ancient city, how stable and clean is your electrical power? In general, Naim does not sound its best with power filters, but some here have had good success using large isolation transformers.

You have a fine setup, and I am glad for you that it is sounding good now. But should any problems reoccur, my first instinct would be to look beyond your setup for the cause of this inconsistency.

ATB.

Hook

Posted on: 03 January 2016 by Polarbear

I wonder that, if by having the 552 on the top of the middle rack its suffering from interference from the TV?

My 552 sit on the top of the middle of three tiers with an empty space below that and the NAT 01 head unit below that. It has plenty of clear space around it. It sounds best in that position and don't worry I have tired all other options for it and I know its right there.

As for the NDS, somethings not right. It shouldn't be that inconsistent. Mains quality may have something to do with it but I doubt its down to positioning in the stack. I would get it checked out, just to make sure its working properly.

Posted on: 03 January 2016 by Miki185

Minh Nguyen posted:
Let's have a look at this from another angle. One day the NDS sounds great and on another day it sounds poor. This is experienced over the course of a month when the system remained in the same configuration. Therefore, what explains why it sounded good on one day and poor on another?
Even with the perfect configuration, there will be days when the music sounds poor. In general, the system does not change, it is us that changes.
My suggestion would be to keep diary and do some reflective writing. Make a note of how you feel before listening. You will find that there is a correlation between how you feel and how the music sounds

Hi,
It's me and my son who were listening - it's not just a one person.

We felt exactly the same when the sound was poor or rather good and that the last described configuration is much much better.

Hook posted:
Hi Miki -
Given you live in an ancient city, how stable and clean is your electrical power? In general, Naim does not sound its best with power filters, but some here have had good success using large isolation transformers.
You have a fine setup, and I am glad for you that it is sounding good now. But should any problems reoccur, my first instinct would be to look beyond your setup for the cause of this inconsistency.
ATB.
Hook

Hi Hook,

There are no electrical power issues here in Jerusalem.

Thanks, all, for your replies.

Miki

Posted on: 03 January 2016 by hafler3o

Miki185 posted:
There are no electrical power issues here in Jerusalem.

How did you come to that conclusion?

Posted on: 03 January 2016 by Briz Vegas

Ah, but when you say there are no power issues how sure are you. Yes, there may be reliable supply but does the voltage fluctuate, is there a nearby source of RFI. ( the power company checked my power once and they looked for RFI by using a simple receiver- ie a transistor radio.)

that is not to say that setup does not matter, its just that usually its more about going from ok to good, or good to great, not thing and awful to life changing :-).

Now i can see that pulling the system apart and putting it back together might resolve a hidden setup problem, such as a poorly connected cables or speaker cables out of phase. On top of the overlay the normal run in of new gear and that might explain your experience.

Posted on: 03 January 2016 by ken c

in my view, if pulling the system apart and rebuilding has solved whatever problem there was -- then this is the end of the matter as far as i am concerned. but of course, this doesnt stop further speculative comments -- such is the nature of a public forum...

enjoy

ken