"Holy Crap What A Difference" -- Upgrade Report

Gosh, Bart, that's one-hell-of-an upgrade! You must be heaven.  I wouldn't worry about the rack for a while. Just luxuriate in your new super-system.  

To be honest this is something I'm asking myself - I've had a formerly decent Naim setup for 20years+, and it'd been fantastic value for money.  So. I ask myself, rather than stepwise upgrades, why not just go all out in one or more areas as it will likely last 5-10 years if not longer when talking more modern front-ends.

Alley Cat posted:

To be honest this is something I'm asking myself - I've had a formerly decent Naim setup for 20years+, and it'd been fantastic value for money.  So. I ask myself, rather than stepwise upgrades, why not just go all out in one or more areas as it will likely last 5-10 years if not longer when talking more modern front-ends.

Honestly, NOT thinking about anything but the music for 6 years has been liberating.  Then it naturally became time to think about hardware....and instead of faffing about one piece at a time -- given that the opportunity to trade it all and pick up a new ND555 and super-clean used pieces -- I just did it all at once.

(Listening to Holly Cole "Girl Talk" DSD64 as I type; phenomenal is the adjective, again!)

I heard the ND555 demoed in a setup very similar to yours.....and it sounded terrific ... well done I am sure you will get many years of pleasure out of it. Can't wait to get mine....I am hoping that bass will be dryer and tighter than my current setup....

Richieroo posted:

I heard the ND555 demoed in a setup very similar to yours.....and it sounded terrific ... well done I am sure you will get many years of pleasure out of it. Can't wait to get mine....I am hoping that bass will be dryer and tighter than my current setup....

Consider Ovators', they have a dry and tight bass :-)

Bart posted:

My system hadn't changed at all for just shy of 6 years. It started with an email from the dealer. "I have one ND555 that's not been spoken for." My initial response? "No thanks I'm ok."  That lasted about 18 hours . . . 

So everything but the Fraim and the 555DR ultimately left.  NDS/SN2/HCapDR became ND555/252/SCDR/250DR.  (Already owning the 555DR helped a lot, and the trade-in process helped an awful lot. I was thankful to get a very fair trade and not have to sell items myself.) Still top-heavy source-wise, but I fully appreciate "source first" and plan on taking full advantage of the Roon-ready ND555.

What an amazing world of difference. While the ND555 was introduced first and brought to life music in a different way even with the SN2, this new system is a different breed.  Having listened to it a lot in my home now, I finally understand the often described phenomenon of a system that provides that much more "control" over the speakers and thus elucidates so much more of the musical content.  Aspects that I blamed on my room, and somewhat on my speakers (eg lack of bass) disappeared.  There simply was more 'blur' than I realized, and now that it's gone, I can actually appreciate that it was there.   "The veil has been lifted" is not something I actually have experienced in my home.

I'm "slumming" it a bit with the not-recommended brains and brawn on one stack of Fraim.  I'll see where that goes.  I'll either put up with this limitation, or split the Fraim in the coming months. 

Why not "upgrade" once every 6 years right?? :-)

Considering your previous setup, it looks like a very logical step at the right time. Congratulations and enjoy your new system!

Wow, nice upgrade Bart, thats sure what I call taking the bull by the horns. As you say, the trade in from your dealer made the difference - shrewd business.

Enjoy your new system!

Wow. That's an impressive sweeping upgrade in one go - superb! Congrats on the new kit Bart. I'm sure it will bring hours of musical bliss.

Bart,

I wish I had your courage, I cannot decide whether or not to add one more black box (555PS) let alone several.

My heart says do it, but my head says don't.

Enjoy your new gear.

Congratulations Bart, and I have been looking forward to your feedback as your system is very similar to mine now other than I have an NDS (powered by a 555DR) and you have the mighty ND555.

I have been chewing over my next move and was erring towards a pre loved 552 over an ND555 as I felt the ND555 probably needed a 552 to really shine. But you have shown that a 252DR (which I too own) appears to be transparent enough to let the ND555 do its stuff.

You have made a smart move and, like you, I have always gone 'source first'.

Enjoy.

nigelb posted:

Congratulations Bart, and I have been looking forward to your feedback as your system is very similar to mine now other than I have an NDS (powered by a 555DR) and you have the mighty ND555.

I have been chewing over my next move and was erring towards a pre loved 552 over an ND555 as I felt the ND555 probably needed a 552 to really shine. But you have shown that a 252DR (which I too own) appears to be transparent enough to let the ND555 do its stuff.

