Three improvements

Posted by: stuart on 14 December 2016

My current system consists of cd5xs,  ndac and 152 / 155 / flatcap xs. all Naim interconnects, 7.5m naca5, neat motive 2,  dedicated CU.  Components are on a home made rack with isolation spikes and chips (which made a noticeable improvement when changed from previous cheap av stand.

Room approx 5m x 3.5m. Speakers firing across room and I'm confident I've optimised position. Room seems well damped.

Have gradually upgraded from CD5i / Nait 5i,  speakers have remained the same (just like the song) 

Overall I love the general presentation from a relatively modest system and I am amazed at how good it can sound. 

There are three aspects that I have been trying to improve over the past 8 years 

1. more refinement in treble frequencies

2. being able to follow bass lines more easily and better definition of bass eg between bass drum and guitar for example (I'm not requiring more or deeper bass particularly) 

3. better separation of instruments on more complex tracks particularly at higher volumes (above 9 o'clock) 

I am wondering if retaining my speakers and upgrading the electronics will improve these aspects or are the speakers at their limit? 

I have considered numerous options but the one that currently is at the forefront of my thinking is to trade my amplification and speakers for a supernait 2 and maybe pmc twenty5 23s which my dealer stocks.  

This would be about the limit financially.

Other considerations would be to trade all the electronics for 272 xpsdr and 250Dr whilst maintaining the speakers.

As a wild card I did consider merely adding a 282 and stopping there for financial reasons but I guess this would lead to an unbalanced system and leave me wanting more  

I have demoed various speakers recently and pmc came out on top  

Also heard the 272 xpsdr 250dr and was very impressed (but not with my speakers)  

Further demos are in the pipeline (I do tend to take my time before committing to upgrading).  I have a great local dealer who offers great trade in deals for new and has been generous with home demos in the past.  

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm sure there are alternatives I haven't considered  

Regards 

Stuart 

 

Posted on: 29 March 2017 by stuart
wrc posted:

I have XS separates with Neat Motive SX1s and I think it's a cracking combination.  It's stopped me thinking about the next upgrade for quite some time which has to be a good thing.

Glad to hear it WRC. How do you find the bass with the Sx1's?  For most things mine seem well controlled and balanced. My room is 16'x12' narrowing to 10' 

I am reading good things about Tellurium q speaker cables. I think I will give these a try as by all accounts they improve separation and sound stage.