New boxes have arrived

Hi Wenger. That sounds like a gorgeous combo! I may have to pop round In the week for a coffee and have a listen! 

Hoe does it sound with the TQ cables? 

Your welcome anytime finkfan, the TQ ultra blacks seem to be a very good match, very warm, full sounding, lots of detail...so their definitely working for me...unfortunately I was rather underwhelmed at the Bristol show after listening to the SL cables, not sure if it was room acoustics but they seemed a little harsh on my ears..but that's just me...

Yeah for me the money need to gain a full SL loom would be better spent elsewhere. 

After the number of positive reviews on the forum, I was expecting to be suitably impressed but unfortunately it wasn't working for me...prefer to spend the money on an xps

In this case, on an XPSDR. I certainly wouldn't want to have a rather screechy CDX2 into a 282/250DR and high resolution speakers unless there was an XPS in place. 

Ha! You beat me to it. I have SL wires and they are just great - no hint of hardness whatsoever, just a wonderful musical flow. But I did get the XPS first, which in my view is the right way to do things. 

Interesting HH, during the naim demo at Bristol show the xps dr was very impressive when it's turn came, but they were using a 272 not a cdx2, have you had the cdx2 , xps combo yourself? 

Many years ago I swapped a CDI for a CDX2. It was a bit of a mistake really, and I very soon got an XPS2 which brought a big improvement. But not enough, and the CDX2 made way for a CDS3. The XPS makes the CDX2 much more solid sounding, but memory fades of course. If I were you I'd be looking for an XPS and then a CDS3, should you want to remain with CD. 

Not heard a CDS3 but only heard good things about it. I shall be staying with CD for the foreseeable future. I can't be doing with ripping and servers etc. Plus I have no desire to swap one type spinning disc for another. XPS is a must though! And it's my next box. 

Every time I've heard a dem the xps always makes an significant improvement, apart from the dem at Bristol , when the nap250Dr was replaced with nap300Dr,that was equally impressive. I've not ever heard the CDS3, but I am wanting to stay with the cd format, interesting the naim representative I spoke to suggested the various naim streaming formats were still work in progress, which was a comment I wasn't expecting...but I've always been a fan of cd and vinyl.

Hi Finkfan, all the reviews seem to suggest you need an xps to make the cdx2 sing..as they say....so that will be my next purchase as well 

wenger2015 posted:

Every time I've heard a dem the xps always makes an significant improvement, apart from the dem at Bristol , when the nap250Dr was replaced with nap300Dr,that was equally impressive. I've not ever heard the CDS3, but I am wanting to stay with the cd format, interesting the naim representative I spoke to suggested the various naim streaming formats were still work in progress, which was a comment I wasn't expecting...but I've always been a fan of cd and vinyl.

Enjoy your new gear, wenger2015.  I empathise with your wanting to stay with the CD format. Re the XPS2, I'm sure it would make a worthwhile improvement to your CDX2.2 but when you come to try it , do also try out an nDAC using your CDX2.2 as a digital transport.  You may find that gives a bigger performance lift, and for less money.

But that's for another day.

Mike 

Hi MDS, thanks for the suggestion, I will certainly give that a try when the time comes. I do like a demo. I ended up going to the naim demo 3 times at the Bristol show...

MDS, just noticed on another thread you use a power line on the napsc and you noticed an immediate improvement,can I ask which one you use? 

+1 for XPS DR,  or better still a pre loved 555ps DR, also try Powerline on HC DR, you could be shocked by the lift

in performance brought  to the party.

P.s. i'm glad to see  you are sticking with physical media.

Regards

Roberto

wenger2015 posted:

MDS, just noticed on another thread you use a power line on the napsc and you noticed an immediate improvement,can I ask which one you use? 

Not sure if I properly understand your question, wenger2015.  My Naspc is the current model which came with my 282. I think the older ones had captive leads rendering the option of a Powerline redundant.  As far as I know, all Powerlines are the same.

Mike 

rsch posted:

+1 for XPS DR,  or better still a pre loved 555ps DR, also try Powerline on HC DR, you could be shocked by the lift

in performance brought  to the party.

P.s. i'm glad to see  you are sticking with physical media.

Regards

Roberto

Hi Roberto, I'm using powerline on cdx2 and Nap 250 Dr, it seems I'm going to have to purchase another one for Hicap dr.

Thanks for the recommendation, and I've always been a big fan of the physical media.

Apologies MDS, just noticed I asked a stupid question, their is only one powerline.

I didn't realise changing the power lead on a napsc was a worth doing, you obviously have and it's made an improvement ?

When i added Powerlines last year, the fisrt one was on 250 and apparently i didn't notice much difference,

then another on HC DR and found it really transformational.

The music flowed much more effortlessly, with less glare scale and soundstage seemed bigger too.

The last one was on Napsc and again without appreciable differences for me.

Now with Nac 552 i have 2 spares P. lines in the meanwhile i also tried a differenent power distribution block

and wall socket but without success. 

Regards

Robertp

Hi RSCH, interesting that the most significant change came with the powerline to the Hicap...previously it was mentioned the napsc ....maybe I need to demo with one on each...

Was the change with the Hicap straight away or did it need time to burn in?

Give DR supplies about 500h break-in time, then the system will start singing

 Hi Twinslaver, so far after initial set up, I've had everything running for about 45 hours solid, only another 450 hours to go then, ....it's still soundiing alittle harsh at moment.....

Finkfan - were you in the Neat room at Bristol on Saturday?  In any event where are you?  If you'd like to hear a CDS3 you'd be very welcome. 

Wenger - welcome to the 282/250 club!!

Regards,

Lindsay

Hi Strat (Fender), 

Thanks for the welcome, I hope theirs no iniation ceremony  to go through!!! Lol

Just wondering how long the 250dr & 282  will take to settle down and start singing ? Any ideas ?

Hi Strat. No I didn't get to the Neat room unfortunately. Spent a lot of time in the Naim demos! I'm down in Somerset. Where abouts are you and your CDS3?