Warning - Don't Start a Thread with the Word 'Blimey': Topic - The PS555DR

Atherton posted:

Here is a party game for Naimophiles:

The first player (the Fish) presents a picture of a certain species, then the remaining players proffer likely Naim product combinations using Kiwi Cat's fish comparator method, with a few words to support their choice. The winner is the one with the most appropriate answer (as deemed by the Fish). The winner now becomes the Fish....and so on.

The game is of course called....Naim that Fish!

I'll get the ball rolling with one of nature's more unlikely configurations....the hammerhead shark:

Oooh this is fun!

I am going to bend the rules and go for a single product comparator rather than a combination. I hope this is within the rules Atherton.

Right, the poor old Hammer-head shark looks like it has been banging its head against a sub-aqua wall. Bit like I felt when wrestling with the fragility of my UnitiServe that has broken down three times now and been hack to HQ for repairs the same number of times. The third occasion followed six months after the second and the cheeky monkeys at Naim charged me again, but my trusty dealer stepped in and sorted that one.

So, I nominate the good old UnitiServe as the Hammer-head shark of the piscatorial world.

Atherton, how will I know if I have won and become the fish?

Please feel free to amend the rules as you like. For his sorry tale about his Unitiserve I declare [@mention:48872963983698699] the instant winner. Nigel, you are now the Fish.

Well thanks a bunch, TJ!

What's going on now?  Are we on cats, toads or fish?

And me, with my Middle Eastern ignorance, I thought that 'Blimey' was just a shortening for 'Be Limey', restricting the blind Hi Fi admiration only to British made gear, despite the fact that: "Blimey, mon YBA Integre est magnifique" sounds grand..

The rare talent of members here causing so many threads and posts to close or be removed never stops to amaze me despite my therapist's explanation that people who are splitting  audiophile hairs will argue to death about any imaginable topic just because of who they are.

It's fish and the fish is Nigel.

Which Nigel?  There's at least 4..

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Which Nigel?  There's at least 4..

..too many

I think they are referring to me as the current 'Fish'. I feel the weight of responsibility and a little embarrassed as Atherton didn't wait for any other nominations before crowning me as king fish. Anyway I will take my responsibilities seriously and am giving some thought as to which fish I am going to cast into the forum next.

There are a couple of Tim(m)os too….possibly one too many. 

yeti42 posted:

It's fish and the fish is Nigel.

Nigel Kennedy?

Fish: singer from Marillion in their heyday?

Have the two worked together? Should they?

nigelb posted:

I think they are referring to me as the current 'Fish'. I feel the weight of responsibility and a little embarrassed as Atherton didn't wait for any other nominations before crowning me as king fish. Anyway I will take my responsibilities seriously and am giving some thought as to which fish I am going to cast into the forum next.

There are a couple of Tim(m)os too….possibly one too many. 

Ouch, you know how to hurt a guy. Still, I believe congratulations are due for the most irrelevant thread so far this year in the Hi-Fi corner.

Timmo, I thought you were being cutting with your '.....too many (Nigels)' quip but as you seem so hurt by my quip, maybe you weren't.

Anyway thank you for the accolade. Is there an award or a prize?

Remember there are plenty of 'relevant' threads for you to bore yourself with. And feel free to start a thread that is particularly relevant to your field of interest.

I will continue with the fish game (as I am king fish) for a little longer, but as I have been charged with the crime of 'irrelevancy' I will come back with an update on the 555DR very soon.

As Atherton has given some latitude with the rules, I am going to throw the most feared ocean-dwelling mammal into the game rather than a fish, the Killer Whale (Orca). You are permitted now to nominate either a single Naim component or complete Naim system with a few supporting words as to why your nomination is analogous to the Killer Whale.

Timmo, you can play too, you know you want to really.

nigelb posted:

Timmo, I thought you were being cutting with your '.....too many (Nigels)' quip but as you seem so hurt by my quip, maybe you weren't.

Anyway thank you for the accolade. Is there an award or a prize?

Remember there are plenty of 'relevant' threads for you to bore yourself with. And feel free to start a thread that is particularly relevant to your field of interest.

I guess it must be fatal fascination, an itch that just has to be scratched, a bit like watching one of those truly dreadful TV programmes when you ask yourself "why I am watching this?".

As for being hurt....that's the best laugh I've had today Nigel. I doubt I'd have survived 30 years in my chosen profession with a skin as thin as a few of those on evidence here.

As for a prize - to borrow from JM - 'you cannot be serious'!!

nigelb posted:

I will continue with the fish game (as I am king fish) for a little longer, but as I have been charged with the crime of 'irrelevancy' I will come back with an update on the 555DR very soon.

As Atherton has given some latitude with the rules, I am going to throw the most feared ocean-dwelling mammal into the game rather than a fish, the Killer Whale (Orca). You are permitted now to nominate either a single Naim component or complete Naim system with a few supporting words as to why your nomination is analogous to the Killer Whale.

Timmo, you can play too, you know you want to really.

A well formed but not over-sized mouth coupled to a broader body that narrows to a somewhat thin tail end is reminiscent of my 272/XPS-DR/200DR. The tall, slightly raked dorsal fin is a fine piscatorial representation of my PMC Twenty 23's. I rest my case.

nigelb posted:

Listening this evening it seems the 555DR is having a slight wobble sounding a little less impressive than yesterday. Still way better than my alternative and so it should be but a slight tailing off nonetheless.

