“Obviously different” is in hindsight more accurate than “night and day” but it was obvious and immediately so through a 552.
The difference on the LP12 is one side tends to give a cleaner sound where surface noise is less emphasied.
The ‘wrong side’ can also sound duller and less involving. The mat itself has a rough side and a smooth side which can be felt. (No pun intended!)
I guess a dealer who listens for this all the time is more able to identify it through lesser equipment as well.
I have no experience of the RP10 so don’t know if it makes any difference on that deck. I’ve never heard anyone suggest it.
I guess it’s more a feature of the Linn mat with its two slightly different surfaces on each side. It’s not incredible though as different mats are accepted as sounding different.
I have a NAC 72, 2 x olive NAP 250 active SBL setup which remains partly in storage after some house renovation work.
I got a Nova as I fancied a modern streamer, and played it via older Epos speakers which I love. Before long I hooked up one of the NAP 250s to the Nova and it added something I didn’t want to be without despite the Nova’s overall prowess and value. The Nova digitises analogue in to allow multiroom. It did a great job with my Linn LP12 but I’m now using the Nova as a digital source into a NAC 282/NAP 250 as I wanted a better pre for my Linn LP12, works well.
While the Nova is a great all in one, I think you might find the Nova lacking if you’re used to NAC 272/NAP 250DR.
The vortex is real. Everytime I added a box it improved some aspect of the sound. The Nova couldn’t even wake up the speakers. That combination was a massive disappointment (Nova + Harbeth SHL5+) - flat, no bass and a muffled midrange.
My dealer has been amazing actually. He took everything back in trade-in for what I paid for it.
Essentiallly why I asked the question in the first place. I ended up going from 272 to 282 and chord 2qute dac to go with my 250dr and i’m over the moon. It’s just different it’s more open bass exists.
The speaker match with the Nova is critical and I found the Nova with the Special 40 to a match made in heaven for the price.
Both sounded more dynamic together than in other system options.
I’m interested in improving the sound but due to the outstanding value of the Nova Special 40 combination I’m sure I’d have to go to NDX2/252/300DR Dynaudio C60 to make a significant improvement which means a huge increase in cost. Would it be worth it?
I run 2 systems, a Nova into PMC 25.23s and NDX/52/SC/135s into B&W804S. There is a significant uplift to the separates, more drive, bass, better vocals, as you’d hope for the extra price. But I would say that the Nova is a fantastic system, when using the upstairs lounge I feel no need to go down to the bigger rig, so if you’re really enjoying the Nova system then I’d suggest staying with it and spending the money on music.
Thanks Eoink for confirming my suspicions. The problem I’ve always found with good systems is the fact they seem to produce this thought in the back of your mind as to how you can improve it.
