My first Naim system

LANESRA, suggest do as Mr Wenger does, be frugal, just spend £15k....save the rest for an add on ...eg xpsdr at a later stage ....by the way the Nac272, Nap250 combination is an excellent choice, I've demoed the same and they sound superb....you will not be disappointed...

Chrissu,

After all the advice on here, I've been pretty well dissuaded from going for the UnitiServe. Although it's convenient, it's a lot of money for what it does.

Just checked the Vortexbox website and the options are very confusing!

Wenger2015,

I may well do that. I'm seriously thinking I'll be perfectly happy with Stageline/Hi-Cap/N272/NAP250 and maybe Ovator S400's or Neat Momentum SX5i's (both of which I still need to listen to).

You've hit the nail on the head by saying its a lot of money for what it does. To be Honest if it was half the price I'd have one. At the price they are there has to be another way. That's the point most of us are making. 

Lanesra posted:

HungryHalibut/ Crish,

What's a DB Poweramp?

Its software for tagging metadata to your music files.(it does other stuff too I think but this is what I use it for)

If you go for the manual ripping option via PC, ie not Us or Vortex box, something like this will be essential for ensuring your files are tagged correctly so that you will be able to find your music.

The US tags snd finds thevartwork automatically, and I guess Vortexbox does too.

Just out of interest, how many CDs have you got to be ripped?

LANESRA

Speakers are very much a personal choice, we all like what we like...both in performance and athetics ..colour ect ect....their is definitely no right or wrong...

I'm sure you will be very happy with whatever you decide...

Huge numbers of the CDs that I ripped with the Serve have really poor artwork, where all those done with dbpoweramp have really nice high resolution sleeves. Dbpoweramp seems much better at finding good artwork, and it tells you the resolution of the options, whereas with the Serve, you have far less control over what it's up to. 

Lanesra posted:

innocent Bystander,

I will be going for the StageLine/Hi-Cap/N272/NAP250. I like the fact that this reduces the box count somewhat. I really liked Tidal during the demo (partly for convenience), so the N272 may well become my main source. Plus the internet radio and optional DAB/FM radio card, means it's a very versatile and excellent sounding system.

I'm minded to keep my existing CD player, at least until all my CD's have been ripped onto a NAS drive.

Speakers and whether to go for the XPS2 seem to be the main issue.

I think you are making a wise decision here. If you get the basics right, you can pick up an XPS or a Superline at a later date, should you feel the need. It may be worth another trip to York for another speaker demo...... You then need an agreement that the SO will exchange them if they don't for some reason work in your room once they are delivered. 

Crish,

I haven't counted them but maybe 500. Probably not enough to justify going to the expense of a UnitiServe. I think the manual CD ripping on my PC with DBPowerAmp is the way to go.

Checking the VortexBox website, there are so many different options for it that it put me off.

Dear all,

I'm going to purchase the following:

1. StageLine/Hi-Cap;
2. Nac-N272 with NO additional power supply. I've decided to add the tuner card to replace my ancient Arcam Alpha tuner;
3. NAP250;
4. A NAS drive; and
5. Speakers to be confirmed after further demo.

I will be keeping my "souped-up" and recently serviced Mantra and Cyrus CD6 CD player.

This, to me, is an excellent system and keeps the "box-count" reasonable.

Also, thanks everyone for your advice.

Good decision my friend...keep us updated, once you have made your speaker choice..

Ps don't forget to buy the wife an expensive hand bag....suggest ......no I expect your totally fed up with good intentioned suggestions...

wenger2015 posted:

Ps don't forget to buy the wife an expensive hand bag....suggest ......no I expect your totally fed up with good intentioned suggestions...

It sounds to me as if Mrs Lanesra is actually reasonably intterested in the HiFi, so maybe better would be some music of her choice...

Lanesra posted:

Dear all,

I'm going to purchase the following:

1. StageLine/Hi-Cap;
2. Nac-N272 with NO additional power supply. I've decided to add the tuner card to replace my ancient Arcam Alpha tuner;
3. NAP250;
4. A NAS drive; and
5. Speakers to be confirmed after further demo.

I will be keeping my "souped-up" and recently serviced Mantra and Cyrus CD6 CD player.

This, to me, is an excellent system and keeps the "box-count" reasonable.

Good choices!

Some sugestions on a NAS: Synology or QNAP.

Personally, I use QNAP HS-251 Silent NAS, with two 6TB WD disks, in Raid mode. A manual back up of all files is kept off line, in a magnetically shielded box (just my small personal paranoia )

Of my two 1TB disks, a bit over 1000  albums only 3/4 fills one. In a lifetime's music collecting I wont exceed 1TB!  (But I only buy albums where the music has longevity for me)

Innocent Bystander posted:

Of my two 1TB disks, a bit over 1000  albums only 3/4 fills one. In a lifetime's music collecting I wont exceed 1TB!  (But I only buy albums where the music has longevity for me)

Same here, my collection is in the hundreds rather than thousands. The great thing about web streaming and iRadio is the 'try before you buy' option it provides. No more duff album purchases.

I am aleeady at 850GB and counting. Expecring to breach 1TB soon - high res audio does take up more space.

Wenger2015/ Innocent Bystander

Yes I will update this thread when I purchase my speakers.

BTW, I will be buying my wife a Smart Car with some of the money saved. Provided I don't go mad on speakers!

My wife is quite keen on upgrading my hi-fi.

Adam,

Thanks for your suggestions on the NAS drive. I won't need 12tB of RAM as my CD collection is approx. 500 CD's. I don't intend to get rid of the CD's, they'll just be boxed up and put in the attic.

Innocent Bystander/ Chrissu,

My collection also is in the hundreds, so 1TB + 1TB backup will be enough.

That is exactly why I'm going for the N272. As I can listen to albums on Tidal before deciding whether to buy. With the FM/DAB tuner card, It really is a superb and flexible piece of kit.

Lanesra posted:

Adam,

Thanks for your suggestions on the NAS drive. I won't need 12tB of RAM as my CD collection is approx. 500 CD's. I don't intend to get rid of the CD's, they'll just be boxed up and put in the attic.

Raid system means it's 'only' 6TB for me - the second disk is a mirror copy of the first one. It's a redundancy in case of failure. I'd suggest getting 2 x 2TB NAS compatible drives.

Remember that a 24 bit 192k album takes up the space of ten ordinary CDs. My suggestion, given that the difference is only about £15 per drive, is that you get two 3TB drives. Western Digital Red are the ones you want. They are designed to be used in a nas and are generally accepted as the best. 

I have the FM module in my 272. It's really very good, and will easily be better than the Alpha! Radio 3 and 4 sound extraordinarily good - far better than their iradio equivalents. 

Adam/ HungryHalibut,

Thanks for your advice on the NAS. I will go with 2x3TB.

And thanks for the reassurance about the tuner card HH.

HH,

Would a Western Digital My Cloud EX2 with 2x3TB WD Red drives be suitable for the NAS? Unfortunately, it's out of stock on WD's website.

Adam,

Sorry, neither the QNAP or Synology NAS drives appear to be available by mail order. Which makes it difficult for me to purchase. Also, their options are very confusing.

It makes sense to get the NAS drive as soon as possible, which means purchasing by mail-order, so I can start ripping CD's straight away.