It’s a question that has reared its head from time to time on here, “Is a 52PS better than a Supercap when powering a 52?” I’ve seen opinions supporting both sides of the argument, dare I say often based on a position of ownership????
As my 52 is powered by a 52PS I’m mildly curious about this but my curiosity is by far outweighed by my inherent laziness so I’ve never bothered to try it (such a comparison would involve stripping the Supercap from my snaxo and going passive).
Recently been having some fun with a Superline and trying to figure out quite where the hum was coming from. As a consequence I have a room full of extra bits including, another 52, supercap, burndy, snaic. Yesterday the owner of these called with his LP12/keel/radikal/urika/ekosSE/arkivB. Seemed an ideal opportunity for a wee experiment.
Installed the TT and had a listen, playing all my latest vinyl acquisitions (mostly 60s/70s/80s original pressings). Unlike my LP12 into the superline there was no hum!
Played about 40 minutes of music to get TT and speakers warmed up, accompanied by coffee and biscuits, and then suggested the experiment. Played the track Street Song off Pentangle’s Open the Door album then powered down, swapped the Supercap for the 52PS, powered up and played it again.
The result? We both agreed that the 52ps sounded better than the Supercap. My friend in particular noted extra detail whilst I described it as greater articulacy in Danny Thompson’s bass playing and more naturalness in the vocals and a bit more dynamic in the percussion. I suspect that we were using different word to describe the same effect.
So there you have it. Yet another definitive opinion of the relative merits of two bits of HiFi.
Willy.
Posted on: 14 May 2018 by Foot tapper
I have been advised by both a Naim dealer (whose 52 I bought) and Jon Honeyball that the 52PS is supposed to sound a bit better than an olive supercap on a 52.
There is one of my threads on here from around 2 years ago, where I reported on a trial of a Superline and a Supercap DR. The Supercap DR was much better than my recently serviced, olive Supercap on the Superline. It was brilliant. However, I had a strong preference for the olive supercap over the SCDR on the 52.
Why? No idea. YMMV.
Best regards, FT
Posted on: 14 May 2018 by Sounsfaber
Ok, guess Naim got it wrong when they went to the supercap. I remember reading one of the reasons was the flexibility the SC brings. I’ve also read Naim feel having 2x transformers in the same box was detrimental to the performance.
Think you will find the SC doesn’t come on song till it’s had a week or 2 to settle in. Like a lot of the naim kit. Who knows why not me just this is what I’ve found.
Posted on: 14 May 2018 by Ron Toolsie
The CDSPS reminded me more of the 555PS than the XPS, with its large main filter caps, instead of the quarter sized ones in the XPS. It did have only a Hicap-transformer that had only half the VA rating than the original XPS. But I also preferred the sound of the CDSPS to the XPS1, and I did have them side by side for a few months. The XPS2 I believe was better than the CDSPS, although by the time I had gotten the XPS2, the CDSPS was no longer in house. Similarly, the 52PS seemed a bit more 'manly' than the Supercap, and I would not be surprised if it outperformed the olive Supercap by the same margin the CDSPS did over the XPS.
From what I recall, the CDSPS had a lovely warm, organic rich sound, whereas the XPS had a more forward and slightly brittle top end-and a mild increase in dynamic contrasts. I would have loved to have heard what the CDSPS would have sounded like with an XPS2 transformer replacing its twin pair.
BTW...I think it was electrical safety standards that scuttled the dual transformers in the CDSPS and the 52PS and not the sonic compromise of having the pair.
