2x555DR vs. 1x555DR on a ND555

Just my 10 Ferraris to maintain in good condition.

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That’s great news Gazza! :ok_hand:

Can’t wait to receive mine :smiley:

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I am sure you will be pleased, although ex demo its still improving after the system was shut down to install. It’s much better than the dealer demo i had, very happy.

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My answer was also pointed globally,its great to achieve all those upgrade you mention, im going also into this direction…nothing is matter for me,only this hobby…i only intented to say its comes not easy for no one to get everything

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When I purchased Melco n10 I was confident not needing a switch anymore…now I realized I even need to get a better one over my Sisco 2960… meaning even Melco isn’t completely isolated

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I’m going to pick the second 555PS DR up this morning :partying_face: :partying_face: :partying_face:

As I don’t like the “burning in” period (at all!), I’m planning to do the following:

  • replace the current 555PS DR with the new one

  • run the ND555 with the new 555PS DR for about ~240 hours (10 days)

  • after that period of time, plug both power supplies to the ND555

Goal : hearing the differences from one to two power supplies without all the biases related to the burning in, or being slowly accustomed to both power supplies and not being able to clearly distinguish the differences.

During that burn in period I’ll turn the NAP500 DR off .

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The new 555PS DR has arrived :star_struck:

I’ll now replace the current one, and power the ND555 with the new one only (for about ~240 hours). As soon as the new 555PS DR sounds good, I’ll plug both power supplies to the ND555.

During that period of time, I have to finish designing the new rack :sweat_smile:
Gathering the parts should take more time …

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@Darkebear @Michaelb @Harry

What’s your experience regarding the 555PS DR burning in period?

Is it a matter of how many hours it has been playing or how much time it’s been switched on, or both?

Would you consider 10 days, ~240 hours playing, being enough?

I’m planning the following:
–> 2x555DR vs. 1x555DR on a ND555

I can only speak for the run in with NDS. The ND555 just took the two existing 555PS(DR) on arrival. Like the NDS, the ND555 didn’t (to my ears) seem to have much of a run in period. Maybe a couple of days to a week.

The biggest jump in performance (NDS) was the point at which the second PS went in. I wasn’t expecting much. I got a lot more. The jump was so big that I thought it had all arrived in one go, but subtle changes continued for months. From memory, I’d say about six months.

Running in a 555PS (non DR and DR) wasn’t like running in a HiCap or XPS2. The latter PSs started out tight and lean, loosening up, relaxing and stretching their reach over a few weeks, with some ups and downs along the way. For me (your experience may vary) the 555PS has always sounded composed, grippy and unmuddled from the first switch on. Subsequently, improvements have come from subtle increases in detail, space and texture.

Whereas running in a CD5 or CDX2 or HiCap or XPS2, or DAC has you admiring the presentation but waiting for the full magic, hooking up the 555PS just adds realism from the start, and the realism continues to establish itself for a few months in subtle increments. It has always been my experience that running in, bedding in, loosening up, whatever you prefer to call it, happens with the equipment switched on 24/7. Playing material continuously hasn’t seemed to make it go any quicker in my experience.

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That’s nice to read :smiley:

To be honest I’m not expecting tremendous improvements by adding a second PS. I tend to be pragmatic and know that after a certain level, improvements in sound quality tend to reach an asymptote.

But I understand those improvements are greatly enjoyable, and end up being described with some hyperboles.

Your own experience leaves me with the possibility of a pleasant surprise :blush:

I’m having a similar experience. The new 555PS DR sounds great. It’s been running for about 6-7 hours only.

There is no huge difference comparing to the “old” one (a 555PS DR I bought new in 2018).

But, still, there is a difference. It sounds perhaps a tad “narrow”, “less 3D”… those things are hard to put into words. I suppose the major changes should occur during the first few dozens of hours.

This is interesting. I thought that a long serie of charges and discharges of those huge capacitors inside the 555PS DR were needed.

I too can’t comment on the PS alone, since my ND555 was new with one PS also new and the other very recently serviced and DRd but run in.

I did keep the everything streaming and muted in the hope that would aid burn-in of everything. Whether or not it actually makes a difference, I don’t know, but it did mean that all the new Ethernet cables and everything else were also being worked fully.

But I did notice changes along the way. I may have commented on them in the long ND555 thread that has been locked but can’t remember with any precision how it all went. Certainly no more than a month, I think. It was a gradual fleshing out in detail , authority and solidity from what I can recall.

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Thanks Michael!
I suppose I’ll plug both PSs after a couple of weeks.
I have to admit I’m rather curious about the outcome :smile:
But the waiting won’t be too difficult. I’m on holidays and spend most of my time climbing (well, not today as it’s pretty stormy)

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The up and down with adding a 2nd ps is lower then starting from zero and go new. So I wouldn’t have the 2nd ps separated and just start from the beginning with 2.

