552 burn in/Toying with setup

Mark

You have to be patient! It's a long break in period - at least 6 weeks. My 252 needed those 6 weeks to show its strengths.

My neighbours 552 sounded dull and unpleasant the first 6 weeks. There was no bass. 552 has a heavy PSU. It takes time to break in. Same goes to SC2 and HC2.

Now this 552 is in week 8 /with 3x500/. The system sounds impressive. No weakness at all!

I had my system on a 6 shelf fraim. Wrong! I split it in two racks with an additional base and now I have more PR&T, control and bass.

Emil

Marc,
After 10 weeks I thought now is the 552 ready - but 6 weeks later it was better again.

Ulrich

Thanks guys..

A buddy of mine bought a CDS3 a few weeks ago and has had some real concerns.
It seems to be the same no matter what (new) piece of kit it is.

Lord knows how Naim can figure which piece will sound better being that it takes so long to sound right....

As soon as my 52/Super sells, I am ordering the 552.........
Very much looking forward to it...

Any other thoughts? Please send them along...

Ulrich:
Glad to hear your 552 is singing!!!

Regards,

Marc

I have had my new kit now for about 4 months. I thought that I had got to the end of the "burn-in" period, and I know that some people on this forum are violently opposed to things changing after the first week, but two weeks ago things suddenly changed quite dramatically. More of everything. Even more shockingly realistic (more goosebumps). Not sure which box caused this to happen (it may have been the speakers), but it definitely happened.

Then last weekend my CDS2 started skipping and stopping in the middle of CD's. A new puck and a groom with bluetak fixed things for a few days but now it is doing it again. Bugger.

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Lord knows how Naim can figure which piece will sound better being that it takes so long to sound right....

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This must make a mockery of the factory 'listening test' that every bit of kit passes through before leaving.

Having heard, for example, a NAP300 and how poor it sounds relative to my modest, but well run-in system, how on earth can any subjective assessment be made of something that can barely hold a tune when new / cold.

Surely it's simply functional test, which could be better accomplished by more efficient (read:cost-effective) means?

Andy.

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Originally posted by Andrew L. Weekes:

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Lord knows how Naim can figure which piece will sound better being that it takes so long to sound right....

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This must make a mockery of the factory 'listening test' that every bit of kit passes through before leaving.

Having heard, for example, a NAP300 and how poor it sounds relative to my modest, but well run-in system, how on earth can any subjective assessment be made of something that can barely hold a tune when new / cold.

Surely it's simply functional test, which could be better accomplished by more efficient (read:cost-effective) means?

Andy.

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Andy,

I dunno, I think that the basic musical character stays roughly the same hot or cold, I'm not a great a believer in warm up/run in (except for record players, CD and speakers where there is a bit of gruffness). I think 'oh it isn't warmed up yet and that's why it sounds shit is a bit of a cop out.

Having been to the factory, I think there are a lot of experienced ears @ Naim who can seem to tell whether something works or not regardless of burn in - i.e they can work out whether the basics are right and over time it will work as it should.

regards

Dev

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I'm not a great a believer in warm up/run in (except for record players, CD and speakers where there is a bit of gruffness).

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It's probably because your volume control is stuck at 11, Dev - warmup is something that happens immediately for you

Listen to a cold amp though (an original 250 is a classic example) and from cold it's a bit shouty and edgy, but more importantly it fundamentally lacks control and rythmic progression at the bass end, missing a whole load of character from bass instruments that makes them sound simply uninvolving when compared to the final performance.

You may be right though, experienced ears may be able tell whether there's anything amiss, but to suggest that this listening test gives an indication of the final performance, musically, is not the case to my ears.

Andy.

Andrew,

Thinking of the obvious(sarcastic tone)...

The guy who goes in to the shop and listens to this wonderful 80,000 dollar system.
Plucks down his money, gets it home, and 6 to 8 weeks later he is still waiting?

We have been through it many times. Its seems par for the course.It does seem with every new generation of kit it takes longer to burn in....

The dealer telling this gent that its going to sound like crap for the next 2 monthes!! LOL!!!

The dealer has to (at this point) get into the customers home. He or she needs to be the barometer of what is and what will be...

I have a couple friends who have gone through some intersting times as of late. A CDS3 and the other,an active system that just would not settle in....The latter is doing wonderful. The CDS3 is at the 3 to 4 week period. Still not where it will be some time down the road...
But, much better than where it was a week previous..........

