Gone active

Less distortion means more volume available.

Great news Mark. You seem to be having your cake and, er, watching it.

C.

gary yeowell posted:

Less distortion means more volume available.

Yes, makes sense. Certainly a much cleaner sound which is how I remembered it.

Christopher_M posted:

Great news Mark. You seem to be having your cake and, er, watching it.

C.

Ha ha. Good one. Thanks Chris.

Congratulations!  How old are the components you presumably sourced second hand?

Graham Clarke posted:

Congratulations!  How old are the components you presumably sourced second hand?

The Snaxo is late 90's and the 250.2 is 2004 but it was serviced by Naim in July 2014. The Hicap is 2006. At some point I'll get the Hicap and Snaxo serviced, maybe get the Hicap DR'd. The Snaxo was set up for SBL so it could probably do with a slight adjustment for the IBL. Having said all that, it sounds pretty fantastic right now. More to come as it warms up hopefully. Realistically that's about as far as I'm going to be able to go on that front due to space constraints. Any future upgrades will focus on the LP12 and maybe interconnects.

There is always the snaxo242 plus SupercapDR to play with :-)

Marksnaim posted:

Graham Clarke posted:

Congratulations!  How old are the components you presumably sourced second hand?

The Snaxo is late 90's and the 250.2 is 2004 but it was serviced by Naim in July 2014. The Hicap is 2006. At some point I'll get the Hicap and Snaxo serviced, maybe get the Hicap DR'd. The Snaxo was set up for SBL so it could probably do with a slight adjustment for the IBL. Having said all that, it sounds pretty fantastic right now. More to come as it warms up hopefully. Realistically that's about as far as I'm going to be able to go on that front due to space constraints. Any future upgrades will focus on the LP12 and maybe interconnects.

So the 250.2 is nice and healthy.  I'd look at getting the Snaxo serviced if it's never had one as it's long overdue.

congratulations and welcome to the mad world of 'active' -- numerous black boxeess and cables etc

i have also been passive/active/passive etc...  numerous time. currently active. once you get hooked to it, its difficult to go back to passive -- though of course passive systems also perform quite well. active just brings something else to the party as you no doubt know... 

enjoy

ken

Also the Snaxo box is not unity-gain - it pads-down the gain of the HF and bass a bit via internal trim-pots to set the levels. So even though you are removing the Passive crossover and getting a bit more gain by directly-driving the speaker drive-units, there will still be a residual level-shift you make up with the Pre volume pot.

Good that it is delivering for you though!
I've always preferred an Active system presentation of music.

DB.

jon honeyball posted:

There is always the snaxo242 plus SupercapDR to play with :-)

SupercapDR wouldn't fit in my rack, fortunately for my wallet.

DB

Have you tweaked your pots?

Steve Crouch posted:

DB

Have you tweaked your pots?

Not yet Steve. Wanted to let everything bed in first. IIRC the adjustment ftom SBL to IBL was a very minor one though. The 4 pin snaic between the Hicaps is a bit ancient too. Could probably do with being replaced with a black new one. Tempted to try Witch Hat interconnects.

I just returned from a friend's system and tweaked his new Snaxo - very easy if you are careful and know what you are doing.
Since it requires the lid removed and careful tweaking of the pots inside while the unit is live and playing music - best to have the right plastic trim-pot tweaker to avoid unpleasant mistakes.

A two-way snaxo is very easy to set, a three-way one a fair bit more difficult, but possible. With the two-way Snaxo you leave the bass pots and tweak the HF ones - with the three-way Snaxo you leave the mid pots and tweak the bass and HF relative to it.

Use a good recording with vocals and percussion and set it to render that correctly. If it sounds better after then you have done it right is a good guide.

DB.

i havent tweaked my pots -- haven't felt any need to. if ever i decie to mess about, i believe i have the plastic screwdriver -- or at least i think so ... 

enjoy

ken

Darke Bear posted:

I just returned from a friend's system and tweaked his new Snaxo - very easy if you are careful and know what you are doing.
Since it requires the lid removed and careful tweaking of the pots inside while the unit is live and playing music - best to have the right plastic trim-pot tweaker to avoid unpleasant mistakes.

A two-way snaxo is very easy to set, a three-way one a fair bit more difficult, but possible. With the two-way Snaxo you leave the bass pots and tweak the HF ones - with the three-way Snaxo you leave the mid pots and tweak the bass and HF relative to it.

Use a good recording with vocals and percussion and set it to render that correctly. If it sounds better after then you have done it right is a good guide.

