Help please: NAC 52 MC Cartridge Boards
Posted by: Traveling Dan on 06 November 2003
I need a little guidance on a specific point.
I recently acquired a NAC 52 / SC to replace my old 72 / HC. Unfortunately, it seems that the 52 has MM boards fitted, resulting in my MC cartridge being barely audible even at full throttle. My old 72, however, has the correct MC boards.
So, is it simply a question of opening up the boxes and swapping the boards over or is there more to it than that?
All advice gratefully received.
Dan
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by Richard Dane
Hi Dan,
unfortunately the older 3** series phono boards as used in the half-width case preamps cannot be used in the big-box pre-amps. You will need to get some NA523 MC boards (either S or K type depending upon cartridge choice) which can be supplied by any Naim dealer.
Richard
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by welshmark
Dan
The 72 boards won't fit in the 52 unfortunately for you.
You need to swop the mm 52 boards for mc boards or remove the boards altogether and use a dedicated phono stage.
You are spoilt for choice in this respect - I recently went for a Dynavector P75 phono stage which I am extremely happy with.
All the best
Mark
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by Laurie Saunders
The MC (K) boards for a 52 can often be purchased s/h for c £50.Do not be fooled by the low price. They are great. IMHO they are very hard to beat. The only outboard stage that betters them IMHO is the Naim Prefix
Laurie S
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by Martin Payne
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Dane:
You will need to get some NA523 MC boards (either S or K type depending upon cartridge choice) which can be supplied by any Naim dealer.
Richard,
any reason not to suggest a Stageline as an alternative (which can be powered from socket 2)?
The phono boards would need to be removed for performance reasons.
cheers, Martin
E-mail:- MartinPayne at Dial.Pipex.com
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by Traveling Dan
Gentlemen,
Thanks very much for the advice. I figured it would not be as simple as a straight exchange.
Follow-up question: I'm using a Troika MC, so which boards are best suited: S or K?
An outboard phono stage is an interesting idea that I had not considered. I think I will leave it to next year, however, as I am already well over my hi-fi budget for 2003!
Thanks again,
Dan
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by Frank Abela
You need K boards for a troiKa.
Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.Posted on: 07 November 2003 by Richard Dane
Martin,
no reason at all.... You're correct that using either a Stageline or a Prefix with the NAC52 (connected via the powered input Socket) offers a worthwhile upgrade over the internal cards. You are also correct in pointing out that for optimal performance in this configuration, the internal phono cards should either be removed or replaced with NA326 link boards.
Richard
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by Graeme Randell
I'm currently using 3** K boards with my NAC82. This involves a separate box clamped to the side of an AudioTech stand powered by a HiCap. Connection is by a extra Aro cable laid along the top of the arm board. It's basically a homemade prefix, but done before the prefix was generally available. Probably due for a clean up / service when I get round to it.
Might not be the most cost effective solution nowadays, but at the time there was no alternative.
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by MJSM
Hi Dan,
I was just browsing Ebay, and saw
these.
Not sure if the 523/1 is suitable, but I'm sure someone more knowledgable can tell you, cheap too.
Mike
Posted on: 08 November 2003 by MJSM
Graham,
I'm no expert here, as I've never felt the need to improve on the standard 'in-box' phono cards, but I believe that even with a prefix, you have to get the signals from the prefix into the pre-amp, ergo, the output of the prefix enters your pre-amp as normal, and is directed via the link boards (basically a straight line to the signal), to your input selector, and out to the power amp.
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong
cheers
Mike
Posted on: 09 November 2003 by garyi
They are simply a link so you can use the input for other stuff like a CDP.
Its a very straight forward board which just uses a metal strip to link all the points up.
Posted on: 09 November 2003 by garyi
MJSM, I think the point behind the prefix was to have as little distance between the needle and the boards.
Although I must confess I am not sure what the quantative difference would actually be, the signal has to travel the same distance anyhow, and as you say has to go through them link boards as well as the phono boards. Although I believe it can go through a normal input as well.
Posted on: 09 November 2003 by Martin Payne
quote:
Originally posted by MJSM:
Graham,
I'm no expert here ... but I believe that even with a prefix ... the output of the prefix enters your pre-amp as normal, and is directed via the link boards
Mike,
this would imply that the prefix was to be plugged into the BNCs.
It is not - it goes into one of the DIN inputs.
As for the straight-through boards, these replace the MM/MC boards on the BNC input, and change this into a line-level input instead, suitable for tuner, non-Naim CDP (with phono-outputs), etc.
Removing these internal boards will provide a small improvement on the performance of the 52, due to less current drain and noise on the SuperCap. If you power the prefix directly from socket 2 of the 52 then this makes the same demands as the internal boards, but at least you only have one set of demands and not two.
cheers, Martin
E-mail:- MartinPayne (at) Dial.Pipex.com. Put "Naim" in the title.
Posted on: 09 November 2003 by MJSM
quote:
Originally posted by Martin Payne:
Mike,
this would imply that the prefix was to be plugged into the BNCs.
Martin, Sorry, that's not what I meant to imply, only that the Prefix output still goes to the pre-amp (and obviously plugs into the straight line board), but I appreciate that to anyone who knows nothing of this arrangement, it could be confusing.
Mike
