ND5 XS + XP5 XS better than NDX

Posted by: Fosfocreatina on 08 October 2014

Hi to everyone !

 

I bought the XP5 XS for my streamer and everything changed !

 

More musicality, more detail, less harshness, the bass is much more controlled.

 

I did a direct comparion of the SQ of the Naim streamer with a C.A.P.S. 3 server (SO Win 2012 core with JRiver MC+ linear power supply connected at the Oppo 105 DAC): before installing  the XP5 the differences between the 2 sources where not so big; after adding the XP5 to the Naim streamer there is no game !

 

A friend of mine, who is a "serious listener", after hearing my setup (with the ND5 + XP5) says that this combination is better than the "plain NDX" !

 

I'm happy like a child on Christmas day 

Posted on: 08 October 2014 by Iver van de Zand

wow !

 

can you elaborate a bit more: what are the differs,ces of the combo versus the NDX

 

congrats on your purchase !

Iver

Posted on: 08 October 2014 by Zeny

Yes please elaborate more.

 

when using bare nd5xs vs the CAPS3, which was better? into what dac?

Posted on: 08 October 2014 by GraemeH

If I recall correctly there is a 'Gramophone' review on-line with a concluding comment about ND5XS + XP5XS vs NDX.

 

G

Posted on: 08 October 2014 by Fosfocreatina

the bare ND5 Xs and the C.A.P.S. 3 project fed through the Oppo 105 Dac and in the last months also through the Naim V1 Dac where almost on the same.

 

As I said, with the XP5 PSU things changed dramatically. 2 things really impressed me:

- the details: now the music is really much more detailed: I hear things that I couldn't perceive before. There are nuances in the music that where simply hidden !

- the bass: I have quite good laudspeaker (Dali Epicon 8) that have a really controlled bass. With the XP5 the bass it's way more controlled, more dry and very "speedy".

 

For GraemeH: Yes, there is a review on "Gramophone" but i opened this topic to hear the comments of the folk of the forum because I don't really trust the people from the press !

 

Have fun

Posted on: 08 October 2014 by Mike-B

I have heard ND5 with & without XP5,  problem is their was 6 weeks between,  so not worth commenting on.  I did notice a difference between bare NDX & ND5 - both playing with 282/200 & Dynaudio (???) 

 

However once at home my NDX is markedly improved with an outboard PSU (not Naim)

I first used the PSU with my old CDX2 after comparing it to the Naim XPS2, the difference between the PSU's was not so significant,  but what they both did to the CDX2 was really significant.  

The change it makes to the NDX is different to what it did to the CDX2 & much as you describe with the ND5/XP5 combo.  

Posted on: 08 October 2014 by pete T15

I demoed the ND5XS/XP5 against a bare NDX with a Supernait2 and PMC23's about 18 months ago . I don't recall the details but there were 3 of us listening and we were all in agreement that the XS pairing was better but only by a whisker.

Posted on: 08 October 2014 by Macbags

This is a topic I've been interested about for a while as Im looking for the best upgrade to my nd5 sn2 pmc 23 system. while I haven't been able to demo the xp5xs I have spent time listening to the NDX which is a noticeable upgrade over the bare nd5.

 

If the nd5 xp5xs is as good or  marginally better than the ndx then its a very worthwhile step up......only problem i've spent a lot of time comparing the ndx v nd5 into hugo and the latter simply blows the ndx out of the water by some considerable margin.  

 

Sorry to re raise the hugo on this forum but it is a special piece of kit and it costs broadly the same as either chopping in a nd5 to get a ndx or adding and xp5xs.....you also get a far superior headphone amp over the sn2.

 

I'd be happy with any combination but have decided to go down the hugo route (admittedly after a lot of soul searching) 

Posted on: 08 October 2014 by GraemeH
Originally Posted by Fosfocreatina:

the bare ND5 Xs and the C.A.P.S. 3 project fed through the Oppo 105 Dac and in the last months also through the Naim V1 Dac where almost on the same.

 

As I said, with the XP5 PSU things changed dramatically. 2 things really impressed me:

- the details: now the music is really much more detailed: I hear things that I couldn't perceive before. There are nuances in the music that where simply hidden !

- the bass: I have quite good laudspeaker (Dali Epicon 8) that have a really controlled bass. With the XP5 the bass it's way more controlled, more dry and very "speedy".

 

For GraemeH: Yes, there is a review on "Gramophone" but i opened this topic to hear the comments of the folk of the forum because I don't really trust the people from the press !

 

Have fun

Just trying to be helpful...wasn't suggesting you shouldn't have started this post.

 

G