Hydra or Extension Block?

Personally i'd get a 4 headed Grahams Hydra which will be enough for source (NDX2 ?), NAPSC, HiCAP and 300. I've always found that to be the best way of connecting my kit if multiple (star earthed) wall sockets aren't available. I'd put the PL lites back in the boxes to keep in case you sell kit later.

You could explore other options later (dedicated mains and multiple sockets) but i'd keep it simple on the mains front to start with and just enjoy your new kit. 

James

If you are connecting four items to a two way socket it’s perfectly safe to put two items into each plug. It would work with a Powerline lite of course, but a standard MK plug would do it. 

Meerkat posted:

Not very flush at all Buying the 282/HiCap/300DR has emptied my bank account! Cheers for the heads up.

Hopefully the bread and scrape won't last beyond Christmas.

hungryhalibut posted:

If you are connecting four items to a two way socket it’s perfectly safe to put two items into each plug. It would work with a Powerline lite of course, but a standard MK plug would do it. 

To get the two wires into a mains plug really needs the screw clamp cable retainer arrangement where both cables can be clamped side by side and held tightly. I wouldn't be happy using the two cable trick with an MK plug and it's particular 'push and retain' cable clamp arrangement. The Crabtree plugs were better in this respect. 

Meerkat posted:

Thanks...Were your ears burning Mike?

hungryhalibut posted:

If you are connecting four items to a two way socket it’s perfectly safe to put two items into each plug. It would work with a Powerline lite of course, but a standard MK plug would do it. 

Not that I'm counting, but it'll be five boxes when I get the NDX 2 in a couple of months.

NDX2, Hicap, napsc, 300. Four mains leads. 

Meerkat posted:

hungryhalibut posted:

The Powerline lite is simply the bog standard mains lead but with a plug that bends in the middle. I wouldn’t get hung up on it. The Grahams hydra is an excellent solution and is best and tidy, as well as avoiding lots of connections. It also avoids the potential angst of plugging order. On the other hand a Wireworld matrix is very good and is more flexible. I wouldn’t worry overly. The best thing you can do is to get dedicated mains, which is far more significant than mains blocks. Maybe you could reconsider this as an option, and have six sockets installed on the end. For example, we run ours from the meter in the garage to the sitting room by burying it in the flower bed. 

Thanks HH for confirming that. I did install a dedicated mains in my previous house, but at the moment in this new house, it's a tad tricky

I was just curious why so many forum members preferred The Grahams Hydra, over other makes. I could install a FCU Spur, and have as many double, unswitched sockets as I need. Providing of course the load is not over 13 amps.

As you say, The Hydra is tidy and avoids the angst of plugging order in tight, hard to reach places.

I would only bother with a dedicated spur if you can go the whole hog, split the meter tails and run it from a separate consumer unit. If that’s too much hassle, just get a Hydra. 

Meerkat posted:

...

Why did you choose the CHC PowerBlack Distribution Block for your system, over Wireworld, Russ Andrews etc...

I have bought a PowerBlack IEC from CHC a few months ago and found the quality of the cable to be very good. The support was very competent. I like to buy from small companies that provide detailed technical documentation. As a consequence, I am not going to buy new Naim gear until they reintroduce detailed user guides and decent technical specifications. I find the web site of CHC more appealing than that of Russ Andrews. I have not checked the Wireworld web presence in detail. After a cursory look, it seems to be a rather big company and I do not particularly like their web pages.

I had a grahams hydra and got rid of it and bought a wireworld matrix block. In all honesty i didnt notice any difference. The  block  offerred more flexibility whether i increased the box count or reduced it. Also i can use the powerline cables which i rate. The hydra was good before the powerline cables came into the equation.  The hydra is quite bulky and you either have spare heads or have to buy a new one if the box count increases. The star earthing is more important.  A few hifi dealers will let you try te mains block and return if unhappy.

hungryhalibut posted:

NDX2, Hicap, napsc, 300. Four mains leads. 

Thanks HH...originally I thought the 282 had one, but now I realise it's powered by the napsc and the HiCap. 

