New XPS2 has arrived
Posted by: PBenny1066 on 21 October 2011
Just took delivery of my new XPS2 to power the nDAC and am thrilled with it. System is Unitiserve / nDAC +XPS2 / Supernait +Hicap2 / ProAc D28s. I had the opportunity to dem it at home a few weeks ago, so I knew what I was getting. Not sure whether it will improve with running in, but out of the box it sounds wonderful. To my ears and system, much improved bass extension and speed, also improved dynamics and spatial separation. Even most of my old Stones CDs sound quite passable.
Before I auditioned it I was a bit skeptical about paying more for a transformer than I did the original box, but it makes a hell of a difference. As did the HiCap on the S/N.
There's been quite a lot written about nDAC + 555, just wanted to share my findings with the XPS2. Couldn't stretch to a 555.
Cheers, Paul
Posted on: 22 October 2011 by Dustysox
Congrats Paul.
I to had a XPS2 on my Ndac. Great choice which will give you many happy ours of listening pleasure.
Naim sure make great audio.
Posted on: 22 October 2011 by Simon-in-Suffolk
Paul, enjoy. It will take a few days to a few weeks to settle in, and so you will find the sonic character of the powered nDAC will change slightly over that time.
Also you might find limbering up the new bundy lead improves things further, and ensuring the pins are not under strain when inserted into the XPS2 and nDAC. If you search on here there are many guidelines from Naim and others on this.
I am sure you will be enjoying your music even more as your ndac will have become more organic and natural with the XPS2 on it. You have essentially now separated the analogue and digital power-supplies of the NDAC with the XPS2 powering the former. A sensible engineering approach that absolutely proves this in practice.
Simon
Posted on: 22 October 2011 by Peter_RN
Hi Paul
It is certainly a worthwhile upgrade as with all added power supplies. Just a word of warning, avoid listening to a 555, forever if possible. We managed to do this until recently, but we are over it now, and enjoying the XPS as much as we did before.
Peter
Posted on: 22 October 2011 by PBenny1066
Thanks for the replies - and Simon, helpful as ever. I'll search the forum for Burndy tips. The dircetionality thing still intrigues me - i struggle to believe it could make any difference, but I am sure much has already been written on that in others posts, and don't want to recreate that discussion.
The amount if detail coming through is really surprising me - I'm hearing things and nuances I've never heard before, even on familiar music. I'm enjoying listening to music more than I have for 10-15 years, and it's great !
Paul
Posted on: 22 October 2011 by Harry
It doesn't matter what we think or believe. It's what comes out of the speakers. nDAC/XPS2 is a very nice and capable combination. I wish you big fun with it. As cautioned above, do not go near a 555PS unless you have the money in your hand. It won't make your XPS2 sound broken but as you have discovered, adding a PS regardless of how much it costs relative to the powered unit is a sea change and you can hear where your money went. this is not confined to the XPS2.
Posted on: 22 October 2011 by Hook
Congrats Paul! You have put together a fine, well-balanced system.
Enjoy re-discovering your music collection! 
Hook
PS - Regardless of what logic tells you, my advice is to follow the setup tips found in this forum, including getting the cable direction correct. Do that and, minimally, it is one less audio thing to think about, and one more way of focusing on the music.
