Hi Line experience

Interesting - I run a hi-line between my CDS3 and 282 and have been very impressed.  I wouldn't go for a hi-cap in your current set up I'd wait until you get a SN2 with both the CD5XS and ND5XS it's a super match up.

Naim or otherwise, a home demo of hifi cables is essential.

Can your dealer take back the HiLine? Surely he wants you to be happy.

Is this the hiline that I suggested you should not buy, because your equipment is stacked on top of each other, sitting on the floor, and therefore the hiline cannot hang free, in the way it needs to in order to work properly? And the dealer that likes to sell you stuff rather than looking after your best interests?

I have the LS50s at the moment and I do like the sound with the XS2 driving them more than the SN2 I had a feeling if I get the SN2 I'll upgrade my speakers real soon (I like the LS50s look and I have a small room with no space for floor stand ) No home demo service here in Hong Kong and since it's a second hand I don't think the dealer will take it back. I can always sell them online tho. I am actually quite excited to get a hi cap upgrade for my system. Are they not going to make a big difference on the XS2? 

Yes it's the same dealer. I placed my order for the famelite they will arrive next week. (He did mentioned that I don't need the frame just have my system placed side by side on the floor will still do the trick. But from you guys experience I made the call and ordered the framelite. Will there be any difference with hi cap on xs2? And when the framelite arrived, everything put in proper position on the rack including hi cap. Will the hi line sound different?

Ah, good. I suggest that you get the stand installed, arrange the hiline so that it doesn't drag on the floor, and then just get to know the sound of your system and enjoy it. You absolutely shouldn't start thinking about hicaps, supernaits or anything else for a good while. A small system, carefully set up, will be better than something bigger just bunged together with no care and attention. Until you know what you have, you won't know whether you want anything better. 

The Halibut is a wise old fish

Well said! And thanks for the advice! Can't wait for the fraimlite to arrive! Guess it will stabilise my system and brings it o another level.

Btw it's Chinese New Year over here! Kung Hei Fat Choi everyone! (The word you will say during The Chinese Lunar New Year. It has a meaning of cheers, wishing people luck & have a wonderful future).

Interesting findings. I'd have guessed a Hiline along the floor would outperform a lavender laid out in the same manner  

As HH suggested, I'd hang on to the Hiline and test it against the lavender once you get the Fraimlite installed. Let us know what you think of the two then.

I agree with HH, cable dressing can be important and with the Hiline it is. The big advantage of the Hiline is its mechanical decoupling, and for that to work the cable needs to hang. I think the Fraimlite will bring better performance, especially if items currently on the floor. Once the kit is properly setup and installed then you should be able to better enjoy what the Naim s doing... of course you might still find the Hiline is not for you, but at least you will be correctly evaluating it.

It took me a longtime to fully appreciate what the Hiline can do. Like you I purchased second hand but soon notice a slight channel imbalance i.e one channel sound more detailed than the other. This resulted in it being sent back to Naim who fixed the problem. Trouble is I went and broke one of the joints through some clumsy handling, so off it went again. Even after it came back, and with the rather extensive burn in period required, I had moments where I preferred the old lavender lead. Then, one evening, everything suddenly fell into place. When I now (occasionally) compare the lavender it all seems rather crude, ragged and unrealistic. The Hiline is a truly great IC but it is a little quirky.

Nic, as others have written here, the Hi-line is all about the decoupling and so, unless it is installed just so then its performance is impaired.  Hang on to it until you have the Fraim installed.  Then follow the installation advice given on this forum - prepare the hi-line with the connectors orientated in each hand and the cable hanging in a gentle loop with as little stress as possible.  When you connect the Airplugs to the DIN sockets, push all the way in then just pull back a mm or so.  The pins move so it can be a little tricky to plug in at first.  Just don't force it, you'll get the hang of it with some practice.  And never push or pull using the segmented section...

When the Hi-line first appeared I was one of the people drafted in from Sales or R&D to listen to batches as they came off production (by production, I mean from the individuals who made each batch - a huge amount of painstaking labour in their construction and well worth seeing if you get a chance to visit the factory).  I quickly discovered that the Hi-lien was not a simple plug and play interconnect.  It had to be carefully arranged and hung, and this had to be done consistently in order to make for a meaningful test.  If one sounded off - usually constricted, sounding too forced and lacking in space, ease and "bloom" - then rather than immediately write it off to return for rebuild, I would put it aside for a re-test.  This was because otherwise a "bad" hi-line might just have been a "bad" installation on my part.  Eventually I would go through the "bad" group and eventually I would be left with maybe one or two that I just couldn't get to "work".

Incidentally, I'm sure we all had our different techniques.  Mine used a very specific piece of music where the intro was a sure fire giveaway as to whether the Hi-line was working properly or not.  That piece of music has now been etched in my mind but I have no problems listening to it today - I'm just super-critical of how it's replayed, particularly that first minute or so...

I found my Hi-Line was much better than my Lavender interconnect through my entry level pairing even when fresh out of the tin. (though it did lack excitement at first)

After months of running in - It has fallen (properly) into place over time and I can say it is miles better in my system, hours of fun, the music just flows....

After reading some recent posts:

I got the urge to try the Lavender again after a many months of living with the Hi-Line and (not to my surprise) it confirmed the reason why I purchased the Hi-Line in the first place.

Strangely, my brand new one that came sounded better than the demo one I had on loan for a week with which still out performed the Lavender, hence the order in first place.

Thanks Richard. I think I got what u mean! I had the same feeling when I tested it. I used the same song and it's a song I know really well that I can tell the difference. It's exactly why I changed back to the grey line. For now I'll wait for the fraimlite to arrive and I'll try setting up the hi line again. Since it's a second hand cable fingers crossed it's the problem of my setup instead of a problem with the cable and needs to be rebuilt. Thanks for the info!

Twisting the hiline plug a bit after connection to the DIN socket is a "valid" tweak? I think i have read about it in this forum sometime ago.