flatcap or hicap?

Posted by: tef on 24 March 2017

Since the departure of my cd5x (very recent) my flatcap2x only does one thing and that's supplying power to the pre-amp section of my Nait XS. My Stageline is on the Aux2. Is there a way to connect the Flatcap so that one channel is used for the pre-amp of the Nait and the other is directly feeding the Stageline?? If so how would the connections be? It's the Stageline with only one DIn connection. Would this make sense or is it maybe better to sell the Flatcap together with the CD5x and get a Hicap to power the pre-amp of my XS?

I know this is all super subjective. I just hope someone has personal experience with this.

 

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by Richard Dane

You can do this, yes.  You just need a 4-5 interconnect to take signal from the Flatcap 2x to the NAIT.

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by Christopher_M
tef posted:
I just hope someone has personal experience with this.

 

I have. I had CDS3 into XS and HC-DR before I bought my present amp. My Stageline was on Aux2.  If I still had the speakers I had then (Naim n-Sats), I would probably still have that amp *cap combo.

Before that I had my FC2 configured as Richard advises, on the XS and Stageline with 4-5 interconnect. My cdp at that time was a CDX2. Hope that helps.

Chris

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by hungryhalibut
Richard Dane posted:

You can do this, yes.  You just need a 4-5 interconnect to take signal from the Flatcap 2x to the NAIT.

You use the pair of sockets that sit at the right hand end of the flatcap, as you look at it from the back. The one called power powers the Stageline. There is a signal socket next to it, where you connect the appropriate interconnect (not a snaic) to take the signal back to the Nait. This should be better than powering the Stageline directly from the Nait, when the Nait is being powered by the flatcap. 

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by tef

Hi Richard, thank you for your swift reply. I still don't get it though. 

I hooked up a CDS3 yesterday evening. What I did was remove the cable from channel two of the Flatcap that was hooked up to my CD5x, altogether. Then I just connected the interconnect from the CD in on my Nait to the CDS3 and it was all good.  I didn't change anything in the way Nait and Flatcap were connected.

Can you explain in more detail the connections I should make? And, is it a logical thing to do? 

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by tef

Hungry, I almost get it ;-)

Is the 4-5 interconnect going from Flatcap to Nait supposed to go in the Aux1 ??

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by hungryhalibut

You can connect it to any of the inputs, but NOT to Aux 2. 

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by tef

Is the 4-5 interconnect different from the cable that I use now going from Stageline to Aux2?

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by tef

Thaks all! That's what I thought

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by hungryhalibut

Yes. It's a thin grey one. Snaic 5 from Stageline to flatcap. 4 to 5 interconnect from flatcap to Nait. You will need to buy this extra interconnect. 

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by tef

Check! Thanks, out comes the wallet once more...

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by Christopher_M

Before you splash on a 4-5, consider the price of a used HC-DR and what you might get for your FC2x. Add that to the cost of a 4-5, and subtract that from used HC-DR price. Does the gap suit you, oh CDS3 owner?! Or are you cleaned out?

C.

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by Richard Dane

Tef, glad you got it worked out.  

Chris raises an interesting point - consider a used (but recent or recently serviced) Hicap on the NAIT, which will considerably lift performance on the NAIT as well as the Stageline when connected and powered via the AUX2.   Do the sums.

Posted on: 24 March 2017 by djh1697

I have recently upgraded my stageline to be powered from a FC, an upgrade I would recommend.