Piling Naim units - does it degrade audio even more?

yup, heat from electronics is our worst enemy

Hungryhalibut posted:

How one stacks one's system depends on how bothered one is about getting the best out of it. 

Makes you wonder if a stacked 5 series would sound worse than a properly supported 2 or 3 series? (I am talking Naim not BMW!).

so I made some few changes at home re-locating my electronics.

Previously I had my vcr piled ontop of my CD5, I removed the vcr and put it somewhere else.

My hifi rack has now each Naim unit placed on  separate shelf. Maybe this did the trick getting a better sound from my CD5 removing the vcr? I also did some other tweaks on my gear this weekend you can read about in my other thread Upgrading my Naim.

I'm more than happy now.

Provided the boxes have their appropriate feet it is extremely unlikely to overheat. If they need active cooling they will have fans. E.g. Nap135, hdx etc

And even in the case of nap135 you have to drive them very hard for a period before the fan comes on 

my units has their rubber feet attached below the boxes, it's the CD5/NAC112/NAP150

The underlying issues are electromagnetic pollution from the big toroid transformers (though I am not convinced of this) which is why the folk lore says don't put a preamp on a psu or power amp (the brains and brawn argument). And the mechanical issue of vibration - all items are microphonic. And big toroids can mechanically hum. 

i do have a slight hum from my NAP150, the hum noise is it normal behaviour from Naim amps?

hum nosie occurs on random hours, many times my amp gives a low frequency hum when I sleep in the morning, everything is dead quiet I hear the amp hum, it's very annoying for me!!

placing a FlatCap 2 ontop of the amp this is not OK for mechanical issues or heating problems??

kowalski posted:

i do have a slight hum from my NAP150, the hum noise is it normal behaviour from Naim amps?

hum nosie occurs on random hours, many times my amp gives a low frequency hum when I sleep in the morning, everything is dead quiet I hear the amp hum, it's very annoying for me!!

placing a FlatCap 2 ontop of the amp this is not OK for mechanical issues or heating problems??

 

There is a fairly simple remedy for this: turn on the music.

Nothing better than Beethoven 5 in the early morning ...

They all do hum every now and then.... Turning the music up usually 'cures' the problem

Adam Zielinski posted:

They all do hum every now and then.... Turning the music up usually 'cures' the problem

ok so it's nuthin' to worry about.

i cant krank it up when i sleep, i have to plug my ears not to hear dat annoying hum imperfection.

If the box has a O-I button,  before going to sleep, just press the O side strong enough to feel something like a click. Let us know if hum wnt off after that.

kowalski posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

They all do hum every now and then.... Turning the music up usually 'cures' the problem

ok so it's nuthin' to worry about.

 

i cant krank it up when i sleep, i have to plug my ears not to hear dat annoying hum imperfection.

Many Naim amps hum - sometimes because of poor quality mains, sometimes because they just do. I certainly couldn't live with one in my bedroom!

ChrisSU posted:

kowalski posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

They all do hum every now and then.... Turning the music up usually 'cures' the problem

ok so it's nuthin' to worry about.

 

i cant krank it up when i sleep, i have to plug my ears not to hear dat annoying hum imperfection.

Many Naim amps hum - sometimes because of poor quality mains, sometimes because they just do. I certainly couldn't live with one in my bedroom!

In my case power supplies hum at random - one is dead quiet and the other one is 'possesed'. And they are both connected to the same dedicated circuit.

Adam Zielinski posted:

ChrisSU posted:

kowalski posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

They all do hum every now and then.... Turning the music up usually 'cures' the problem

ok so it's nuthin' to worry about.

 

i cant krank it up when i sleep, i have to plug my ears not to hear dat annoying hum imperfection.

Many Naim amps hum - sometimes because of poor quality mains, sometimes because they just do. I certainly couldn't live with one in my bedroom!

In my case power supplies hum at random - one is dead quiet and the other one is 'possesed'. And they are both connected to the same dedicated circuit.

Yes, you can't tell until you plug it in! My current 200DR is virtually silent, but the last two amps I've had in the same location were both hummers.

Erich posted:

If the box has a O-I button,  before going to sleep, just press the O side strong enough to feel something like a click. Let us know if hum wnt off after that.

Only one of thr boxes I have, the Hicap hums. I decided to have it off except when listening Vinyl as it powers the SL.

Hum is very low, I don't hear it even if I am listening at low volumes but it bothers me when I do not listen to music.

Echoing some of the above comments, if you're stacking PSUs then have at it but allow some space for cooling. My system currently has a 552ps, XPS2, 300PS stacked with about 20cm top clearance. This arrangement came about after discussing with my dealer, the esteemed Harry York. There seems to be no impact on the sound given the NDAC, 552 head unit and 300 amp are separated from the PSUs by about 20cm left right and up (3 bay shelf). I also use a Hydra power plug so that the earthing is consistent amongst the Naim components. No audible hiss on this setup going into Neat XL6s.

regards,

Giles

I badly need a frikkin'  FlatCap2 or FC2x.