DB.

Thanks for that. I'll have a go at the weekend.

Marksnaim posted:

jon honeyball posted:

There is always the snaxo242 plus SupercapDR to play with :-)

SupercapDR wouldn't fit in my rack, fortunately for my wallet.

It's still worth getting your hands on a 242 - it's a considerable step up from the 2-4.

DB's tweaked my SNAXO 362, & interestingly we ended up with the left speaker on a different setting to the right hand one. I've since tweaked it a bit more to suit my tastes, it's pretty easy once you try, as long as you go gently. As long as the original positions of the pots are clearly marked you can also go back to the default setting if you mess up.

A while ago Julian H of this forum posted a guide on how to set up two-way SNAXOs, might be worth doing a search for it.

I'll do that Tony. Thanks.

I am about to have my pots tweaked!  The 362 is going back to NAIM to have a fault rectified (my channels are crossed).  I am hoping they can account for my 500/300/500 set up too.

I am also taking the plunge on a new SCDR to replace an old olive.  I am hoping for a big improvement, but as things are being done together, I really won't get to hear the tweaking benefit.  

I will share the results in a new thread once I am done.

Gavin L posted:

I am about to have my pots tweaked!  The 362 is going back to NAIM to have a fault rectified (my channels are crossed).  I am hoping they can account for my 500/300/500 set up too.

I am also taking the plunge on a new SCDR to replace an old olive.  I am hoping for a big improvement, but as things are being done together, I really won't get to hear the tweaking benefit.  

I will share the results in a new thread once I am done.

Please do, would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Everything's sounding much improved tonight, maybe it's just my mood?? I'm hoping it's because everything is warming up nicely though. Just listened to Nick Drake's Pink Moon and the strings on the guitar sounded more realistic than I've ever heard at home. Not actually feeling inclined to touch the pots for fear of taking a backward step. Though no doubt curiosity will get the better of me before too long. Moving on to Thomas Dolby's Aliens Ate My Buick next to test the essential toe tappiness, off to a good funky start so far... 

I have always found breaking in a new SNAXO one of the most difficult components.  I had a 2-4 which picked up a lot of RF, then was fitted with a suppression kit (very bad) and then replaced; and later the 362.  The timing of everything is out, sounds almost "drunk", really quite bad, before coming into focus.

It is not as bad if used, but cold, but you may find that is some of what you have been experiencing.  But very exciting when it all comes together.

Posted by Marksnaim:

"With the number of good 250/2's currently on the market I decided to take the plunge. "

Yes Mark, the new DR Technologies has increased the number of late model 250's on the market. Hence, a good time to plunge back into an Active system!

Like yourself, I was Aktiv in the 90's, But with Linn, can't wait to see what Naim brings to the Party!

Cdx2- Hi Cap DR- 282- 3 x 250.2-Passive Tri-Amped PMS Briks. Fraimlite.

Upgraded from Bi amp to Tri amp, offered Incremental improvements.

Last Upgrade from Sound Factory Tripod  to Fraimlite, appeared to trump the addition of the third amp, please keep us Posted on future Snaxo Adjustments.

Enjoy your gear!

The Armchair QB!

Gavin L posted:

I have always found breaking in a new SNAXO one of the most difficult components.  I had a 2-4 which picked up a lot of RF, then was fitted with a suppression kit (very bad) and then replaced; and later the 362.  The timing of everything is out, sounds almost "drunk", really quite bad, before coming into focus.

It is not as bad if used, but cold, but you may find that is some of what you have been experiencing.  But very exciting when it all comes together.

i agree -- even though i have had a new snaxo a few times, its always very worrying when initially, it doesnt seem to sing -- but it does settle down after a while -- 2 weeks or so?? the other issue is when making adjustments to do so while the snaxo is ON and playing music -- which sound wrong. but i have found if you dont do this, the adjustment itself takes quite a while to settle and it will sound as sif there is something wrong in the system.

if there is someting wrong anywhere in the installation, active systems will reveal this very ruthlessly -- this is the reason why active systems are notorious for sonding off sometimes. but i have learnt over time - sometimes with great frustration -- to look at the installation very carefully -- especially mains -- and i believe i am on top of these variability issues now. one of the most effective changes i made was to get rid of a mains block. this introduced a lot of issues in my setup -- but of course i cannot then conclude that mains blocks are bad in general -- that would be simply wrong...

enjoy

ken

Guys, I'm curious on how do you tweak the 2-way snaxo: xo point or slopes or both ?