Naim newbie's experience w/Supernait 2

dayjay posted:

Welcome, I'm sure you''ll have years of fun.  I love my SN2, it's a really capable amp that never lets me down.  I've added a Hicap DR to mine which made it even better.

Agree with Dayjay - I find HiCapDR a vital part of my SN2. It's only when I tried removing it (just to satisfy my curiosity) did I realise how much it adds.

Welcome CMichaelo, as you will already have noticed from the posts above be prepared for the upgrade ride, its a Naim thing. 

cmichaelo posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Congratulations,  you have an impressive combination.

What speaker cable are you using ?

8' Rocket 44 speaker wire. Left over from the Rotels.

As has been mentioned nac a5 will work well...

And remember according to the Forum rules....you must have an upgrade within 2 weeks of joining the forum otherwise......... 

wenger2015 posted:

And remember according to the Forum rules....you must have an upgrade within 2 weeks of joining the forum otherwise......... 

Which is for a reason. The true capacity of the Supernait can't be exposed without an external powersupply. The NDX needs Hugo to go to Audio Nirvana.

So at least save for another GBP 10.000 to invest in powersupplies etcetera.

Then, the SuperLumia Brigade will appear.

Ardbeg10y posted:

Then, the SuperLumia Brigade will appear.

It's circling and watching already....

Adam Zielinski posted:

Ardbeg10y posted:

Then, the SuperLumia Brigade will appear.

It's circling and watching already....

In the distance i can see the TQ brigade approaching, this could get very ugly......

wenger2015 posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

Ardbeg10y posted:

Then, the SuperLumia Brigade will appear.

It's circling and watching already....

In the distance i can see the TQ brigade approaching, this could get very ugly......

In the annals of history, it will be recorded as the ‘greatest battle ever’, a ‘bloodbath of epic proportions’

Lets create a smoke curtain to keep the ravens away: why not Linn K20?

Hi Michaelo ,

 I think you've just taken most of the forum back to the first time they 'got' the Naim sound , very refreshing to read your first post . You have a fantastic 2 box system which will transform the way you listen to your music , yes the appropriate power supplies will add to your sound but I would stay with what you have and just enjoy your music for a while yet . If your Naim boxes are new they will improve noticeably in the next few weeks . I had a similar system ND5XS/SN2 for a long time and in many  ways I miss the simplicity of a 2 box system .

I would however change your speaker cables , I'm in the TQ Brigade ! Their Black speaker cables are  very good with Naim amps and are quite 'reasonable' in price .. 

Peter. 

Michaelo ,

Are you satisfy  about the streamer ?   what type of file  do you play ?  flac ?  Have you compared it  with a  cd player ?

t@rmac posted:

Michaelo ,

Are you satisfy  about the streamer ?   what type of file  do you play ?  flac ?  Have you compared it  with a  cd player ?

So far so good. AIFF and WAV. For some reason I feel the WAV sounds more dynamic/transparent in the upper range. This is very odd, since I was hoping the AIFF sounded better. And we know what the power of the mind can do. The only FLAC I've listened to yet is from Tidal. And that is good. But I havn't done a back to back comparo between FLAC and AIFF/WAV... yet.  Still working on uPnP server and CD ripper/converter options.  I do not have a CD player. I've heard FLAC music against a very high-end Linn LP12 TT and there was no contest. The TT is still the best. Something gets lost in digitizing music... period. Listening to the TT, suddenly the music has "personality" or "soul".

pete T15 posted:

Hi Michaelo ,

 I think you've just taken most of the forum back to the first time they 'got' the Naim sound , very refreshing to read your first post . You have a fantastic 2 box system which will transform the way you listen to your music , yes the appropriate power supplies will add to your sound but I would stay with what you have and just enjoy your music for a while yet . If your Naim boxes are new they will improve noticeably in the next few weeks . I had a similar system ND5XS/SN2 for a long time and in many  ways I miss the simplicity of a 2 box system .

I would however change your speaker cables , I'm in the TQ Brigade ! Their Black speaker cables are  very good with Naim amps and are quite 'reasonable' in price .. 

Peter. 

I misspoke earlier about the NDX. It is for sure broken in. I temporarily forgot that I had purchased the store's 4y old floor unit. But the SN2 is brand new.

I will upgrade the speaker cable. I used to experiment with cables in my older HiFi systems some 30y ago and remember it did make a difference. And I can put my head around why it should make a difference as well.

Thanks Pete and Charlie for the specific recommendations of TQ Brigade and Naim NACA5, and to Adam for how to terminate the speaker cables.

I must say the enthusiam in here is impressive. I'm looking forward to many good debates with y'all.

Very good choice, may I say - without too many boxes on show. I am delighted in how the one box SN2 can drive quite demanding speakers; with a Hi Cap just adding a little more grip and control. Enjoy your purchase...

Has anyone  mentioned capacitance yet? It a major reason for replacing your multiconductor speaker cable with NACA5 (I know nothing about TQ as A5 works just fine). Too high a capacitance from the speaker cable can send some Naim amps unstable. The later Naits and I suppose this includes supernaits, are more tolerant so you're possibly OK. If your amp is getting hot you're not OK though. 

yeti42 posted:

Has anyone  mentioned capacitance yet?

 

Don't forget poor old inductance. You'll be needing some of that as well. 

Not so long ago I heard a NDX/SN2 fronting a pair of Focal Sopra 2s.   The SN2 just took it in its stride.  Brilliant amplifier. 

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Not so long ago I heard a NDX/SN2 fronting a pair of Focal Sopra 2s.   The SN2 just took it in its stride.  Brilliant amplifier. 

Likewise I had a CDx2/SN1 with Focal Sopra2's,  it worked extremely well, whilst I was waiting for the right time to upgrade... 

It is a good amp - right now enjoying Tom Petty from a BluRay Audio disk, into an nDAC and straight to an SN2.
Sounds very good indeed.

Hungryhalibut posted:

yeti42 posted:

Has anyone  mentioned capacitance yet?

 

Don't forget poor old inductance. You'll be needing some of that as well. 

C = 15pF/m

L = 1.0uH/m

R = 10mR/m