When I get the FC I will put another X-tra  dampening feet on each corner under the rubber feet fitted from factory, this way I make the FC sit higher with dubble feet placed ontop of my amplifier NAP150. Lifting FC with X-tra rubber feet will give a better ventilation between NAP150 and the FlatCap.

ChrisSU posted:

kowalski posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

They all do hum every now and then.... Turning the music up usually 'cures' the problem

ok so it's nuthin' to worry about.

 

i cant krank it up when i sleep, i have to plug my ears not to hear dat annoying hum imperfection.

Many Naim amps hum - sometimes because of poor quality mains, sometimes because they just do. I certainly couldn't live with one in my bedroom!

when you say poor quality mains, it's the internal parts of the amplifier not the mains lead cable you refer to?

thanx

Erich posted:

If the box has a O-I button,  before going to sleep, just press the O side strong enough to feel something like a click. Let us know if hum wnt off after that.

only switch on my amp is the power on/off button behind the amp. maybe the newer amps had O-I switch?

kowalski posted:

ChrisSU posted:

kowalski posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

They all do hum every now and then.... Turning the music up usually 'cures' the problem

ok so it's nuthin' to worry about.

 

i cant krank it up when i sleep, i have to plug my ears not to hear dat annoying hum imperfection.

Many Naim amps hum - sometimes because of poor quality mains, sometimes because they just do. I certainly couldn't live with one in my bedroom!

when you say poor quality mains, it's the internal parts of the amplifier not the mains lead cable you refer to?

thanx

I think he means the mains electricity supply to your wall socket - this can be degraded with, for example, white goods (fridges, freezers etc) and possibly poor earthing. Many will advise a separate dedicated supply to use only for the hifi.

Roadie Simon posted:

kowalski posted:

ChrisSU posted:

kowalski posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

They all do hum every now and then.... Turning the music up usually 'cures' the problem

ok so it's nuthin' to worry about.

 

i cant krank it up when i sleep, i have to plug my ears not to hear dat annoying hum imperfection.

Many Naim amps hum - sometimes because of poor quality mains, sometimes because they just do. I certainly couldn't live with one in my bedroom!

when you say poor quality mains, it's the internal parts of the amplifier not the mains lead cable you refer to?

thanx

I think he means the mains electricity supply to your wall socket - this can be degraded with, for example, white goods (fridges, freezers etc) and possibly poor earthing. Many will advise a separate dedicated supply to use only for the hifi.

Thans Roadie Simon - missed this post.
Yes - I meant that if volume and pitch of the humming changes this may imply 'dirty mains'. In this case a dedicated circuit will help.

However if the humming is constant it may be down to a particular transformer - not all of them are that silent. I have 3 different 555PS units for my systems. One is dead quiet, one purrs gently and the other one (recently re-capped) seems to be possessed by a demon.

I live in an old apartment building, in the man cave where I have my Naim set up there are no earthed wall sockets. Only unearthed wall sockets. I have only 1x earthed wall socket in the kitchen in my apartment. So when I connected my HiFi VCR to my Naim I got an unwanted ground loop buzzing all the time, so I had to by a ground loop breaker Tratec Tris from my local HiFi store, I had to connect this Tratec between my VCR and the aerial outlet killing my constant humming. My Naim NAP150 picks up interference from white goods, noise do get louder and sometimes lower it depends? Would it be a good idea to by a DC Trap reducing noise from electricity?

My Supra MD06-EU/SP has an non intrusive filter (NIF) shouldn't this NIF feature remove humming from my NAP150? Some people doe not recommend using a Supra mainsblock

The best idea would be to get the kit properly earthed, either through having the wiring and sockets in the apartment updated or some other solution.  Quite apart from performance issues, to be safe the kit must be properly earthed otherwise a fault condition could make the casework live with nasty consequences.

Richard Dane posted:

The best idea would be to get the kit properly earthed, either through having the wiring and sockets in the apartment updated or some other solution.  Quite apart from performance issues, to be safe the kit must be properly earthed otherwise a fault condition could make the casework live with nasty consequences.

i had my naim for approx 15 years until now nothing happened thank god.

old apartment buildings built in the 50's and 60's don't have earthed wall sockets, only earthed wall socket is in the kitchen for kitchen aplliencies.

I bought a 10M long Supra LoRad with an earthed schuko male plug in the one end. I will screw a female earthed schuko in the other end of my cable, I will use this cable as an extension cord, I will drag the cable from my man cave to my kitchen. I will plug my LoRad in my kitchen getting my Naim earthed, I bet I will hear the proper Naim sound when it's properly earthed