Uninvolving

yeti42 posted:

Are the switching mode power supplies on the same outlet as the Nait? The Hugo's you can at least turn off when you listen but not the Innuos's. A lot of SMPS can sap the life out of a Naim system and are best used on a separate circuit. 

The Core has a linear supply and can be plugged in next to the Nait but the meta data editing function for tha app isn't out yet. I've only run mine through a Rega DAC-r so far and the results are quite promising though through the Rega a little inconsistant. The Core responded surprisingly well to a full Powerline by the way. I will be trying a Hugo (2?) in a couple of weeks but I've not heard one yet.

Innuos Zenith (SSD) has triple linear power supplies for each section. Seems a pretty well engineerd piece of kit. I bought early and got a great deal before the price hike up to 2300. The service from innuos is fantastic (remote dial in for support), the system has never had any problem booting, playing or loading anything. Even when yoinked accidentically it fires straight back up. Very reliable. Super easy to setup and use. Couldn't have a higher regard.

My only gripe is I've only been able to compare it to Melco,Mac,Macbook. More natural than all. Not many have heard it so I don't know how people regard it. 

I am super keen to hear the Core. If the Core doesn't exceed the Zenith (no guarantees judging by the tech) then the Innuos is a long term keeper. Perhaps only improved by sandwiching in an NDX between it and Hugo... should have an idea in 2 weeks.

TOBYJUG posted:

ThatsNotMyNaim posted

 

Then I can give up the ghost and accept I need to upgrade my amp/change speakers.

Could be that what your really looking for is results that really only come from big grade upness rather than an upgrade to find more involvement. Watching water boil for ages is one thing. Having it nuked to vapour in nano seconds is something else  

Could be. Maybe I am in denial. 

Hi. Tbh, that's how I feel about the XS2 and SN2: the xs2 can get harsh with some music, and the SN 2 seemed a bit uninvolving (granted, I haven't heard SN2 with naca5). Nait 5si, nap 100, nap 200, UQ2 sound great to me, though - if that's of any help. 

The only one on that list I found uninvolving was the NAP200, which I found a little dry.  The Hugo SN2 combination is anything but uninvolving although the feed to the Hugo is important and needs to be right to make the most of it.  I used to have Oddysey which was ok but changed to TQ Black which gave more of everything and helped the music flow better for me although others may hear different.  

I actually changed my Odyssey to some Atlas Hyper 3.5 a while back. Just a trial. Made everything less digital sounding and fuller. More analogue.

But ultimately I took it out as I felt like it was adding a layer of dressing which just didn't feel right. Tempted to get some Epic my memory of that trial was that it slowed the prat/musicality.

I think the Hugo is just so detailed and crisp that at times I don't like it's honesty. But then I compare it to other DACs and I miss it. But then wonder maybe it's just the Hugo/XS2 combo. 

NDX as a feed is definitely the next one to tick off. Heard the TT is warmer but the trial didn't work out as the battery failed after 35 minutes. 

I think I just need to buy a valve amp. 

ThatsNotMyNaim posted:

I actually changed my Odyssey to some Atlas Hyper 3.5 a while back. Just a trial. Made everything less digital sounding and fuller. More analogue.

But ultimately I took it out as I felt like it was adding a layer of dressing which just didn't feel right. Tempted to get some Epic my memory of that trial was that it slowed the prat/musicality.

I think the Hugo is just so detailed and crisp that at times I don't like it's honesty. But then I compare it to other DACs and I miss it. But then wonder maybe it's just the Hugo/XS2 combo. 

NDX as a feed is definitely the next one to tick off. Heard the TT is warmer but the trial didn't work out as the battery failed after 35 minutes. 

I think I just need to buy a valve amp. 

I'm a bit confused by that because whilst the TT can run on its batteries, I thought it was designed to be run normally connected to power (and no detectable difference in sound quality connected or on batteries)?

I can relate to a Nait XS1, SN2 and Hugo and find them to be very involving. I haven't heard the ProAcs but it might be worth auditioning some other speakers to rule out if they are the problem. Also might be worth trying some other speaker cables/interconnects. I am a fan of Chord cables but I do think that they're they're bettered by Tellurium Q Black at that price point. 

Innocent Bystander posted:

ThatsNotMyNaim posted:

I actually changed my Odyssey to some Atlas Hyper 3.5 a while back. Just a trial. Made everything less digital sounding and fuller. More analogue.

But ultimately I took it out as I felt like it was adding a layer of dressing which just didn't feel right. Tempted to get some Epic my memory of that trial was that it slowed the prat/musicality.

I think the Hugo is just so detailed and crisp that at times I don't like it's honesty. But then I compare it to other DACs and I miss it. But then wonder maybe it's just the Hugo/XS2 combo. 

NDX as a feed is definitely the next one to tick off. Heard the TT is warmer but the trial didn't work out as the battery failed after 35 minutes. 

I think I just need to buy a valve amp. 

I'm a bit confused by that because whilst the TT can run on its batteries, I thought it was designed to be run normally connected to power (and no detectable difference in sound quality connected or on batteries)?

Had a fault. Couldn't charge it at all.

ThatsNotMyNaim posted:

Timo posted:

I haven't had listen to the 118,  but auditioned ProAc's Tablette Anniversary. That was with an XS2 and ND5XS. Admittedly, Proac wasn't our favourite as we preferred Neat and PMC, and ended up with the latter. But nonetheless we thought Naim and Proac were a fairly decent match. I certainly wouldn't have described it as uninvolving and we seriously considered ProAC (even tried the DB1 with a different dealer, again with XS2 but a non-Naim source). The Tablette dealer used some Tellurium cable, and the listening room was set up very well.

Why did you choose the PMC? And what were the DB1 like by comparison? Cheers

We felt PMC offered more sparkle, more excitement; and there was more clarity in the presentation. I hope this makes sense -- I am not that proficient in this Hifi vocabulary... If you search for recent PMC discussions in the Forum, you will find quite a few people sharing their thoughts about the new Twenty5 series. Especially the PMC tweeter is controversial, it seems. But to the cloth ears in our lounge, PMC and its tweeter sound totally fine. We like our new Twenty5.23 a lot... Also, when we have our professional timpanist friend and pianist wife around, they seem to enjoy our Naim/PMC combo too. 

When we listened to the DB1, we were rather underwhelmed. We expected a big step up from the tiny Tablette, but this didn't arrive... However, I should add that the dealer's listening was rubbish. Well, it was in between listening room, storage space and dump. I guess this also contributed to us moving on rather quickly...    

It may well be that the speakers are the limiting factor in your system: I haven't heard them, but one look at the Proac 118 suggests to me that I might find them uninvolving, while the one review I looked at described them as 'lively', which to me suggests that whilst they might have initial appeal to some people they might lose that appeal and be fatiguing in the longer term. Something with more extended bass capability could make a big difference, but then I don't know if you're one of those people that shuns bass.

Also, I don't think you've given any indication of the size of your room, nor whether you are limited with positioning having to be close to a wall etc., which may influence suitability, while it might also be useful to indicate the limit of budget.

ThatsNotMyNaim posted:

I actually changed my Odyssey to some Atlas Hyper 3.5 a while back. Just a trial. Made everything less digital sounding and fuller. More analogue.

But ultimately I took it out as I felt like it was adding a layer of dressing which just didn't feel right. Tempted to get some Epic my memory of that trial was that it slowed the prat/musicality.

I recently had a demo of Epic twin vs an older unshielded variant and this is not how I would describe that demo! The unshielded was i believe no longer in production but supposed to have the same basic cables  "sans shield". Might be worth a new demo together with naca5.