A Year in Review or Upgradeitis and How Not to Avoid It

I started the year with the following system :-

Thorens TD318/MP11 Boron(truly clapped out)/ Marantz CD63sig / Nait3 / Mordaunt Short MS20 on Heybook HBS1 stands and an Apollo 5 tier steel and MDF rack.(I also had a Yamaha Dspe492,Jamo centre 100 and Canon S30 Rears)

In January I upgraded to Dynaudio Audience 40's and Dynaudio Master Stands.
I ran this setup for about 6 months till I first heard the CD5 and this is where I really began to start on the upgrade spiral.

I ordered a CD5 and listened to other Naim Pre/Power amps. I'd had my Nait 3 for a couple of years but was so busy with work that I really didn't have the time to invest in any serious listening - it was just there to provide background music really - but now my priorities had changed and I'd decided that I was going to put together the system I'd always promised myself - ever since first hearing an LP12/62/250/SBL system many, many moons ago..

I bought a 72/Hicap/180 and sold my Nait3.

Still using the Marantz (The Thorens was removed to storage) I became aware of the 72s propensity for microphonic behaviour. A Base 01 mat placed underneath on the Apollos MDF shelf removed this completely. Ace. I now had my first taste of what a decent support system can do! - Oh No!

I live in a new house with a really bad mains supply and the 72/hi/180, although an audio feast in comparison to my Nait3, began to drive us to distraction at times with it's ability to hum and ring like some Giant Refridgerator from Hell!!

A brief trip to the Naim hospital soon sorted that out though and all was well - wife appeased again. Briefly.

That Appollo stand just had to go - ugly bloody great oil rig thing that was now acting like a sonic sink - singing and ringing along with the music and ruining the sound (well you do think these things don't you?) So...

Off to every dealer within a 50 mile radius we went to check out Quadraspire, Projekt, Hutter and Base.

We settled on a Base Audiophile cabinet - a rather funky affair with a nice cherry veneer and retro speaker cloth grille doors (Kinda like a Vox AC30)

Actually this was a compromise purchase to be honest I wanted the starbase system but the other half insisted on the cabinet - so she paid for it!! Neat.
I now have some spare cash for the ever intended speaker upgrade!- I am now on a roll -the madness has bitten deep....
(actually from an aesthetic point of view the Base cabinet does look rather nice- no dangly wires on view,cool green lights glowing gently behind the cloth door grilles and of course no more overly exaggerated transformer hum!
Oh and BTW sonically it performs very nicely - or should I say it isolates very nicely?)

I'm digressing...

So whilst still waiting for my CD5 I take a loan of a CDX/XPS and some Dynaudio Contour 1.8mk2 for a long weekend..and what a very long weekend that was. I have never been so worn out listening to a pair of speakers in all my life. That was it. Bass reflex ported speakers were OUT.

On the Monday I went to listen to a pair of exdem Credos at a dealer, fell in love with them and brought them home. Job Done. The Dyns went back the next day along with the CDX - I preferred the CD5 (still do)

So now Im using a Linn Mimic(an extended home loan by the same dealer till my 5 arrived) a 72/hicap/180/Credos and Base setup and everything was sounding a little better though still not perfect.

I'm getting frustrated by this time - when will my CD5 be ready? - Naim shut down for two weeks in August and i'm tired of the Mimic. So to clarify things a little I decide to check out the CDS2 because I'm still miffed at not liking the CDX- I would have had one believe me!
I decided to investigate the CDS2 in my frustration at not liking the CDX

Oh dear oh bloody dear!

After about 15 seconds of hearing the CDS2 - that was it - no competition - I had seen and heard the light...... but How MUCH?!!!
No way on earth will the wife wear that one easily - so far she had approved of the purchases as an improvement to our audio delight but this was asking too much it really was. Still, I did try though - big time.

I failed - dismally.

So September arrives and I finally take delivery of my CD5.
Four weeks go by and things are sounding great with the 5 getting better all the time - but then...Oh dear...Oh dear - I spy a brand new CDS2/XPS for sale on Loot and the guy lives just around the corner! This is an Omen!

Yup, you guessed it. Of course I bought it!(it was at that this point I discovered I had powers of persuasion far beyond those I previously knew about- a turning point had been reached in my long and loving relationship with my other half - she gave in!!!yeeehah!!!)

So.. I sell the CD5 to somebody who saves the VAT and time on the waiting list and I am now the proud and happy owner of a CDS2/XPS/72/Hicap/180/Credos/Base system and life is grand. I'm a damn site poorer financially than ever intended but at the same time I'm a happy man indeed. Music never sounded this good. It couldn't possibly get much better than this surely?

Errrr actually ....yes it can and it did!

A few weeks later and I spy a one year old 52/Supercap on Loot again. It was a Sunday. Early morning. Again just around the corner (what is it with these Salisbury guys!)

With my new found powers of persuasion fully primed I convince the wife that I'm just going down to have a look at the kit - just curious y'know Darling!

I came back not only with a 52/Supercap but also a pair of 135's that he was thinking of selling!

Bonkers or what?

Now of course I am expecting a major blow up of monumental proportions when I gets through the door with 4 more boxes only to be greeted by the wife slowly shaking her head, smiling weakly saying "Oh, You've bought some more boxes, oh well I hope it sounds as good as your other improvements" Err excuse me? - have I died and gone to bloody heaven? - spot on! (It was at this point I wondered who had actually gone mad, me or her?)

So here we are finally enjoying a rather fine audio experience at the end of a very good year indeed.
I hope I haven't bored you too much with this posting.
I would like to thank you all for your sometimes invaluable help and wish you all well for the coming new year.

Thanks Naim. It's been a trip well worth the effort.

Happy New Yeah

P. - hmmm DBLs might be nice?