What to do next

Posted by: Mick P on 05 June 2001

Chaps

Present system is as follows

NATO 5/GARARD 401/CDX+XPS/82+SUPERCAP/250/SBL's.

I shall be mounting the above in the Hutter system which hopefully is only a few days away.

My listening is 40% tuner,50%CD and 10% vinyl.

There has been a lot of chat about the benefits of going active and this has clouded my mind somewhat.

Am I better off going active with another 250
or
buy a 52
or
buy a CDS2

For once in my life I am totally indecisive, any advice would be welcome.

Regards

Mick

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by Paul B

Mick:

I have listened to all three of your possible upgrades and each would be a significant improvement and any one of them on its own would be worthwhile. However, which should you do first? Probably the CDS2 as it will give you the most information, followed by the 52, then active. This would be my choice. Yet IMO you could probably do this in reverse and still be happy.

Paul

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by Andrew Randle

Mick,

Two points of advice:

1) Ask your dealer to bring along a CDS2, 52, 250+SNAXO+PSU
2) Do not ask to hear them all installed at the same time!

Andrew (going for a CDX in August)

Andrew Randle
2B || !2B;
4 ^ = ?;

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by ken c

Yet IMO you could probably do this in reverse and still be happy.

i agree. especially if these upgrades are NOT mutually exclusive. if you plan to upgrade to cdsii and 52 at some point in the near future, then i dont believe you will be unhappy whichever way you go, assuming the stuff is working properly. predictably, i would vote for active first, but i am not religious about it...

nice problem to have mick. one question, what sort of improvements are you looking for??

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by John

Go for the 52 you will receive the benefit in every recording. The 82/Super ---> the 52 was a very LARGE ugrade for me.

With the CDS2 choice you will miss the CDX/XPS on some recordings. I wasn't turned on 100% by the CDS2. It is a much better player but it is a bit of a shift in the presentation. I did however like how it balanced out the recordings better than the CDX/XPS.

I don't know about active, I'm just learning about this option now myself.

John

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by NigelP

Mick,

I demoed the CDX/XPS with my own 52/250 and found the CD replay to awesome. My guess is that the 52 will show yet more that the CDX is capable of. Ultimately you will go to the CDS-II as I did.

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by Dev B

Mick,

CDS2. Then NAT 01.

You know it makes sense.

regards,

Dev

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by Top Cat

...I'd recommend cancelling the Hutter order and buying Mana - biggest upgrade you have available to you

However, I know that that's not an option, so I'd stick with the source-first philosophy and upgrade the CD player first; a 52 would possibly be too revealing of a lesser source, I would imagine...

Good luck anyway...

John

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by Goose

Mick
I reckon a 52, as then ALL your sources will sound better, and virually to their maximum potential. Then when you upgrade the already more than adequate sources, you will hear them in their glory. Makes sense really. I tried a 52 with a CDi and was blown away by it.

Cheers
Goose

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by Mick P

Jonathan

Before I asked what was best.......CDS2 or 52. Now everything is clouded by should I go active and then buy either a CDS2 or 52.

Regards

Mick

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by Phil Barry

Mick,

This is obviously too much for you to think about. Send me the cash, and I'll do a few dems, buy what seems best, and send the goods to you when I'm sure I made the right choice.

Phil

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by Chris Dolan

Mick

Having just agonised over XPS or Supercap I do understand the difficulty, but the decision is probably marginal and ultimately you know that it has got to be yours!

FWIW at a Naim demo I thought the change from 82 to 52 was "bigger" than the change from CDX/XPS to CDSII/XPS.

However I could easily change my mind with a home trial, particularly as changing to a top loader might be more "hands on" fun than a pre-amp change, and we did not have the opportunity to do the comparison in reverse.

I find that I often hear greater difference by changing back when comparing good products, as if the music sounds great with the "better" component I don't listen critically and then only appreciate the difference when I change back!

Don't cloud the issue with thoughts of going active (think 500 instead).

Chris