Plan your next few upgrades

Good idea Aric, putting plans on paper.

Now let me have a think....buy more CDs, buy more records...take a holiday to Italy...Tuscany maybe ...on the coast....might even take the GTV.

ATB Ray

Really, all this seems too much a stream of consciousness  to expect a fruitful response.

You could follow this through to extremes from how you get from a UQ2 to contingency of winning the lottery and building an active Statement system. There seems like a lot of ifs and buts in these plans. Live in the now.

feeling_zen posted:

Live in the now.

Probably the most useful thing ever posted in this place 

Being living in the now the most difficult thing to do in life, I'd say this – albeit wonderfully sounding – is not such a practical piece of advice.

Well it depends. From an existential perspective, the issue is how much of your conciousness is focused on the current state of being, and how much are you projecting into a hypothetical future state which may never come to exist - in which case all energy spent on that projection of conciousness that never came to be is wasted.

The further along you project, the greater potential for error and in bringing one's own unhappiness. Thus living in the now is a state to aspire close to if never achieve since almost any thought consists of projection to the past (memory) or projection to the future (imagination - what will I buy for dinner tomorrow?).

Thus you could argue that planning more than one upgrade ahead, or even planning just one upgrade ahead but one that is too far in the future, may come to present some anguish towards the being as they wrestle with:

1. The knowledge that things desired may not come to pass causing anxiety
2. Regret of the time spent anticipating something that, in hind sight, never happened.

Interesting, but if our ancestors had been fully living in the now they would have frozen to death in the first winter.  Enjoy the now but plan for the future seems more sensible to me.

So the point being ...don't plan ahead. Treat every upgrade as your last.......

.although chances are it won't be.

Just remember, no matter where you stop you system could always sound better :-)

I just rather liked Mr Zens response particularly applied to Hi-Fi. There seems a tendency (maybe it's the hobby side of Hi-Fi owenership) to be planning the next upgrade and not enjoying what you already have, hence the 'Live in the now' comment. 

Still if the OP likes to have his full future upgrade path mapped out then who am i to argue. 

Too many things....

1. put a power supply on your nDAC if you really must do something. XPS is the maximum you should try with your components. 555PS will most likely unballance the whole system.
2. Power Lines on all Naim components.

Adam

I agree with Adam that an XPS belongs on the nDAC.  Depending on importance of digital sources you might consider this before replacing the CB Hicap.  Of course, the cost of an XPS is considerable even second hand.  Having just put a Supercap on my 282 (which transformed my music replay profoundly), I would lobby for you to enjoy the recently-serviced CB Hicap until you find and can budget for a Supercap.  The power cords make sense as affordable upgrades which improve the sound slightly (in contrast to the power supplies, which affect sound profoundly but at considerable cost).

I am not familiar with your ATC speakers, although I understand them to be well regarded.  I am dubious about placing electronics near, on or in a vibrating loudspeaker.  I am also impressed with what full power supply regulation does for the NAP250 music replay.  So I wonder if your move to a larger room might lead to a Naim power amp and passive speakers?  Perhaps you have already investigated this, or others may weigh in with their experiences.  

Charlie

Way too many things for me to get my head around re the OP's upgrade plans.

No problem putting upgrade plans down on paper, it could add some clarification. But new product launches, new product upgrades and newly discovered alternatives can very quickly throw your upgrade plans into touch. Therefore there is no point in planning too far ahead.

I do have some attraction to the 'live in the now' ethos rather than be on the endless and expensive upgrade treadmill. I also have been rewarded with yet more wonderful and insightful musical experiences resulting from often modest upgrades. Unexpected changes in ones financial situation/pressures can also have a dramatic effect on upgrade plans. The problem is also one of diminishing returns and knowing when to stop from both a musical enjoyment and financial investment aspect.

Interesting and thought-provoking.