You have made a smart move and, like you, I have always gone 'source first'.

Enjoy.

Nigel, I seem to recall reading of your 552/555 dilemma in another thread. I would have said the 552 makes sense if you were using several sources, which would all benefit from the better preamp. However, I've just read your profile, which suggests streaming is your sole source. Hence, I would have thought it makes most sense to optimise that source, i.e. ND555.

Clive B posted:

nigelb posted:

Congratulations Bart, and I have been looking forward to your feedback as your system is very similar to mine now other than I have an NDS (powered by a 555DR) and you have the mighty ND555.

I have been chewing over my next move and was erring towards a pre loved 552 over an ND555 as I felt the ND555 probably needed a 552 to really shine. But you have shown that a 252DR (which I too own) appears to be transparent enough to let the ND555 do its stuff.

You have made a smart move and, like you, I have always gone 'source first'.

Enjoy.

Nigel, I seem to recall reading of your 552/555 dilemma in another thread. I would have said the 552 makes sense if you were using several sources, which would all benefit from the better preamp. However, I've just read your profile, which suggests streaming is your sole source. Hence, I would have thought it makes most sense to optimise that source, i.e. ND555.

That makes sense Clive, and yes, streaming is my only source.

I guess the only way to decide is a dual home demo of NDS/555DR/552 and ND555/555DR/252DR combos. Of course the aim would be to reach ND555/552 combination but that would have to be over two moves. I must admit a home demo of both combinations makes me feel a little nervous. It would of course be easier to do this at a dealer but I know from past experience, a home demo is the only way for me to make an informed decision using my system in my room with my speakers.

The other argument for going 552 first is that they already exist at pre-loved prices and maybe in a couple of years ND555s might do too. But it has to be my ears that make the decision of which first. I have made the mistake of going down a financially expedient route before and have lived to regret it. I am pretty sure however a choice of either a 552 or ND555 first will not lead to a regrettable position.

Congrats Bart!  Sounds like your electronics are set for another 6 years.  Good luck with your speaker auditions!

Hook posted:

Congrats Bart!  Sounds like your electronics are set for another 6 years.  Good luck with your speaker auditions!

Thanks Pal! You've been with me in this adventure "from the beginning"

I know my CD555 is becoming more of a boat anchor every day but it runs like a top, sounds great,  and I am just not ready to part with a simple solution in favor of a more complex solution where I am my own help desk.  

Skip posted:

I know my CD555 is becoming more of a boat anchor every day but it runs like a top, sounds great,  and I am just not ready to part with a simple solution in favor of a more complex solution where I am my own help desk.  

My ole CD5XS sat unused for a year.  I definitely knew at that point that I should free up the Fraim shelf it was on.  

Bart, I used a Olive set u for over twenty years this was joined by a NDX some three years ago.

Streaming with the NDX from a NAS re ignited my interest in music with the ease of use plus the avalibility of god secondhand CDs which could be ripped in fact I am buying far more CDs than when I owned a CD player.

After having the NDX for the best part of a year I thought I would investigate the Naim Black Boxes and after several visits to my dealer ended up part exchanging the Olive Boxes for a new 252,Supercap dr , 250 dr plus a pair of Spendor D7 speakers. I kept the NDX but also purchased a XPS Dr to go with it

Since I upgraded I have never enjoyed music so much as I am at the moment and I am listening to a far wider genre of music.

I upgraded the 250 dr to a 300 dr and the system will be joined by a ND555 and 555PS within the next month.

When I had the ND555 on home demo I was simply stunned at the way this device replayed music in my system something very very special indeed.

Bart if you derive at much pleasure from your recent purchase's as much as I have with mine you are going to be a very happy bunny indeed.

Bart posted:

I'm "slumming" it a bit with the not-recommended brains and brawn on one stack of Fraim.  I'll see where that goes.  I'll either put up with this limitation, or split the Fraim in the coming months.

I'm getting an NDX2 and in my order I've included an extra Quadraspire shelf, one that will be empty. Far from the full solution I know.

Ive also looked, only on Amazon so far, for electromagnetic shielding products. There's stuff there. It seems there's a market for such stuff to shield some part of electric guitars. I found packs of patches for around a tenner. If I don't find anything better I might get these make a "quilt" (horrible naff thing is a quilt but trying to give the idea). They're a metallic copper colour but I could put them on the bottom of the shelf above the gap (no line of sight as the rack's on the floor) and then put on a black sheet of paper (rack is black).

Anyone using any kind of EM shielding?