napsc

Try

i shouldn't be hearing this but..... it's all nonsense though 

Yes it makes a difference. But getting rid of the napsc when I moved to 252 was a happy happy day.

thats my next move nickpeacock iam using nac 202 at moment carnt wait to upgrade to 252

Aceone posted:

has anyone tried a powerline on a napsc  did it make a difference and is it worth the money .

Yes i tried this and it made no difference at all - not even subtle. Others have reported noticeable changes - so i guess it might depend on local grounding  arrangements.

i might see if my dealer will loan me one to try.

Loan one what to try? A Powerline or a NAPSC?

a powerline ive got a napsc .

Do you have a 200? I'd try it on that too.  

Did you read the thread that I linked to in the reply to your original post?

Yes. I can't remember exactly when I posted on this previously but in summary my dealer contacted me one day and said his contacts at Salisbury has suggested a performance improvement could be obtained by putting a PL on a Naspc, did I want to try it on mine, powering the control section of my 282?  

At that time I had no Powerlines.  We tried it and within seconds of the first song we tried we both looked at one another as we were struck by the immediate and significant improvement. I ordered a Powerline immediately and onto the Napsc it went.  I've since got four more PLs. 

BTW,  subsequently I got further, though more modest, performance improvements by firstly lifting the Napsc off the carpet and putting it on the rack, and secondly plugging it into the dedicated system rings-main.

The Napsc and its effect on the control section of pre-amps is under-estimated.

I know the cost of a Powerline exceeds the cost of a Naspc but in my system the improvement it gave was well worth it.

Mike 

ive got no room on my rack for the napsc so ive put it on a piece of marble on the floor ,thanks for your answer mike will try one.

Made no difference at all when I tried it.

My dealer agrees and won't stop a customer buying a PL for a NAPSC, but if asked they'll tell customers to not waste money doing this.

I already had a Powerline which I used on my Hicap (82/HC/250). 

Having bought a bargain used PSC2 (which I discovered outperformed the original tin-box psc that came with the 82 -proving that the casework makes a difference), I experimented with using the Powerline on the PSC2 instead of on the Hicap. 

No question. Makes a big difference. In my system at least. 

Since then have added a 2nd HiCap and now own two Powerlines. 

I've tried running both on the Hicaps with standard on the PSC... but using one only on the PSC with both Hicaps using standard leads was easily the equal of that (based on CD listening)... and that freed me up to use the other on the Supercap powering my Superline giving a mammoth lift to vinyl over using them on just the two Hicaps. 

I'd happily put a third on the 250 when funds allow, but after that there will only be one more when I'm in a position to take out the pair of Hicaps and bung in a Powerlined Supercap for the 82. 

What's the worst that can happen? Borrow a dem lead and try it. Worth a go. 

Oh yeah... as for the PSC not dealing with circuits that carry music.....   erm... wrong!

The PSC supplies the operating current that holds shut the relays from the DIN sockets to the preamp circuits. Ie, input selection. The first link in the pre that the music passes through. Get that wrong and there's no rescue. 

On my 282 I tried a powerline on the napsc compared to a second hicap, all at home on my system. To my ears the powerline on the napsc made a bigger difference than the second hicap. Much to the amusement of my hifi dealer I purchased an additional powerline.  But I heard what I heard and purchased accordingly.

Name posted:

To my ears the powerline on the napsc made a bigger difference than the second hicap. Much to the amusement of my hifi dealer I purchased an additional powerline.  

Which is also support for the contention that adding a second Hicap to a 282 does not make a really significant difference and it would be better to wait for a Supercap 

As with most things - as others have already said - try one if you can and then decide. It is IMHO important to get the location of the NAPSC sorted first - in my case it was bizarrely on a window-ledge and using the full length of the available connectors.

Sorry to digress a little. Am I the only one who thinks that the NAPSC is an eyesore? 

I used to keep mine behind the sofa, so it didn't matter what it looked like. 'Eyesore' is perhaps a little excessive. 

I didn't like the aesthetics of the PSC. I think having too many different Naim box sizes looked wrong; perhaps my visual tastes just weren't asymmetric enough. HH is correct in that you can hide the PSC away somewhere, if your room layout permits.

Of course, my Chord Hugo breaks the aesthetic requirements as well, but that's another story...

Mike1380 posted:

Oh yeah... as for the PSC not dealing with circuits that carry music.....   erm... wrong!

The PSC supplies the operating current that holds shut the relays from the DIN sockets to the preamp circuits. Ie, input selection. The first link in the pre that the music passes through. Get that wrong and there's no rescue. 

The NAPSC provides no bias current for anything in the analog stages. The relays, as you call them, are processor controlled. The NAPSC basically just feeds the onboard processor and lights. This is the whole reason it is a seperate box.

Are you saying it "doesn't hold the relays shut"?

That would contradict what I've been told by folk from Naim.

If you select an input on an 82, 202, 102 and disconnect the PSC you will lose sound... because the relay has opened again (amongst other things). It does more than process button pushes and turning IR commands into movement of the vol/bal controls.  

On the other hand, if you agree that the PSC is responsible for some aspect of music flow through the pre, but you haven't heard a difference, (either through a dem, or by choice not to try it out) that's fine.... but why discourage folk from trying potential upgrades out?

Whether or not folk perceive a difference, and their opinions on the worth of that difference is their business. But to say it doesn't have anything to do with the signal pathway is incorrect.

All I advocate is trying it. I can clearly understand why a difference is possible, but before I knew WHY came the revelation of WHAT it did in my system. 

All the best

Mike