Yes, I can see how my list of choices seems overwhelming to others who doesn't own my system. However, I suspect most of you plan in detailed fashion several steps ahead. The journey is, for me, often more rewarding than the success of having attained. But for the philosophical stalwarts, I can confidently say if the journey stopped abruptly today for whatever reason, I'd be more then happy to continue enjoying my system. 

Charlie, the ATCs with Naim work beautifully! Throw in some Chord cables and this combination is very synergistic. In a bigger room, frankly, the ATCs are even better. They LOVE to go loud, for hours on end. If you're a rock fan, they deserve a serious audition. I do have a lot of soft furnishings about, including a thicker carpet, and perhaps the CB HC really helps with a "softer" presentation, but I've never had issue with abrasive sounds coming from my ATCs. 

I agree with the power S]supply upgrade as the first primary one (only lacking 1 PL, and don't see advantage of putting a PL on my CD5XS since it's just acting as a transport). I should have added that due to space restrictions, I can currently only house a HC to power the 82. So upgrading the CB HC is really the only option there. Once I move to a larger room and can handle another Fraim rack, then SC, or yes, even XPS becomes possible. The XPS is a good idea. And ironically they're much more affordable than an Olive SC, because I can never seem to find the latter offered for sale!

"You gotta have a dream. If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?"

(Happy Talk, South Pacific)

My dream is not about obtaining a system, it's about obtaining a sound fit for my means. Pay proper heed to racking and room acoustics from day one - otherwise it could become chasing boxes up a ladder to an unobtainable end.

Dear all, I'm a happy Naim user from Romania:

Nd5 xs , XS2+Flatcap2 and Chord Cadenza RCA between them

CD player Creek Destiny 2 with Audiquest Hawkeye digital to Nd5

Speakers Piega premium 1.2 with NACA5 cable

Power cables Furutech all over, BADA 5600 powerplant, Noise Eater from AudioEssentialTools, SNS plug from Kemp Electronics

Upgrade1 : SN2 vs XS2, Piega 5.2 instead of 1.2, Powerstrip plus from Kemp vs. current BADA

Upgrade 2 : Piega coax 10.2 instead of Premium 5.2, PowerLines all over, Chord Signature RCA

Upgrade 3 : NDS vs ND5

Kind regards,

Bogdan.

Hi Bogdan

What is the question?

I have one comment: do you really, really need all those fancy power conditioners and distributors?

Adam

Adam Zielinski posted:

Hi Bogdan

What is the question?

I have one comment: do you really, really need all those fancy power conditioners and distributors?

Adam

Hi Adam,

the distributor is a legacy from an pre-Naim era. In the current system, I tried a simple consumer grade distributor (no switch, no filtering , no protection) and a Supra Mains block , not satisfied with the sound (some spark and detail gone) either way , so the BADA power plant is back. It has unfiltered slots, slots dedicated to high current components and a third pair dedicated to sources (all filtering  hi/low current being in parallel). Played with the place of components in the slots and settled with the scheme that serves better to my ears.  The other two conditioners are parallel shunt filters, plugged into spare slots of the power bar: played with them in/out, the Kemp one is bringing a notable impact, the other one almost none . So both stayed in their places

I'm heading for a Kemp Strip Plus, with star wiring, no filtering, no switch, only spike protection and two modules of parallel shunt conditioning.  Sadly no possibility to test it, but is the closest device to the specifications I read here for a Naim system and that I can live with (I'm stuck in my mind with the need of spike protection and with the idea of parallel conditioning that can do only good things in a polluted mains, with no side effects on dynamics). I' m already satisfied with Kemp products (SNS module and Q&A module), so I might pull the trigger in blind. If it's a miss, zero chances of reselling it, at least in Romania 

Willing to take any other ideas...

Kind regards,

Bogdan.