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I just leave mine on and use it regularly - perhaps I could exercise it more but I just use it normally to run-in.

There are different phases of run-in, as I hear and experience them:

1. Initial run-in: About 10 days to clear most unpleasant effects and get it to a state where I think ‘yes-that is what I paid for’.

2. Extended run-in: About 10 weeks where things by the end of this time are noticeably smoother and more well-integrated and better detail rendition - HF extension and Bass weight and tone-color improved.

3. Very Extended run-in: About 9-10 months where there is a marked level-shift forward into a new level of performance where the music is revealed in its micro-dynamics better - there is effusively more easy detail and lower noise-floor and greater perception of dynamic range and easier flow - probably due to all the remaining low-level run-in noise and distortion artifacts falling to a very low-level.

That is how I hear it - in general - with all components both the Equipment and cables.

So you get the main settling done in 10 days for sure - except if you have a problem with install or something else not right. It should sound happy and musical after 10 days and for those with greater tolerance than me of run-in, then a bit sooner.

But extended run-in components are the real deal - get the system installed well and then just leave it alone and enjoy it and hear how it grows on you …with a periodic rebuild of Fraim every few years and cable clean (pull-out-in) every few months for low-level interconnects and every year or so for the other cables is what I tend to do.

DB.

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Hi DB,

Thank you for your detailed answer.

I guess I’ll be able to wait 10 more days for an extended test, but probably no more :grin:

As for the system setup I’m afraid it’ll have to wait a tad more. I building my own rack, as the Fraim doesn’t fit my needs. It’ll take some time before the 7 boxes find their right place into the new rack. In the meantime I’ll enjoy the system as it is.

Thanks again for your detailed reply.

Thomas

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Just suggestions on what you may experience - or not! :bear:

I think you can do similar or even better to Fraim if you observe the things it gets right - a balance of different engineering concepts to fit within a space and cost.

The main thing is not to concentrate on one thing as the killer design feature and forget all the others - they still operate even if you give them no mind.

Isolation of the set of vibrations from one box to another - energy cannot be destroyed, it will be there and all you can do is define its pathways and control resonances with careful use of damping - and prevent two or more resonances coupling (very bad).

Naim choose things that resonate in different ranges, mainly nearly above and nearly below the audio band and keep resonances from out of the mid-band - I think it works well.

Wood is used for damping and metal for rigidity - you need to control and manage resonances in the design however you conceive it.
Personally I’ve always found a lot of experiment - trial and error - and willingness to sacrifice sacred cow concepts goes a very long way to success.
If it sounds bad then it is bad is always a good place to start.

Let us all know how it goes! :slightly_smiling_face:

DB.

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Some people have not heard worthwhile differences with two 555PS(DR) on NDS and ND555. It’s going to be room, system, ear, brain and taste dependent. It’s unfair to get someone else’s hopes/expectations up but the addition of a second PS is certainly something worth auditioning at this level. Actually, when it comes to any source component that will take an external PS, it’s worth auditioning at any level.

There were all sorts gains of the musical, textural, timbrel, dynamic, detail variety but the change was so fundamental that it was difficult, at least in the first instance, to hear past the HiFi gains. I don’t use my ears as measuring equipment. I try not to analyse what I hear. I try to sit back, enjoy the music/performance/presentation and let the technical stuff take care of itself. I’ll either like it or I won’t.

However, in this case it really was a back-to-square-one type of deal - for me. Notes started and stopped in different places. Echos and reverb went on longer and held more focus in all the things going on around them. The musical information was increased yet simplified. And on verse after song after album, double tracks resolved into four. Four tracks resolved into eight, and so on. Harmonies separated into more easily identifiable voices and the number of voices often increased. Synth bass throb resolved into multiple, discrete frequencies. And on and on.

A 555PS(DR) costs a lot of money. For the value that two of them bought to my love of music, it was a bargain.

Your mileage may vary.

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Nice way of putting it Harry, always difficult for me to express the musical change it made in my system. :+1:

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So I take it you have the second PS555DR installed (your profile still states one).

I know you find it tricky to express differences but I would be interested to know your thoughts on the benefits of a second PS on the ND555, @Gazza.

Thanks i have changed my profile. Many moons ago at my dealer we added a second 555 dr to the nd555. It just made everything sound more natural, a better sense of timing seem to make the music hang together better. So with a holiday cancelled i started looking for an ex demo, rang Signals and one available…so went with it.
At home what i was not expecting was a the improvement in the bass control…which i thought was on the money anyway. The new Dylan album has a long track “ murder most foul” which he underlines some of the lyrics with very deep bass. The second psu really tightened that piece of music. It has taken the nd 555 a couple of weeks to come back on song even with an ex demo unit. Everything just sounds better, not night and day, but just sounds right.It is as somebody described the icing on an already nice cake. No going back now for me.

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