ND5XS + Nait XS2 upgrade path

Yes I do have Fraims. I have the hiline but I hated it. I will sell it and get something else! How about the Ar Sound Lunar compare to the TQ? Price for the lunar is very competitive and the sell of my hiline can cover it!

Nic Chan posted:

Yes I do have Fraims. I have the hiline but I hated it. I will sell it and get something else! How about the Ar Sound Lunar compare to the TQ? Price for the lunar is very competitive and the sell of my hiline can cover it!

If you have HiLine already LEAVE it - do not sell it. It is a fantastically good interconnect. But it only shows what it is trully capable of from a certain level up (i.e. NDX as a source)

Your room at 3.5x3.5m is small (though if that is a HK apartment it is wider than several I have seen). That prompts another thought: HK apartments I have seen all had hard stone floors and no curtains - in other words acoustically 'bright', and potentially quite a challenging environment for hifi. If applicable it may be appropriate to consider some room treatment, such as heavy fabric drapes (on walls, not just the window, especially if window is typically small), and a rug on the floor. Doing that with your present system would be negligible cost, and enable you to re-evaluate what you have especially compared to how it sounded at the dealer.

Then another suggestion: if still buying from a local dealer, first  listen carefully at home, then go to the dealer and listen to 'your' system in the dealer's listening room, and use the difference you hear to help judge other components you are interested in.

fernar posted:

remember it will take time for the streamer to bed in.. even though mine was a used model, it still took at least a week to come on song..

Erm... as used model thats definitely a matter of getting used to and deciding you like the new sound, not it burning in in any way - which not unfrequently is the case.

Curtain was always there and added a carpet last month it helped acoustically!! I think I might add an acoustic panel to my back wall soon. For your info. The ND5 + supernait2 gives me good sound quality now so I'm assuming since the second hand NDX appeared at a very good timing to swap it into my system then this will only increase my SQ.

Nic Chan posted:

Curtain was always there and added a carpet last month it helped acoustically!! I think I might add an acoustic panel to my back wall soon. For your info. The ND5 + supernait2 gives me good sound quality now so I'm assuming since the second hand NDX appeared at a very good timing to swap it into my system then this will only increase my SQ.

If you like the sound of the ND5 you will be completely amazed when you hear the NDX.  Of course this will just serve to increase your appetite for additional upgrades.  Anyhoo....  Good decision on getting the NDX.

Been with the NDX for 3 days! Maybe it's been unplugged for awhile and my observation is it's improving everyday! (New Supernait 2 so it might be the Supernait instead!) It's a major upgrade from what I have and the details coming from the NDX is superb! I'll say can't compare with the ND5 it's just unfair and that much better! Still waiting everything to settle in and hoping that it'll still improve!

Nic Chan posted:

Been with the NDX for 3 days! Maybe it's been unplugged for awhile and my observation is it's improving everyday! (New Supernait 2 so it might be the Supernait instead!) It's a major upgrade from what I have and the details coming from the NDX is superb! I'll say can't compare with the ND5 it's just unfair and that much better! Still waiting everything to settle in and hoping that it'll still improve!

The SN2 has been reported to take 500+ hours to "burn in."  Enjoy your nicely balanced system.  Most upgrades to this will produce only fairly subtle improvements.  The most cost effective upgrade I made was the addition of an ArSound Lunar IC from NDX to SN2.

BTW..  Acoustic treatments to your space is really the most important piece to get the best SQ out of your system.

Yeah! At the dealer my Neat elite SX is very bassy! But when it arrived almost 80% of bass were gone! My dealer is assuming my mattress absorbs all of them! Is this a valid reason? I have a mini subwoofer to help with the bass now! Still trying to figure out a reason for this!

Kevin Richardson posted:

Nic Chan posted:

Been with the NDX for 3 days! Maybe it's been unplugged for awhile and my observation is it's improving everyday! (New Supernait 2 so it might be the Supernait instead!) It's a major upgrade from what I have and the details coming from the NDX is superb! I'll say can't compare with the ND5 it's just unfair and that much better! Still waiting everything to settle in and hoping that it'll still improve!

The SN2 has been reported to take 500+ hours to "burn in."  Enjoy your nicely balanced system.  Most upgrades to this will produce only fairly subtle improvements.  The most cost effective upgrade I made was the addition of an ArSound Lunar IC from NDX to SN2.

