What do you consider to be the keystone to your system?
Posted by: joerand on 19 July 2016
Faced with the prospect of having to abandon all but one of your current components and build a new system, what would be the single unit you'd save for a foundation?
Your new hypothetical system might be all Naim or include other brands, can be less or more. Just that you can only carryover one item.
What is the indispensable heart and soul of what you now have?
Just as one cannot be too rich, nor too thin, one cannot have too good a preamp. I love my 272 but would absolutely love an S1 preamp with my 250DR!
For me, it's my music, my room and the little component that I recently learned I just couldn't live without, my Hugo.
DAC-V1. No question. 
Dave
Without EU membership, music would mean nothing! Wait! Seattle is in the EU , right?
NickSeattle posted:Without EU membership, music would mean nothing! Wait! Seattle is in the EU , right?
Yes Nick, it is from now on. We will have you guys, since your cousins decided to leave us. 
Sorry. Not a matter for jokes from outposts so far removed. I truly enjoy the sense of global kinship on the Forum. It is a balm for the tragedy of "local" politics, to be sure.
Nick
Anyway... back to the topic:
Having read all the answers I like the idea of music being irreplacable. Nevertheless I will stick with my original answer: NDS and its power supply.
Peter Dinh posted:LP12 + Ittok + Troika + NAC62 + HICAP + NAP 140. It is so musical, I have had a hard time to find something like this.
oh, I almost forgot, Linn Kan - This little guy packs very powerful, tight, articulated bass, very sweet, and sparkling.
This system sets me up as a Naim/Linn fan.
The koetsu cartridge, without question. It changed the Level of music reproduction like nothing else.
Well, ignoring my NAS, as Mike-B observed, nothing else is stand-alone and so it would come down to which piece I feel most emotionally attached to. I would have to give give serious consideration to my LP12/ARO and my bolt together NAP250s but I know that in the end it would be my EAR534, the joys of great Class A were and continue to be a revelation!
M
Depends if I were downgrading, upgrading or just making a change.
If I were upgrading I'd likely keep my Loudspeakers (Focal Electra 1028 Be)
If I were downgrading then I'd likely keep my amps (Exposure XVII & XVII)
If I was making a change then I'd likely keep the streamer (NDX)
But above all the listener and music are the most important element to me, if you haven't got either of them what's the point of having a fancy system!
For me it's my collection of LP records with their stories and memories they carry. I could easily replace any technical device, but I hate the idea of replacing my LPs with digital.
Although most of my music listening pleasure is digital, the LP records are the emotional center of my system and I like the idea of giving them more space and visibilty than the black boxes have.
Ideally I want my system to dissapear visually, this is why I own custom made high end bookshelf speakers, the are visually smaller than floorstanders and give more visibility to the LP records.
Listening experience.
knowing how to listen and experience sound as a thing that has meaning and been crafted by creative people who want to express something that might not be able to be expressed in another medium.
Definitely the vinyl..
The key is for me the music itself. I use the music in my main system, on the Muso and on my mobile setup. And in all three contested I derive pleasure from the core the music. In the core system I would argue that the 552 is the most important piece of the puzzle.
Chord Hugo, because it's the best part of my system and for its value is irreplaceable
The Nac552.
My record collection, I would part with all my Naim boxes before I parted with that and use any cheap TT based system I have enjoyed my records on every single system I have ever owned right from the Bush SRP that my brother and I had in our bedroom up until the LP12 I have today.
Has to be the music, particular my vinyl collection. Quality of the sound is all relative, and dark side of the moon on my Pye battery cassette recorder managed to bring me tears the first time I heard it.
absolutely - lowfi analogue audio replay equipment seems to still get through to you - lowfi digital replay equipment just doesn't - at least for me anyway
DAC-V1 for me. The music from this small box is truly remarkable.
Ian.
Simon-in-Suffolk posted:absolutely - lowfi analogue audio replay equipment seems to still get through to you - lowfi digital replay equipment just doesn't - at least for me anyway
Yes, I'd take a cheap FM radio over an MP3 player any day, and I enjoyed music on my first budget turntable as much as I've ever enjoyed it.
I'm not sure this discussion of the value of your music collection is really relevant to the OP's question though, I'm pretty sure he was thinking about the hardware.
As far as I'm concerned, my music store is properly backed up, all the hardware is replaceable (even the house), but I'm not replaceable - so it has to be the listener.
Have had LP12 etc since around '73 - love my LPs and the enjoyment they have given me over the years, must admit - getting older NDX is extremely convenient !?
Keystone for my system would be my listening room - solid concrete floor with speakers against concrete block wall, plenty of space either side of speakers, good ceiling height and listening position for my wife to sit alongside - whatever level system I have tried just sounds wonderful for each respective price point. My s-600's are awesome on end of my Naim.
Hutch