Possibly the Cheapest Ever Upgrade(s)?

+1 for the TQ cables. I'm a convert too! 

I spent about $18 on a simple linear power supply to replace the SMPS that powered my Thunderbolt disk drive, from which my MacMini retrieves my music files.  This was worthwhile and to be recommended.  (the only down side:  I have now ordered a $90 LPS of hopefully higher quality to see if further gain is possible).  

You've seen the light; the blutak and mains effect should not be under estimated.  Hifi in general does not respond well to mains filtering etc, but good quality mains cables, and polished fuses / plugs, can deliver real benefits IME.  Those that think all that is snake oil territory just miss out.  

The coupling of the speaker to the stand should have made a minor improvement. The majority of what you're hearing is the move of mains, particularly the SMPSs going elsewhere. That's a major headache I find.

Frank.

CharlieP posted:

I spent about $18 on a simple linear power supply to replace the SMPS that powered my Thunderbolt disk drive, from which my MacMini retrieves my music files.  This was worthwhile and to be recommended.  (the only down side:  I have now ordered a $90 LPS of hopefully higher quality to see if further gain is possible).  

Have you isolated your MM output from the DAC, or do you use a DAC known to have galvanic isolation and exemplary RF filtering? If so, the power supplies might not make any difference, and if you haven't, it is worth doing as however good the power supplies are, including the MM's own, the MM introduces more noise. The Gustard U12 is a great investment - and low cost - taking the usb output and giving a choice of outputs (electrical and optical SPDIF, AES/EBU and IIS).

I would personally try to REMOVE the blu tack , and decouple your speakers from the stand instead of coupling them together....my guess is that you'll find the midrange to be more open and an overall feeling of more "speed" in the system. When you use Blu tack you do couple extra weight to the speakers, and if the manufactor of the speakers had found this to be useful, they would probably have added the extra weight......just my experience.

Stenberg posted:

I would personally try to REMOVE the blu tack , and decouple your speakers from the stand instead of coupling them together....my guess is that you'll find the midrange to be more open and an overall feeling of more "speed" in the system. When you use Blu tack you do couple extra weight to the speakers, and if the manufactor of the speakers had found this to be useful, they would probably have added the extra weight......just my experience.

 

An interesting thought and I guess the only way to find out would be to try it. I'm using ATC SCM19 speakers and previously asked ATC technical support, "I’m currently using Blu-tack which is a slight concern so am considering something like Herbies Square Fat Dots. Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated." The response from ATC was. "The Blu-tack will be fine in terms of its performance but please be aware it may leave marks on the veneer."

I'm still trying to find someone who's actually used Herbie's Fat Dots - has anyone tried them?

Frank Abela posted:

The coupling of the speaker to the stand should have made a minor improvement. The majority of what you're hearing is the move of mains, particularly the SMPSs going elsewhere. That's a major headache I find.

Frank.

I'm wondering if using an extension socket with inbuilt filter to feed the TV, satellite receiver and DVD player would yield a further improvement by reducing the amount of unwanted RFI from these devices radiating through the mains supply. Even when these devices are switched off the SMPS will still be doing something. Easy enough to try except I'll have to go and buy another RFI type extender socket. 

Do you or anyone else have any experience of doing this?

The two double wall outlets driving the XPS-DR and 272-DR and the extension socket are adjacent on the same ring mains. If this was 5-years ago I'd have a dedicated spur installed when the house was rewired but it's a bit late for that now.

When I first had my big IMFs, Which were fitted with castors, I had a stand that raised them so the castors were off the floor. Stands were spiked to the floor, but flat frame at top speaker base simply sat on. However due to imperfect machining of the stands the speakers could wobble marginally, so I used bl-tack as a gap filler in the corners. I used a piece of the blu-tack's separating paper between it and the speaker base, so I wouldn't have trouble lisfing off, and the great weight of the speakers squashed the bt to a minimal layer, simply gap filling.

However, after a couple of house moves, and one place where the best listening and domestic 'resting ' positions weren't the same, I used without the stands, so easily moved with the castors - and in reality the difference in sound was imperceptible. Maybe that was a function of the speakes, weight, keeping themselves steady on the castors.

