Hi I am really impressed that those 808’s work so close to the rear wall…amazin.
The 2x555’s + a 500dr will make an awesome difference you must keep us in the picture as things develop… great thread…cheers
Thanks for the answers. There is no realistic chance for the mains cable to be taken round the outside of the house as behind the fireplace is the neighbour’s porch (behind the right 808 is where a doorway used to be before the houses were separated - we were originally an extension to the farmhouse. Planners, eh?). Behind the piano is the utility room where the consumer unit is but I daren’t suggest digging holes in walls
HH - I understand the audioquest is not “just” a mains conditioner and some on here have said it’s very good on their Naim systems but it is absolutely right not to assume it will work. Mentioned as a possibility not an assumed panacea
Dave - re the nd555 on top rather than 552 that is where Pete installed it to start with (and Geoff installed the 552 below the NDS before that) - I have had one chat with him about that months ago
Am going to discuss all of this with Pete soon. Thanks for the comments
Interesting Signals installed mine exactly like yours with the nd555 on top, though i do have a vacant shelf below the 552. I did swap them around, heard no difference and swapped back to nd555 on top. Be interested in the outcome of your chat.
Can’t turn up the volume properly yet (teenager at home and ready to complain) but did a quick treat and the flabby bass showed up. Pete did say that the superlumina speaker cable would sort that (at a price) and that I shouldn’t attempt to move the speakers out without trying that. And it is still early days too - but maybe so close to the walls isn’t going to work, and it only has so far been hidden due to quiet listening while Helen was at home at the weekend. The depth of the speakers compared to a fraim rack would allow them to come forward a bit and be in a straight line viewed from the kitchen
At medium levels it’s still sounding good though - but no good if I cannot crank it up when everyone is out. Teenager at college tomorrow so will be able to try more then
Sounds like you have a great plan in place already Tim.
I will be surprised if you can keep the speakers that close, but I can see you have naim speaker cable and that is a more darker cable than bright cable, so charging this might help, but feel it will rather just extend it and add more detail, but could be wrong. Maybe try some phantom?
But it looks like mains cable is by far the biggest problem, but again not impossible to sort, don’t know what size cable you have feeding the wall socket, but I would remove it and join the new cable to it inside the back box, then put a blanking plate on the front, run the new cable round to you rack, and connect it directly to you multi plug, you can buy good quality cable by the meter from places like mcru, for not that much, as I did just this and made my own up
Hi Tim,
Not sure that the Super Lumina will solve that kind of issue…
Flabby bass could be due to a lack of control from the amp (which I very much doubt) or to room acoustics.
Good bass, let’s say under 80-100 Hz, is mainly listening position dependent.
The 808 are very capable speakers, especially when it comes to the low end (their frequency response is really nice!).
Unfortunately, if you wish the get the best low end possible, you’ll need to find the best listening position and, after that, position the speakers correctly.
A correct listening position is probably the best “upgrade” you can get when it comes to low end.
Super Lumina cable will be the icing on the cake, not the solution I’m afraid.
It’s nice to see the 808s in location. IIRC you ended up with a Tineo finish, but whatever it is and from what I can see, I’d say it goes very well with the yellow ochre wall colour.
Another and cheap option at £30/m is the Kudos ks-1 speaker cable, its a little brighter which helped in my room across bass mid and treble.
Taking your queries in no particular order.
If Pete is saying SuperLumina speaker cables will cure the flabby bass (and I realise some here question that assertion) then why not try it. Surely Pete can lend you a set to at least check they do or don’t sort the problem. I can see the last thing you want to do is pull the 808s into the room, so try SL speaker cables first. I remember SL speaker cables being a superb addition and I have large rear ported speakers close to walls in a small room.
If you can find a solution to bringing your mains cable to the other side of the room then you could do worse than plug into the ReFlex Ultra G3 mains block with the newish sparkly bottom, instead of the Audioquest Nagara. I, and others on here, found it to give a very decent uplift in SQ in all the important areas. Hopefully the 6 outlets will be enough for the Naim gear (now you are not going active) and the spare double socket can be used to plug in other (non Naim) stuff.
Getting the ethernet cable over to the other side can be achieved at very little cost. I have found the best long-run ethernet cable, regardless of price, is the very cost-effective Designacable CatSnake 6a with the floating shield. I bought 8 meters of the stuff for around £60 and it outperformed my 8m Vodka (circa £600) by some way. I know others on here use, and rave about, the BJC 6a, which is similar in price.
I too have my 552 above the ND555, but you might have to experiment (I know, it is a PITA) to find the optimal arrangement.
Happy listening.
I could have these very speakers which are indeed tineo but it’s too orange and stripy for my liking, and I prefer the look of the walnut
Hi Tim, great to hear that things seem to be working out both with the system and the Management.
How many earthed mains sockets do you need in your system going passively forward?
Also could you expand on the ‘flabby’ bass ( is it a lift / murkiness at a certain frequency) and also is the slight shoutiness reducing as the speakers are running in?
When you get a chance I would try, beyond finding the seating position with the most linear bass response, to move the speakers slightly forward in increments by maybe 2 inches at a time this once everything has settled down run in wise, and see what you find- this could also possibly help with imaging and soundstage. ATB Peter
Thanks Peter. I was about to post a quick update. The flabbiness might have been on one track - teenager has just nipped out to put the hens away so have turned the volume up - on the commitments album / try a little tenderness - all is well in the bass department here, and the next track
Cameo / word up has a very taut sounding bass cranked up to about 10.30
The shoutiness does appear to have abated somewhat. Currently at about 30 hours total time on the speakers so a way to go yet.
This on the nd555. The lp12 is sounding rather good also. Haven’t done any same track comparison of Lp12 (which has recently been very significantly updated) to nd555. That will come with time but I do need to work to earn the money to pay for it all
Will Listen some more and report again in due course!
Hi Tim, sounds good progress
Any chance of a response to my 1st question? ATB Peter
Sorry - need sockets for (1) Radikal, (2-3) two 555s (only have one at the moment), (4) 552ps, (5) 300ps, (6) melco n1z and (7) ripper and (8) switch. Though in theory the switch could stay where it is and then run a long bit of Ethernet to the n1zh, rather than running Ethernet with a long run from the router to the switch bringing it back to 7. Don’t think I have missed anything off there
Hi Tim,
Enjoying your thread. I sympathise with your thoughts on shelving & extra boxes. With my rather lowly SBLs I very actively looked at using my brace of CB250s, but ultimately just couldn’t face yet MORE additional boxes; plus, over the years I have read many comments from people with active systems who who whilst praising them also find them VERY highly tuned, so that small issues can result in them not quiet operating optimally. In the end I decided to get a pair of uprated passive crossovers made …something I don’t think you will have to worry about.
Watching your journey with interest!
M
Hi Tim, I know neatness is on most minds here, but how about running a high quality ( read beefy) mains cable from your existing earthed hifi socket, hidden somehow neatly along the wall into a Musicworks G3 mains block resting in close proximity on the floor to your new Fraim position?
The G3 is literally as the advertising spiel said: ‘ The dogs box’ in my opinion. ATB Peter
Thanks - such a run is possible. I do have a friendly electrician I can speak to as well. Will discuss with Pete to see what he thinks as he knows the room and has installed several pairs of 808s
I too suggested this in my post above.
You did