I bought a chc hydra and didn't like the quality of the mains plug as found the fuse wasn't held very securely. The iec plugs at the other end were of the screw together type and seemed a bit cheap. I didn't bother using it much and ended up buying a grahams one as it used the naim leads. 

No idea on sound quality differences though as there appeared to be some kind of burn in going on, whether it was my brain or the cables...

You could probably fit a powerline lite mains plug to the grahams one if desired. 

The Powerigel was a very significant step up from my Hydra.

Morning Mike

I have often looked at the Powerigel, but didn't take it any further.

An update from yesterday: I have installed an additional double MK, unswitched socket, I also replaced the old double socket to an MK.

I then unpacked and installed my new 282/HiCapDR/300DR (Blimey, those Burndys are tricky)...and without fail, I've got the Naim Hum! On my old system, the HiCapDR was giving it large, but this time its the 300s power supply. Switched off all other electrical appliances in the house, so it's not those...Probably, as we have mentioned above, DC issues.

Meerkat posted:

Mike-B posted:

ChrisSU posted:

It’s been said that the optimum length for an Ethernet cable is 3 meters minimum, for reasons I won’t pretend to fully understand. Maybe you need to go for quantity over quality?!

Minimum length ethernet is another of those myths that have been assumed to be fact in some quarters..   There is nothing in the regs & specs that suggest a minimum length.   

Thanks...Were your ears burning Mike?

This issue seems to crop up every now and then....feel free to argue amongst yourselves!

https://forums.naimaudio.com/t...95#75906056727244795

Meerkat posted:

I then unpacked and installed my new 282/HiCapDR/300DR (Blimey, those Burndys are tricky)...and without fail, I've got the Naim Hum! On my old system, the HiCapDR was giving it large, but this time its the 300s power supply. Switched off all other electrical appliances in the house, so it's not those...Probably, as we have mentioned above, DC issues.

Good stuff - the 282 and 300 work very sweetly together. Let it settle in for a few days and see how it goes with the hum. How have you got the system setup with regards racks ? 

james n posted:

Meerkat posted:

I then unpacked and installed my new 282/HiCapDR/300DR (Blimey, those Burndys are tricky)...and without fail, I've got the Naim Hum! On my old system, the HiCapDR was giving it large, but this time its the 300s power supply. Switched off all other electrical appliances in the house, so it's not those...Probably, as we have mentioned above, DC issues.

Good stuff - the 282 and 300 work very sweetly together. Let it settle in for a few days and see how it goes with the hum. How have you got the system setup with regards racks ? 

Thanks James...At present, I'm using my old Target rack which has five shelves. I will upgrade it next year, once my bank balance recovers from black box syndrome.

1. Streamer
2. 282
3. 300DR
4. 300 Power Supply
5. HiCap DR and NAPSC

Ah yes that old problem .

For now, i'd be tempted to swap PSU positions and move the 300PS to the bottom shelf. It might reduce the hum due to better mechanical coupling to the floor.

james n posted:

Ah yes that old problem .

For now, i'd be tempted to swap PSU positions and move the 300PS to the bottom shelf. It might reduce the hum due to better mechanical coupling to the floor.

Ok, I'll give it a whirl...it'll probably start the HiCap off!

But then the burndies will drag on the floor....

hungryhalibut posted:

But then the burndies will drag on the floor....

Good point HH ????

The compromises of a single stack unfortunately. Worth a try to see if it reduces the level of hum but if you can't get the Burndy cables dressed nicely in that configuration...

hungryhalibut posted:

But then the burndies will drag on the floor....

Is it a problem? I am completely ignorant about cable dressing. I would dbe grateful if you could provide a pointer to the most basic guidelines. Thanks, nbpf

Type ‘cable dressing’ into the Forum search. 

hungryhalibut posted:

Type ‘cable dressing’ into the Forum search. 

Thanks, I have tried the forum search. But I could not find any summary or wrap up of the most basic recommendations in matter of cable dressing.