I have the Hiline and I didn't like it! Now back with the original lanvender cable! And was curious about the ar sound lunar! Can u tell me what u feel about it? Or if u have experience with the Hiline how do they compare?

What exactly don't you like about the hiline?

Sound stage is larger but the treble end is kinda polished off and seems to be too smooth. Maybe it's my ears... But I just never enjoyed it over the lavender.

Fair enough. I'd just sell it and keep the cash, rather than getting an alternative. The lavender is very good, and sounds even better if you don't use the locking rings. If you remove the little screw you can slide the rings up the lead. Tape them together so they don't rattle, or remove them completely if you are feeling brave. 

The TQ Black Diamond is pretty good, and offers good value for money, and (I found it) a good improvement to the HiLine ...

Have a good Monday

Ar ha! I'll try to to some work to the lavender cable! Thanks for the info!

Nic Chan posted:

Yeah! At the dealer my Neat elite SX is very bassy! But when it arrived almost 80% of bass were gone! My dealer is assuming my mattress absorbs all of them! Is this a valid reason? I have a mini subwoofer to help with the bass now! Still trying to figure out a reason for this!

I wouldn't use a subwoofer.   Integrating the sub requires extremely precise speaker placement that might not be possible in your room.

Nic Chan posted:

Kevin Richardson posted:

Nic Chan posted:

Been with the NDX for 3 days! Maybe it's been unplugged for awhile and my observation is it's improving everyday! (New Supernait 2 so it might be the Supernait instead!) It's a major upgrade from what I have and the details coming from the NDX is superb! I'll say can't compare with the ND5 it's just unfair and that much better! Still waiting everything to settle in and hoping that it'll still improve!

The SN2 has been reported to take 500+ hours to "burn in."  Enjoy your nicely balanced system.  Most upgrades to this will produce only fairly subtle improvements.  The most cost effective upgrade I made was the addition of an ArSound Lunar IC from NDX to SN2.

I have the Hiline and I didn't like it! Now back with the original lanvender cable! And was curious about the ar sound lunar! Can u tell me what u feel about it? Or if u have experience with the Hiline how do they compare?

I've never heard a Hiline.  If you search the forum you will find several members have preferred the Lunar to the Hiline.  The Hiline is way to fragile when considering the cost so I opted for the Lunar.  I believe it is a significant upgrade versus the standard IC.  However, I couldn't provide more details since it has been a couple of years since I switched.

I think you might be better off investing some time/ resources into optimizing your room acoustics before thinking about cables.

Any advise on how to improve room acoustics? I got a carpet awhile ago which did help with the SQ. how about acoustics panel from Vicoustic? Do I need professional help on how to lay those panels in my room?

Nic Chan posted:

Any advise on how to improve room acoustics?

Start googling. Plethoric information available on the topic. Enough to self-educate if you're willing to spend the time.

Nic Chan posted:

how about acoustics panel from Vicoustic?

Vicoustic panels are high quality fit and finish and in my experience work as billed. There are cheaper and equally effective alternatives depending on the look you want, including DIY.  Once a Vicoustic panel is adhered to your wall or ceiling, there will be scars if you choose to move it. Fabric covered foam panels that hang like a picture on the wall are easier to move.

Nic Chan posted:

Do I need professional help on how to lay those panels in my room?

Probably depends on how you value your own time and experimentation versus paying to get the job done quickly. While a professional can likely get a decent acoustic room treatment done in a single visit, some tweaking to fully optimize the room may still be desired on your part in the long term.

I am more than happy to invest some time to do some research! Thanks for the info!

Nic - just leave your system alone for a while, will you?

If I were you I'd leave the orginal jumpers in place as they are. After all Neat did use them for something, didn't they.

What you can test is to plug your NACA5 to either bottom terminals or top ones (with a link in place of course). This should give you a slightly different bass presentation.

Adam

The brass plates are crap- Have a look at the F type arrangement shown in the FAQ for the best approach with A5 and bi-wire terminals. 

I'd certainly stick with NACA5 jumpers instead of the supplied links. When you say you use 'bare wire' do you mean you've stripped all the insulation off? If so, be very careful they can't touch each other. Maybe make another pair up with insulation left on, or put heat-shrink insulation on the ones you've made.