I go along with Frank and Stenberg and remove the blu-tack. I do use the stuff but it's around the edge of the top- plate to stop the speaker sliding but there's none of the stuff between the base of the speaker and the stand. I did read somewhere on the net that the speaker should be de-coupled from the stand.

Whilst talking about stands there was a piece in what hi-if many years ago which said stands with filable columns should only be 2/3rds full. I remember taking filler out and leaving the stands 2/3rds full and this made a dramatic difference.

M

NewNaim16 posted:

Frank Abela posted:

The coupling of the speaker to the stand should have made a minor improvement. The majority of what you're hearing is the move of mains, particularly the SMPSs going elsewhere. That's a major headache I find.

Frank.

I'm wondering if using an extension socket with inbuilt filter to feed the TV, satellite receiver and DVD player would yield a further improvement by reducing the amount of unwanted RFI from these devices radiating through the mains supply. Even when these devices are switched off the SMPS will still be doing something. Easy enough to try except I'll have to go and buy another RFI type extender socket. 

Do you or anyone else have any experience of doing this?

The two double wall outlets driving the XPS-DR and 272-DR and the extension socket are adjacent on the same ring mains. If this was 5-years ago I'd have a dedicated spur installed when the house was rewired but it's a bit late for that now.

 

This was the approach I took.  Although my Naim kit is in an four way block, it's an MK Duraplug and inside it is basic, though well polished.  The Tacima filtered 6 way that I had originally bought for use with my amp and CD player, now has a Music PC, TV, Bluray plugged into it, so all the SMPS together and filtered.  I also use filtered blocks on for Desktop PC, NAS, Switch etc, though they are in another room, and a single socket filter / surge protector on the fridge.  I've not done lots of back and forth testing or anything, but the system sounds better than ever, and I believe the mains arrangement is at least part of the reason why.  Certainly removing the Tacima 'audiophile' mains block, and returning to my trusty 35 year old Duraplug, was one the most eye opening, or ear opening perhaps, moments I've had with hifi.  While initially the Tacima sounded more open and airy, over time I became frustrated by the lack of wallop and musical impact, and as soon as the Duraplug went back in it was much much better, and I realised exactly what I had been missing.  

I just invested in the purchase of x8 Square Fat Dots from Herbie's Audio Labs in Selma, Texas. They offer Fat Dots as an isolation and decoupling interface between monitor speakers and stands. There's an alternative product from Sonic Design out of Sweden but it's not available in black, which is what I wanted, so that made the decision easier.

ATC said that Blu Tack will be fine in terms of performance and the SCM19 is a solid sealed cabinet design but I've heard what's been said so there's only one way to find out. I'll report back once they've been delivered and I've been able to try them. I hope they work better than tap washers! 

The Music Tools Entasis stands that we have come part filled from the manufacturer - supposedly at the optimum level, which I understand is about two thirds filled.

I just tried the highly advanced and sophisticated test of unplugging the TV, satellite receiver and DVD player extender socket and nether my wife or myself could tell the difference compared with when they were connected in standby mode, which is what matters to us the way we use the system. Of course under no-load quiescent conditions, energy levels from the SMPS will be lower. 

For every upgrade from our legacy Linn to new Naim journey we've pretty much always heard a difference in the first 10 seconds of audition which may sound a bit aggressive but it's worked for us. Deciding which is better may take more time though. Anyway, we'll get some younger ears on the case to verify on a blind test.

Dunno why I didn't think of this obvious Unplugging Test in the first place - too easy I guess 

I spent £30, altering the Chord speaker cable to the Naim F Connection.    Great improvement on sound.

staffy posted:

I spent £30, altering the Chord speaker cable to the Naim F Connection.    Great improvement on sound.

We spent a bit more than that for some Tellurium Q Black bi-wire links to replace the OEM metal plate links and were amazed by the improvement for such a modest cost.

I find it quite interesting to understand what can achieved with little money rather than megabucks.