Nac A5 upgrade

Super Lumina was a big step for me. More punch and body, it's worth the money. Unfortunately.. But try it previously.

I found the exact opposite to be true...

Well I have continually preferred Chord Oydessy over Naca but I've conculuded this is speaker dependent and my speakers match better with Chord.  

Regards,

Lindsay

varyat posted:

I found the exact opposite to be true...

Me too. SL would absolutely not be my recommendation.

Super Lumina is the Naim upgrade to NACA and I think it is superb. But it is expensive and a more affordable option would be Tellurium Q - either 'Black' or the more expensive 'Green' produce excellent results in a Naim system.  

I tried others but did NOT find anything beating naca on what u value. 

Just auditioned both sl and Chard sarum - latter both full loom and With my sl interconnect. The expensive combos Were different (more detail), bur NOT better to my ear in my room/system. During all auditions had to swap back to naca as missed the naca full magic prat. Also on my system to my years nacas are more neutral. more details of sl/sarum to chorus, studioacoustics etc toned down band housesound and essence to me. now with naca acdc rocks like acdc, david brubeck amazes like david brubeck, johnny cash sounds like whiskey on a mic, depeche mode drives like depeche mode etc. difference are not subtle! i have been very surpriced. liked sarum speaker cables better than sl, but unclear how runin sl are.

Requires Holme demo!

Lars

In my view, rather than considering spending money on expensive cables, it would be better to put the money towards a better amplifier. The Nait XS or Supernait would be a better match for the PMCs. Nothing has been said of the source, and it may be that this is where the funds should be focussed. 

It's difficult to upgrade on NACA5 - even SuperLumina may sound less fun in some systems.

Have a look at your source and it's interconnects first.

My source is Unitiqute 2 + TIDAL app + chord cobra vee 3 interconnect. Maybe 5si can't control PMC's bass via Epic twin cables. I use VA bypass mode, so i think this is not the best option for sound and i don't know exactly which preamp is working (i think UQ2's). So this is another question, because if change to XS2 then it's preamp will be useless via AV bypass and only amp part will be used. And next logical step is dac v1 + xs2 OMG )) Just try to make sound better with less money,but think this is the trap )

Unitiqute is an all in one with limited upgrade abilities, which I think you have found the limits of. 

Adam Zielinski posted:

It's difficult to upgrade on NACA5 

 

I too find it difficult to replace a NACA5.  Having tried 2 different Tellurium Q, full loom of Vertere and 2 different Chord.  Unfortunately, did not get to try Chord Sarum TA.  

Very happy with Studio Connections Platinum.  A UK brand but not very much talked about.

Dmitriy - I think you have answered your own question with regards to your source and amp.

NACA5 is the least of your problems. Believe me - I have heard NACA5 in several systems: full 500 series driving Magico, my own 252/250 driving Ovators and Olive 72/250 driving QUAD ESL 63s. Never did I feel that NACA5 was a constraining factor.

What you describe is more the limitations of the source / amp / speaker combination and the awkward setup. I would start with the boxes first.

Adam

what combination of naim boxes would you suggest as step forward from current setup ?

If you can accept that sometimes a lower cost option can be an upgrade, then the Atlas Hyper 2.0 is a decent upgrade over the A5.

I used this with PMC Twenty.23 and still use it now with Twenty5.23s.

My dealer carried A4 and then A5 for as long as I can remember but eventually dropped A5 in favor of the Hyper 2.0 as the default go to for Naim amps.

I did ask about some cables more expensive including the Hyper 3.0 and TQ Black but I couldn't demo them where I am and my dealer was very honest that the others don't have the same synergy with Naim amps.

Adam Zielinski posted:

Dmitriy -

What you describe is more the limitations of the source / amp / speaker combination and the awkward setup. I would start with the boxes first.

Adam

Agree with Adam, without spending to much, you can upgrade your source, amp....you may well find your speaker cables are fine..

The first thing I'd do is get a non DR used 200 and use it with the Qute. This may be all you need. If you then want to improve, the 172 is a potential option. Or, wait till May and try the new Atom. 

The 20.22 will benefit from whatever you throw it. Currently your amp and speaker combo is a bit of a mullet.

