Topics I almost started
Posted by: Haim Ronen on 19 November 2016
Our Naim music system has been a great part of my life, so much so that at times I felt that I was neglecting our six children and four cats. On top of that, I have been spending hours every day on the Hi Fi Corner soaking up all the priceless information on up, down and side grading of the wonderful gear. Despite the urge to get involved in the deep discussions and share of my own experience, my natural shyness kept me mum on the sideline. Here are a few topics which I almost started. Please feel free to inspire me with more topics of your own. Who knows, one of these days I might pull the trigger.
*SHOULD I RETURN THE NEW SUPERNAIT 2 UNOPENED? Because in the meantime I read three posts saying that the LFD amp is superior. I really want only the best.
*CDX 2 JUST SWALLOWED PUCK NO 17. What is the capacity of the machine and at what stage does it have to be emptied?
*WOW THE 552 NEVER SOUNDED SO GOOD!! With 5 empty FRAIM shelves underneath it. I don't know if it is the the thin air up there but the transparent sound is now out of this world. There is no way I am going back to just two empty shelves bellow the magnificent machine.
*THE STATEMENT HAS JUST LANDED!! Our serious financial commitment (remortgaging the house and cars on top of emptying the saving account) will dictate that my faithful Ross 8 Track Tape Deck will remain the only source used in the coming years.
*HI CAP DR A MASSIVE UPGRADE!! Arrived yesterday and was immediately connected to the NAIM remote. The functions and commands work seamlessly now. The only downside is that the UP and Down volume buttons also raise and lower our garage doors. Would a Super Cap solve the problem?
*DIFFICULTIES WITH FRIENDS. My best friends keep insisting that my 500 black boxes hum much louder than the county's power station. Any suggestion how I can justify the outrageous cost of the humming boxes?
*WHAT'S NEXT? I decided to put together a new system starting from the ground up. I just sorted out the most complicated segment of cables and speaker wires. Where do i go from here? Do I select next speakers, source or amplification?
*THE PROPER BALNCE BETWEEN MUSIC & GEAR. For me it is very clear. As long as the cost of the music does not exceed 4% of the cost of the gear I am left happy with the knowledge that I own a very special system. Purchasing new music forces me to upgrade to more expensive boxes just to maintain the golden equilibrium. What is your imbalance?
*MY WIFE WENT CRAZY WHEN I TOLD HER I WAS GOING ACTIVE. She thought that I was going for active duty in Afghanistan or Iraq. When she learned that it was just a Hi Fi talk involving purchasing four new 500 amps needed to activate our Proacs and a move to a larger place to accommodated the massive upgrade she quickly calmed down.
*DEALER'S HOUSE CALL - PRICELESS!! After six years of owning a Naim system we invited our dealer John to have a look at the gear he sold us and share a dinner. It took him no time to notice that one of the speakers was disconnected. He also pointed out that mistakenly I was using the Balance knob to control the volume and he even convinced my wife to reverse the speakers so the drivers pointed towards the sofa and not at the rare wall, aesthetics or no aesthetics. After he left we played some of our favorite music. We could not hear any improvement to the sound but the knowledge that things were set properly again was priceless.
Brilliant 
I love the last one
Adam Zielinski posted:I love the last one
Me too!
I think I have much to learn....it wasn't until number 4 that I realized it wasn't meant to be taken seriously....
Loved the bit about the garage doors...
Great post anyone for the streaming version...?
Emre posted:Great post
Yeap 'Internet over mains': I plugged my NDX's lan port into a wall socket. I thought internet was everywhere. Instead I now have a slightly melted motherboard. Shall I try a different cable?
Haim Ronen posted:*DIFFICULTIES WITH FRIENDS. My best friends keep insisting that my 500 black boxes hum much louder than the county's power station. Any suggestion how I can justify the outrageous cost of the humming boxes?
You could deliberately limit your choice of music and play only Glenn Gould. This way everybody would attribute the humming to him.
That's the best for me! Thanks, this explain me a lot...
*DEALER'S HOUSE CALL - PRICELESS!! After six years of owning a Naim system we invited our dealer John to have a look at the gear he sold us and share a dinner. It took him no time to notice that one of the speakers was disconnected. He also pointed out that mistakenly I was using the Balance knob to control the volume and he even convinced my wife to reverse the speakers so the drivers pointed towards the sofa and not at the rare wall, aesthetics or no aesthetics. After he left we played some of our favorite music. We could not hear any improvement to the sound but the knowledge that things were set properly again was priceless.
Haim, thanks for your brilliant post. At least now I feel some comfort in knowing that I am not the only one who has been too shy to ask any of my ever growing number of questions. Up until now I just have had to figure things out on my own with no assurance that I am doing things correctly. For instance, just this morning after months and months of fretting I decided conclusively that it would be worth paying for the extra carbon capture tax to leave my Statement on 24/7 simply because I can never remember the proper order of which boxes to shut down first and then which order to turn them on again in. This alone was reducing the number of hours I could listen to music so enough was enough. Embarrassing I know (my technical ineptitude) but it has been easier to come out in the open as a result of your post.
Today in fact, the truth is that I have been planning to reassemble my system (after months ago having to hastily disassemble everything). Cables in a massive pile remind me a real snake pit. I have no idea how to sort this out (and sorry Naim but your User Manuals are mostly useless to someone like me) and cannot even remember how things were stacked or on which Fraim things should go etc. They explain very little and in a way that is condescending to someone like me. They are written for people who don't really need a manual in the first place I think. Trust me, some of us would like some clear instructions of every step along the way and what to do spelled out in black and white for a reference when needed.
So how fitting to see this topic today knowing that I could probably use the help but will almost certainly be too afraid to actually ask for it. You are not the only one who has topics almost started. 