New to Naim NAC122x and NAP200

sell the cyrus CD player and buy a Naim  one

and make sure you use a genuine Naim interconnect from that CD player to your Naim amp.

Hi Rob, welcome to the fold... I came from Cyrus, specifically the top of the range X series ... to be honest I loved the Cyrus top end sound, it's just I was curious to try Naim..and life is too short not to try things. :-) ( and Cyrus is another manufacturer that leans on external regulated power supply upgrades and my Cyrus box count, albeit shoe box size, was getting silly)

what Cyrus did you have? I found the top end Cyrus and less than 282 type sound quite different.. with the Cyrus focussing on clarity, dynamics and detail and the Naim focussing on musical expression... you should enjoy. With the 282 onwards I found you got the clarity as well as the musical expression..

I can't comment on Cyrus CD player as I used Naim sources with my Cyrus, but the CDX2 is a very enjoyable player that really digs out that musical expression perhaps at the expense of neutrality.. I love my CDX2, and yes although it sounded great with Cyrus, it really is at home with Naim amplification.

sorry for short post from me,

the reason you should buy a Naim CD player instead of a PSU with Cyrus is this below

A few reasons why we use DIN connections:

The obvious reason: DIN connections sound better than RCAs...

The phono plug, or RCA connector, as best as anyone can remember, was designed decades ago as a direct current (DC) power connector. Its design properties do not lend themselves to transferring music signals that have very low voltages (less Than 5 volts) of alternating current (AC). This is true - no matter how good the RCA plug is or whether it is made with gold, etc.

The first difficulty with the RCA connector is that it has a high-frequency capacitive impedance of around 200 ohms; unfortunately, the typical cable that connects the two RCA plugs together has an impedance of about 50 ohms. In this situation, the two RCA connectors on either end of the cable act as reflective walls at higher frequencies and bounce information back and forth, trapping the signal and extending the decay time of the signal that is trying to pass from one component to the other. These reflections have an effect on musical information and are especially harmful to low-level signals, particularly quiet harmonics and underlying instruments, where the ringing that is generated by the loudest instruments will smear the smallest signals. The result is that the quiet instruments will blur or fade away when the loud ones come along. The complexities of the music and the tones of individual instruments get lost.

The DIN plug has an impedance that is similar to the cable. It does not reflect like an RCA plug.

Furthermore, the system ground (which should be a stable connection point to which all signals and power supplies are referenced) is absolutely critical to the sonic performance of your hi-fi. A single reference ground point is important so that signal details are not lost in the small, yet significant voltage differences inevitable with separated ground paths.

Many manufacturers point to the great trouble they take to "star ground" everything. Sadly, this is all wasted when you connect your system together with RCA-plugged cables. Why?

When you connect, for instance, a CD player to a preamp with RCA-plugged cable, you automatically have two separate ground wires - the left and right shields going between them. This creates a ground loop, which degrades the musical performance dramatically, and negates any efforts that were taken to ground the internal circuits properly.

If you were to connect these same two components together with DIN-plugged Naim interconnects, you would have only ONE cable with only ONE ground shield surrounding both the left and right signal wires. Hence, only one ground path for each connection and no ground loop.

Hope this helps....

Richard Dane

About speakers, Dynaudio and Naim are a very good combo... the new Dynaudio emit 10 or 20 speakers sounds very good with Naim.

Hi Simon

Thanks for you input.

My Cyrus gear is the more lowly 3i amp amd XPA power amp. I picked them up cheap as a means to build a second system in my convereted garage. I soon realised I can't listen to a lower grade system. I then picked up a Russ Andrews Hifi rack (which helps) from a chap and he let me hear his Naim system and I loved it. 

To be honest I have been fairly settled with the Audiolab system for the last 20 years and this is a whole new can of worms

Hi Analogmusic

I understand what you are saying. Would an old CD5i be good enough? My budget at the moment wont allow for much more. That way I can probably stretch to the Flatcap2 at the same time.

Thanks for your help

Hi,

I don't have any experience with that CD player, but I think it should be ok for now.

I know the Cyrus CD players are quite good, but Naim ones are equally good, and have the advantage of DIN connections, and also providing something called "signal earthing" which is quite essential for Naim amplifiers best performance.

The reason I said original Naim interconnect, it is also known as the "lavender" interconnect, and quite surprising amount of the Naim "rhythmic, engaging" sound seems to be linked to this interconnect (and also Hi-Line, but more expensive)

I have a CD5i(talic) which is a nice player. It does not have a digital out, and does not have a connection for an external PS either. So, if you get one, you can only power the preamp by the flatcap.

I cannot judge if the CD5i is good enough for you, but it is a decent player which does the necessary things right. If you connect the CD5i to the preamp using din, you have a stable connection, no worries about grond loops, right voltage levels etc ...

If you can only afford the CD5i, the better players are quite more expensive. I would say at least double the price.

From my own perspective, I can recommend the CD5i.

Thomsong posted:

Hi Analogmusic

I understand what you are saying. Would an old CD5i be good enough? My budget at the moment wont allow for much more. That way I can probably stretch to the Flatcap2 at the same time.

Thanks for your help

I'd go for a used CD5x. It's much better than the 5i but not too expensive. You could then add a flatcap 2x later, and it would benefit both the CD player and the preamp. Bear in mind though that the flatcap won't be that much better than the supply built into the 200.  

Congrats on 122x:200. You will enjoy. 

If your Cyrus has a digital out I'd use that into a DAC rather than swap to Naim CDP. Not that they're not great but Cyrus transports are more than good enough for a 122 and you'll have plenty of choice of sensible price DAC's to get a sound to your liking. 

Olly

yes the Chord Mojo is a very good DAC, and I use it with my Naim systems, with a good cable (Chord, Vertere or Naim interconnect). 

times have changed back in 2010, one could never get a digital source as good as Mojo for 400 GBP.

Hi,

Be aware a Flatcap xs can be used to power the 122 & a CD player - if you change CD, you'll just need a second snaic lead. The entry level CD5si cannot benefit an exteral supply and has no s/pdiff output - just mains in & 5 pin din out.

However there are plenty of S/H HiCaps around at attractive prices, the 'olive' ones a bit of a bargain when serviced.

First time I heard  Nap 200 was more than 10 years ago and was matched 122x and matching flatcap 2x, can't remember if with cd5x or cdx2 and Allae. Was a really good system.

I would always do a Naim cd player, anyway Cyrus make good things (especially amps) possibly you could keep your with satisfaction and upgrade it with time with a cdx2. 

I upgraded from Audiolab 8000 series to a Nait XS 2...  yes upgraded!

The Naim system you're getting is well above the level of the Audiolab components in terms of musical insight and dynamics and will at least match it for HiFi credentials such as detail / resolution etc.

I second the suggestion of using a Chord MoJo with the Cyrus CD8X.

An alternative you might consider is streaming from a NAS (it's just a suggestion for consideration... you're absolutely entitled to prefer continuing to insert physical CDs).

Thanks everyone for the advice. You have given me loads to think about.

I'm going to sell both systems -  Audiolab and Cyrus (my wife says the house system is no longer required and she is correct). I will use the 122x and 200nac and will add the flatcap 2x and a naim Cd player (i'm not sure which model as I will need to see how much money I will generate) I'll probably keep the PMC FB1+'s. This will be the start of a long journey. Cheers Rob