Upgrade Advice

Also, and I know I'm risking becoming my own cliche here, but have you considered putting a pair of Mana soundframes under the Gravitas? When Bob from Neat installed my speakers, he reckoned that the soundbases make the already excellent Neat speakers even better still.

John

Sounds radical. What are you going to to replace them with?

John›

[This message was edited by John C on MONDAY 05 March 2001 at 19:48.]

Dan

Do you have a dedicated mains spur for the system?- if not I suggest you make this a priority - even 20amp cable capable run off a spare slot in an existing fuse box, even with an RDC (which I did) makes an amazing improvement.

Do not let Mana(iacs) put you off sorting out better supports. They make an even bigger difference than the mains!! If you have solid but not great sounding racks then some cheap(ish)(compared to a supercap) experimentation with add-ons like RDC platforms or Nordost pulsar points, or maybe the Townsend platform (which I have not tried) can reap dramatic improvements. I have compared a CDX on two levels of pulsar points (3 points / shelf / 3 points /shelf) against Phase 4 Mana and although the Mana was significantly better,the points did not disgrace themselves and were massively better than nothing.

I am now indulging in the heresy of replacing Naim cables and getting some good reults (will report once I have more data).

I really believe that you need to get the best out of your existing equipment first before moving on to better boxes.

Nic P

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Hey it all makes a difference .. but a gut feel, a question mark .. subs on the Neats, and now 135s .. maybe trying to "put back something thats missing" that wouldn't be so missing to start with, with a supercap? risk of cart before horse? The music is never going to get any better than what comes out of the preamp...the supercap adds a lot of PERCEIVED power and effortless to the music.

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No no no, whilst the Supercap will improve things, it won't add bass like the Gravitas are capable of - your claim is a bit like suggesting a 'supercap':Kans system is a substitute for a Brik based system - it just isn't so!

John

I would have to say that your existing system is well balanced and I would be reluctant to change it.

However the upgrade bug seems to have bitten and its hard to ignore it.

If it was my system I would look towards the power amp first, I know this goes against Naims source first theory, but the CDX/XPS is a superb machine and the 82 pre-amp is again superb and is good enough to show the improvements in the power amp.

Keeping the front end, pre-amp and moving to the 135's will essentially retain the same sound charicteristics of your existing system but the 135's will improve the bass and sounstage through better control of the speakers.

The best advice that can be given is to take your existing system to your dealer and listen to the improvements acheived by changing first the cd player then the pre-amp and lastly the 135's and see which you prefer!

I would be interested to know which option you go for as I am thinking of moving up to 135's from a 180 with a CDX and 82 pre-amp.

NB

A month or two ago I upgraded my 82/2*Hi to 82/Super. This upgrade did more that improve the ease of presentation. The whole sound was transformed! Everything had an added sparkle, control, flow, etc., and I'm still smiling now. Everytime I turn on the system, I realize that the Super-Cap is a special thing.

Therefore, if your choice is between the Super-Cap and 135s, go for the Super-Cap. Before you go that route though, make sure that you listen to the CDS2 in your system. It's quite an amazing player! (I've got a mere CDX right now, and I'm really yearning for the XPS, which will probably come later this year.)

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

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your claim is a bit like suggesting a 'supercap':Kans system is a substitute for a Brik based system - it just isn't so!

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Eons ago I posted about my memories of what probably is/was the most extreme and convincing demo the Linn/Naim consortium did. Years ago at an exhibition they demonstrated how the cheapest naim pre/power combo (this with a 120 power amp) fronted with an LP12/cheap arm/cheap MM cartridge into tiny (Kan-sized) Mordant Short Carnival speakers gave bigger and better bass than the tri-amped Isobariks when fronted with the Rega3/Grace/Supex. NEVER underestimate how big little speakers can sound when the signal fed to them is pristine. A supercap does for a preamp what an LP12 does for a P3-based system. There is some weird psychoacoustic effect of having midbass with texture and tune that makes it to appear more extended then bass reproduced in a sloppier way.

Ron
Dum spiro audio
Dum audio vivo

http://homepages.go.com/~rontoolsie/index1.html

Can't get enough.

I understand, as I did much the same thing when I picked up my 250, 82 and Super-Cap. I was mostly happy with my CDX/102/NAPSC/Hi/140, but I saw a few deals come along. Now my system is "unbalanced" at CDX/82/Super/250, and it's really screaming for the XPS. (Don't get me wrong; it does sound great as it is!)

If you're basically happy with your system now, then each upgrade will take you closer to nirvana. It might occasionally seem to yearn for that "missing piece", but each upgrade should bring welcome improvements.

In my case, I'm hankering mostly for the XPS, and adding bits of Mana along the way. Later I might add a 52, 135s, a CDS2, new speakers, or who know what else. Predicting the order of these aquisitions is impossible. In the meantime, I'm very happy with the status quo.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-