I am desperately in need of advice.
At present, I own the following: LP12 (Ittok LV II), Rotel RCD-950, Hi-Cap, SNAPS, 32.5 (two! one is unused), 110, and a pair of Tucans. I will be selling the unnecessary equipment. I am considering the purchase of a 250. My questions are the following:
1. Will a 250 in combination with any of the above put my system out of balance?
2. Will the purchase of a 250 improve the sound quality to a meaningful extent given that I must work with some combination of the above collection of equipment.
3. Are there problems convering voltages on Naim equipment from 220 to 110 (i.e., buying UK second-hand equipment, shipping to the US)?
I tend to listen to a lot of late 50s, early 60s lounge, exotica, mambo, samba, and classical jazz.
Any insight into this madness would be appreciated.
Erik
Posted on: 07 December 2001 by Manu
Converting 220 to 110
We do it regularly here in Canada.
You should have no problem with NANA. Ask them.
Converting 110 to 250
We do it some time here in Canada.
You should have a lot of pleasure. Don't ask.
Emmanuel
Posted on: 07 December 2001 by Mike Sae
Curious as to why you feel you need that much more power?
I guess you're buying used, and use CD as a secondary source?
On an LP 12, Bert Kaempfert must sound grooovy, baby.
Posted on: 08 December 2001 by Chris L
But the rest of your equipment is similar to what I'm running now: LP12, NAC32.5(72'ed), hi-cap, NAP250. I'm running that lot through ProAc Super Tablette speakers.
If the LP12 is your main source, then I'd say match one of your 32.5's with the hi-cap, and get a 250 and you will have a very nice sounding system.
If your main source is CD, then you might want to think about spending money on that source first.
I also listen to a lot of old jazz recordings (1930's, up to 60's), and I still find it amazing how good they sound on good quality equipment.
Hope this helps,
Chris L
Posted on: 08 December 2001 by Dr. Exotica
An interesting issue is raised by Mike - is a 250 when used in conjunction with a 32.5/Hi-Cap/Tukan setup too much power? My listening room is approximately five meters by eight meters. The 32.5/110 combo seems to do just fine...
What I am considering is buying a used 250 and selling my extra 32.5, SNAPS, and 110. This is being considered primarily to improve sound quality.
Erik
Erik
Posted on: 08 December 2001 by Mike Sae
If you feel the 110 fills your room just fine, a 140 will fit the bill nicely. Lots of those around. Have you 72'd your 32.5?
If it's primarily sound quality and not quantity you're after, upgrading source and preamp will yield alot more.
There are some tonal differences betwen the amps, but they're relatively insignificant.
Is a CDP upgrade in the cards?
All kneejerk reactions, but that doesn't make it any less true...
Posted on: 08 December 2001 by Dr. Exotica
Upon reflection, I believe that Mike is right. The 110 is plugging along just fine at the moment. However, the Rotel RCD-950 is in sad need of an upgrade. A used Rega Planet can be had for $400, a Planet 2000 for $700, or a CD3 for $700. The issue now becomes whether a CD3 warrants the $300 premium over a Planet. I'm sure most on this forum will say yes. Any other opinions?
Erik
Posted on: 08 December 2001 by Mike Sae
howdy, Dr.
FWIW, I owned an old-school Planet for 2 years and a CD 3.5 for a year.
Undoubtedly, the Naim is better, but transports for a CD3 are no longer available.
Can the new VAM1205 be fitted into a CD3? If not, that fact alone is enough to put me off.
At any rate, transport problems with a Naim seem very rare.
About 20 months in, my Planet started developing transportty problems. Not half as reliable as a Naim, IMO.
If you were willing to drop used 250 cash, surely 1000 bucks is do-able for a used 3.5?
P.S. Lots of CDP advice in the archives...
Posted on: 10 December 2001 by Phil Barry
The 250 will help with peaks. It will be far more dynamic than the already good 110. I was extremely happy when I switched my 140 for a 250. I expect you'll be even happier going from the 110 to 250. With lower dostortion onpeaks, I play the 250 louder than the 140, but the 250 is better than the 140 even during low volume passages.
I wonder if the Planet/CD3/CD3.5 is a big enough improvement to satisfy an LP12 owner. Whatever good things these CD players do, the CDs will still sound pretty nasty on peaks to many people. What do your ears tell you?
Maybe it's time for a NAD CD player and an ARO? :-)
I would be concerned about the CD3 transports. There's a reason that replacement transports are few and far between. They may not fail prematurely, but they have a finite life.
Regards.
Phil
Posted on: 10 December 2001 by JRHardee
I asked about this over the summer. The consensus was that buying foreign and converting probably isn't worth the money you save on the purchase price. If you do it anyway and you buy from Britain, get the seller to ship British Airways cargo. Several people wrote in with bad experiences arising from buying CD players this way. Stick with speakers, preamps and amps.
