Thoughts around HiFi Setup

Why do you want a PSU next to the 250?

I'd go NDS, 552, 250 DR, PSU+PSU, if cables allowed.

BTW, is that a 250.2DR?

What happened to the 300?

@Loki - It's two racks.

@CharlieP: In  my study, currently on the floor, awaiting setup. Just trying out a few things - had a chance to get back to HiFi related stuff after more than a year of being crazy busy at work.

When my 500 went for doctoring I put the 250 where the head unit had been at the bottom of the brain stack to save relaying the speaker cables, I think it actually sounded better there than the bottom of the brawn where it used to reside before the 500. The interesting one is the location of the 500ps in relation to the 552 so you may have fun with your 300 if it goes back in that system.

MangoMonkey posted:

An email from a forum friend led to a few changes being made over the weekend.

Well, more than a few, but the end result was a setup change - seems a little bit strange, TBH, but sounds good - probably better than the oft recommended brain/brawn split:

552          NDS
---------------------------
Empty
---------------------------
Empty         552 PSU (or NDS PSU  - don't recall)
-----------------------------
250DR        The other PSU
-------------------------------------

Not sure how this would compare to the

NDS
552
space
250 DR on the left and the 2 psus on the right.

I suspect the isolation that the 552 and NDS get by being on the top makes up for not being split the usual way...

You say you've noticed an improvement. Does it stay that way or deteriorate with prolonged running/warming up? Do you think it's possible that your 'switch off' during component rearrangement allowed an unwanted low-level accumulation of magnetism to dissipate? The usual suggestion for top performance from Naim electronics is to keep them 'on' - but I think this is only true if the components are installed in a way that they cannot interfere/magnetise eacother with continuous running.

That's probably not it - I did put it back the NDS on the top of the left stack even leaving a shelf between the 552 and the NDS - but the NDS does sound better on the right hand of the stack.

This could be related to the fact that the left side of the stack is closest to the corner - bass trap effect? Bass build up causing micro-vibrations?

On a different note - the Kudos Super 20s sound better with the Nap300 (no surpise there, I guess) - but the  Totem Forest Signatures/250DR pair is at the same level as the super 20s/Nap300s....

My system is modest compared to your own, but recently serviced. It's primarily used for phono - moving coil - so the preamp is potentially very sensitive to stray fields. I listen entirely through headphones using a Naim HP amp - making unwanted microphonic pick-up  impossible. After an number of upgrades, the system is far less coloured than before and with a greater flexibility in connection to the mains and ability to reposition components it's been possible to detect improved/worsened 'set-ups' in a way that was not possible earlier. I think, for me, the realtive lack of colouration and HP listening are key to hearing  what's really 'going on'

MangoMonkey posted:

@Loki - It's two racks.

Got it. 

I run my system in 2 racks and have also found that the 282 on top of one rack (with the 250DR underneath it) and the NDX on top of the other rack with PS's and DAC in lower shelves beneath it give the best results.

Nice! So much for Brain/Brawn split. Maybe this is the right way to go about things with networking components are in the mix.

Hi Mango,

Your experience mirrors my own. There was a very interesting thread which captured this nicely click this >Brain/Brawn.

Any idea what Ian's stacking order actually is?  I'm guessing he has the 300 PSU on the left hand stack but not sure