To be honest, I have never heard of anything(forget about cost) that takes so long to do what it was designed to do....

Regards,

Marc

I didn't mean to suggest that my system ever sounded bad. After an extended home dem with run-in gear the new stuff sounded polite and boring for a few weeks and then slowly but surely it improved. A bit like ripening a huge smelly cheese, but without the smell (or the cheese). I was warned that things would get ugly during the ripening process but generally it's been a pretty straight line from great to unbelievable.

Unlike the CDS1 with it's addiction to BluTack (mine was going through 2 packs a day by the time I ditched it) my CDS2 has been absolutely trouble free until last week. If my suspicions are correct and the laser is knackered it isn't a major operation to fix it. Is it ?

The 552 -

So how long does it take before it produces an acceptable sound - ie comparable to a 52


Re the CDS2 - I had to have a new mechanism installed and I could detect a large change while playing the first CD and then improvement over the next few days. Calibration was then confused by demming a 552.

Derek

<<Have you checked your PTs today>>

The 552 is not a subtle upgrade over a 52. A brand new stone cold 552 is massively better that a 52 in every way. Then it gets better.

So us old geezers listening to gear that is 10 years old, have it made, it sounds wonderful!!

Indeed old geezers have something going for them. I swear that my CD3 sounded much better after about 3 years. In its first year, a casual listener said it "sounds like metal" compared to my LP12/Akito/K9 I had at the time. A nice LP-CD comparison I thought. Fair enough, the CD3 cannot really compete.

However, over time the CD3 certainly softened and I found I could play it louder. Having recently upgraded to a CDS1 (with a full service) this is also getting better and its been with me for over 2 months now.

Could be me though!

cheers
B

Hello Brucie

Does it really matter whether it is you or your equipment, just as long as it sounds better. I sometimes wonder whether the connection between
the sound quality and are enjoyment of the music is as linear as we suppose. What do others think?

Regards


robert

Brucie,

CDS1...may be you are getting used to the sound of CD (which when you 1st hear it it is harsh!) ... try listeming to LP now...after all these years...I will be interested in your reaction!

Richard (happy with my LPs!)

Richard,

I have never stopped listening to my LPs. My LP12/arm/PSU/cart have all been upgraded over time too. I enjoy my CDs and my LPs in different ways, in equal measure. The CDS1 has simply brought CD replay closer to my LP12.

In sum, I find that as LP replay gets better, it gathers the strengths of CD (quieter background, cleaner sound) and as CD gets better it acquires the strengths of LP (more musicality, more depth).

Now we have the CDS3 living with top LP12 spec and whilst having not heard either, my suspicion is that they are getting closer but have still not met. May be they are assymptotic to the music axis!?

Cheers
Bruce

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and most recently when I switched my 52 with a preamp specially made for me by a studio amp specialist. Most of all, the last bit totally stunned her.

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Which preamp exactly would this be, Hockman, pray tell? I would be very interested. I don't think it would look as good as the 552 besides how it sounds, but then this doesn't quite apply since you seem to be a performance-driven enthusiast unbothered with aesthetics when you have your 500 lurking somewhere hidden in the shadows...

You're right about the reported "magnification" of improvements which might have little consequence to those of us who are more into the music than the hi-fi... I have been conscious of that whenever I chance the Forum and some of its "highly-enthusiastic-but-magnified reports". However to spruce things up a bit, life is after all meant for a little living, and if this "magnification" provides something to look forward to, I don't mind embracing it just for the kick. Other than that, it's back to the music.

I hope to pop by one day for a visit, perhaps together with Roland too, to see and hear your hidden 500.

Good listening; the music's groovin' frightfully more.

Regards

Philip

naimniac for life

We'll get used to it in due time, I suppose, but then we're after the performance. I did swear against the new look when it was first launched, but now have to eat my words since the new look has grown on me. Pity you have your 500 hidden in the shadows, but it's yours, so whatever makes you happy.

The CDS3 is one sexy looking piece of kit from the photos, but I am waiting to see one in the flesh. You're one hard customer to please totally, since it hasn't appealed to you aesthetically, but then again you do like the look of wrought iron and glass...

Good listening; the music's groovin' frightfully more.

Warm regards

Philip

Planning bank heists.

naimniac for life