PS: in my previous post I stated in my wishlist the later-later-later upgrade to a NDS. It does not fit even in my dreams, I actually meant NDX

Bogdan

I tried a variety of different distributors, primarily focusing on a good Polish manufacturer - ENERR. Also tried many different power supply cables - ENERR, MIT, Furutech.
I also thought I needed spike protection.
And guess what - I ditched them all, in favour of PowerLines. Naims simply sound their best with the 'humble' PowerLine.
As far as distributors are concerned - I use two, unfiltered ones: WireWorld Matrix 2 - star wired and for my more advanced system Furutech eTP60.

As to a spike protection - I live in central Warsaw, in an old building with completely new electrical system. There are circuit breakers and protectors on the 4 phases entering the building. Then I have 3 phases entering my flat. I use one of them for my dedicated audio systems.  All with fuses and differential circuit breakers.
The entire infrastructure is underground. If there is an external power surge it should be caught by the building protection system. So that's why I've decided to ditch spike protectors. Without knowing your domestic circumstances I cannot of course offer any sound advice - all I'm trying to say is that in urban areas chances of a main spike are a a bit smaller.

On the upgrade options of your components:
First upgrade for me: ditch this RCA interconnect and get a HiLine or TelluriumQ Black (or Black Diamond) DIN-DIN interconnect. DIN is the crucial bit here.Upgrade 2: NDX with an XPS power supply
Upgrade 3: go for a pre-power combo

It's nice to play with various power supply cables, but I feel it will be just that - playing and changing with no real uplift in performance.

Adam

Dear Adam, thank you for your thoughts, quite useful. Her are some considerations from my side:

-spike protection: I completely agree with you, no real need, had no issues many years (never to be precise). No dedicated mains spur, but the my counter box is fitted with best breakers (including differential and sensitive to current slope) that I could find-I'm an electrical engineer. However, I'm stuck with the idea of a separate protection in for the hi-fi  system,  I'm still fighting it 

-Powerlines: quite expensive and in this stage I think I will have a better ROI by upgrading the amp or speakers (2 PLs are equal to upgrading to a SN2 from XS2 or to a better pair of Piega speakers for example). Once these done, I will think more seriously to PLs

-Other upgrades: as said above, upgrading the amp and speakers I think will get significant improvements. NDX +XPS seems overkill in current setup (or futire), and separates to much for my room of 15m2. But I will definitely study into DIN-DIN cable from Tellurium B.

Now, I was thinking also myself to etp60:  simple and it's said to be effective. In the same time, not star wired, and my mixed results (also stated here). How do you find it and what are your impressions? Thank you!

All the best, Bogdan.

bogdan Ro posted:

Dear Adam, thank you for your thoughts, quite useful. Her are some considerations from my side:

-Powerlines: quite expensive and in this stage I think I will have a better ROI by upgrading the amp or speakers (2 PLs are equal to upgrading to a SN2 from XS2 or to a better pair of Piega speakers for example). Once these done, I will think more seriously to PLs

-Other upgrades: as said above, upgrading the amp and speakers I think will get significant improvements. NDX +XPS seems overkill in current setup (or futire), and separates to much for my room of 15m2. But I will definitely study into DIN-DIN cable from Tellurium B.

Now, I was thinking also myself to etp60:  simple and it's said to be effective. In the same time, not star wired, and my mixed results (also stated here). How do you find it and what are your impressions? Thank you!

 

PowerLines - as Master Yoda once said - do not underestimate the power of the PowerLines (or something along those lines). It's a deceptively simple upgrade. I was quite surprised how the sound changed / improved.

eTP60 - I was told it's star wired. Even if it's not it works very well for my NDX/282 based system. The sound is quite dynamic and fluid. I like it - that's why it stays

thebigfredc posted:

Good idea Aric, putting plans on paper.

Now let me have a think....buy more CDs, buy more records...take a holiday to Italy...Tuscany maybe ...on the coast....might even take the GTV.

ATB Ray

LOL...

ask (opinion) to you're better half.

james n posted:

feeling_zen posted:

Live in the now.

Probably the most useful thing ever posted in this place 

ditto.