But I think I know why this is. I suspect the extra transparency the 555DR brings will highlight the difference in recording and mastering quality of source material, be that a CD rip or a hi res download. A Melody Gardot album I was looking forward to listening to with the 555DR was ever so slightly disappointing. Noticeably better than my previous impressions of this album but not the leap in SQ I was expecting.

Feeling a little dissapointed I have just stuck on a Diana Krall (Love Scenes) hi res download (96/24). Bl**dy hell! She's in the room with her band, singing just to me. OK, that is a bit on an exaggeration, but this is the biggest uplift I have noticed so far with the 555DR. I am working on the assumption that the quality of the material played has a greater relevance with the 555DR. This kind of makes sense as I have always been persuaded by the source first argument and the best source in the world cannot extract what is not there or will extract warts an' all, however you wish to look at things.

One lesson is that I might need to be a little more choosy of the version of albums I select to buy (to rip) or possibly seek out a hi res download version should one exist.

Just bought that Diana Krall download it’s stunning on my Nds PS555 252/300DR B&W 804D3.

Atherton posted:

Here is a party game for Naimophiles:

The first player (the Fish) presents a picture of a certain species, then the remaining players proffer likely Naim product combinations using Kiwi Cat's fish comparator method, with a few words to support their choice. The winner is the one with the most appropriate answer (as deemed by the Fish). The winner now becomes the Fish....and so on.

The game is of course called....Naim that Fish!

I'll get the ball rolling with one of nature's more unlikely configurations....the hammerhead shark:

I will take up your challenge Atherton

In keeping with the fish taxonomy,  I reckon with a rather light front end the system is ND5XS(head), powered by a 555DR ( substantial body) tapering to 200 power amp(strong but tapering tail). In other words a very good system, although somewhat out of balance.

Nice one Kiwi Cat, but you missed that round. NigelB is now king fish and he has cast the killer whale into the pond, see above. Have another try...

One aspect of in-home audio reproduction that has never been completely satisfactory for me is the maintenance of composure when music and the mix gets complex. I am sure at some time we have all heard the breakdown in musical intelligibility when there is a lot going on with many instruments and vocalists vying for attention, for example when a piece reaches a crescendo. It can all become an amorphous wall of sound on occasion. Turning the volume up just tends to make things worse.

I realise reproducing such complex pieces of music is a challenge for both the recording studio  and hi fi systems. The studio can get it wrong at the recording, mixing or mastering stages. The final result of such challenged recordings are then compounded by a hi fi system that is incapable of resolving the complexities when the mix is dense.

As I have moved from NDX (bare)/202/200/HiCap (non DR)/Dynaudio Audience 62/stock cables to what I have now, one component at a time I started to nudge to where I wanted to be in terms of the resolution and space around the different strands of complex musical pieces or passages bit remain slightly disappointed in this area of in-home reproduction. Simply miked, well recorded pieces of music with two or three instruments and say a one vocalist are glorious. It just when things get complex and/or loud do things start to break down a little. My listening room is quite small which does not help things I guess. Even so I am still looking to improve in the area of the resolution of complex music.

The introduction of the 555DR has really moved things along in this aspect however. Still not perfect as I still have the restrictions of my small listening room to contend with, but much improved. This is a little baffling however. I always thought it would be the streamer/DAC in the digital domain and the pre amp in the analogue domain that would be primarily responsible to resolving complex passages of music but I suppose these areas have been partially addressed in my current system (NDS and 252/SuperCap DR) and it is the entire system that must gel to take control when the going gets tough in the musical mix.

Having said this, I am a little surprised that a beefier power supply on a streamer can have such a profound effect in control and resolution of complex music.

I am currently listening to Foy Vance's Hope album and just listened to one of my ultimate test tracks - First of July. If this doesn't get me going then the item on test goes back. Sorry, end of. Well I had to stop typing and am now blubbering like a silly old fool. Needless to say the 555DR is a keeper. Now where did I put that lottery ticket. 

Atherton posted:

Nice one Kiwi Cat, but you missed that round. NigelB is now king fish and he has cast the killer whale into the pond, see above. Have another try...

Now I do feel embarrassed. Kiwi Cat's nomination is clearly more well thought out than mine regarding the Hammerhead shark. I would be happy to relinquish King Fish status to Kiwi Cat if you want to review your decision Atherton. After all it was our antipodean friend who started this whole thing off. 

Agreed Nigel. Kiwi Cat is now the Fish. Cast well KC

I have an admission and I am going to come clean.

I just caught myself salivating over HiFi Critic's review of the NDS with TWO 555s. Am I insane or just obsessed or both? Is there any help I can seek to rid me of this sickness?

I need to be in a group that starts with me saying the words, 'My name is NigelB and I am an audio addict.'

Please help.

I think that says it all:

NigelB - I have no doubt as to what the 555PSU has brought in terms of improvement indeed I have just experienced something similar with changing the PSU on the Roksan.   But I think on something more important when you refer to how it all gels together - synergy is everything.  

So just to stir things up a little you give Reference to the size limitations of your listening area.   I therefore predict you ain’t heard nothing yet - just wait until the 707s arrive