Amp wise, the 20.22 really need at minimum a Nait XS2 but I'd feel comfortable driving them with everything up to a 250dr coupled with a 272 or an NDX and a good preamp. They are talented speakers and a ND5xs/Nait XS2 or 172/200 is really your getting on point. 

I ran the 20.23 for a couple years and threw as much behind the source and amp I could afford and they lapped up every benefit presented to them.

Dmitriy posted:

what combination of naim boxes would you suggest as step forward from current setup ?

As I understand you already have a UnitiQute2. I would actually start with it bare and see how you like it driving your speakers via NACA5. One thing - please make sure you plug it directly into the wall, not via any filtering distribution block.

This will give you a good indication of what a balanced Naim streamer / amp is capable of. And UnitiQute is a very capable little unit.

If you start thinking about upgrades please make sure you have a plan as to what your final system may look like. If you plan of building a system consisting of separates or perhaps an integrated streaming pre-amp with a power amp.

If it's the first one you may want to search for a dedicated streamer and pair it with your Nait for the time being.In this case UQ is surplus to requirement.

If however an integrated streaming pre-amp may sound appealing to you, than search for a good power amp e.g. NAP 200 or NAP 250 and pair it with your UQ2 for ow. In this example Nait becomes a surplus to requirements.

Adam

MDS posted:

Super Lumina is the Naim upgrade to NACA and I think it is superb. But it is expensive and a more affordable option would be Tellurium Q - either 'Black' or the more expensive 'Green' produce excellent results in a Naim system.  

Heard raving reviews about the TQ black. Have you tried the cheaper TQ ultra blue? 

Anyone knows how these performs versus black rhodium foxtrot?

All these are expensive cables and I am also exploring the options of cheaper :

1. Chord clearway

2. Atlas (as mentioned in this thread)

or super cheap used by pro installer

3. Van damme hifi 2.5 or 4 

source will be an atom hopefully or a star. I agee with statement that source is important. Length of cable is important apparently too for naim amps so going for 3-3.5m even if I just need 2.5m pair 

I echo the request that started this thread and will also appreciate feedback from forum members. 

A lone UQ2 struggled to make my 23s sound convincing. Biamping with a NAP100 purely to give the 22s the current they deserve is probably a cost effective way of driving them properly but I really think they need more in terms of source and amp.

i tried to drive 20.22 with UQ2, but sound was weak and after connecting 5si the sound got power ! as i understand 60W is a minimum for 20.22

my dealer's advice is : NAC N172XS / NAP155XS, what do you think about this combo ?

what i want to say : 5si produces more details then i hear through the  speakers through nac a5, so i try to achieve as much as possible from the amp before i'll spend thousands of dollars for upgrade )

Dmitriy posted:

i tried to drive 20.22 with UQ2, but sound was weak and after connecting 5si the sound got power ! as i understand 60W is a minimum for 20.22

my dealer's advice is : NAC N172XS / NAP155XS, what do you think about this combo ?

Basically it's what I suggested, but with a 200 instead. Those 22s are super speakers and the Nait is simply not up to the task.

Remember also that the other speaker wires are often just different and not better. When I had a Superuniti and PMC 23s I used Tellurium Q black which to me preserved the groove and drive of the A5 but added further engagement, so I judged it an improvement. I've tried Chord Odyssey in the past but that made the music a bit boring. But the best leads in the world won't alter the fact that the Nait is not really good enough for the PMCs. 

i have UQ1 (with 192k board) . Needed more grunt for my ATC SCM11 speakers. 2nd hand 250.2 did the job admirably, and then i DR'ed/serviced the 250.2 which does the job very admirably

UQ can drive 250 quite happily

Hungryhalibut posted:

In my view, rather than considering spending money on expensive cables, it would be better to put the money towards a better amplifier. The Nait XS or Supernait would be a better match for the PMCs. Nothing has been said of the source, and it may be that this is where the funds should be focussed. 

I would agree - I did change recently from NAC5 (after 8 years of use) to Chord Epic Reference as part of a speaker upgrade (PMC GB1i to Kef Ref 1) but I could happily have stayed with the NAC5. If you like a powerful punchy sound and are not looking for the last word in detail then NAC5 takes some beating and an amp upgrade may give you more of what it offers.