I bought my 300 from them a couple of years back. They were really helpful, and the shipping was very quick (which was good, as a friend had a container leaving 4 days after I bought it, and it made it there with time to spare)
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Be warned, a 552 takes a while to warm up. And you’ve done well to get a full-fat PowerLine, as (IIRC) these weren’t around when this was made.
I realise that it will take warming up and that shaking the Burndy and trying to keep it from touching anything may help.
I am not sure about positioning, but expect I will try it directly on the granite top shelf of my (literally) massive HNE rack. If that is not ideal, we can try putting things between 552 and shelf.
I am also thinking about the Superline, which is likely to be just to the left (seen from the front) of the 552, with the LP12 above. When I got the Stiletto LP12, we found a hum that was fixed when Infidelity ran a single earth wire directly from Keel to the earth-point on the phono input on my 52 (not to the SL). I hope that this is not necessary with the 552 or that this simple solution works equally well.
Is there anything else that I should bear in mind?
You should keep the 552’s SNAIC close to the burndy - some wrap/hang around with spacers/cable clips (AIU). And (IIRC), by folklore, the 552PS doesn’t like anything underneath it. Obviously, as a ‘brain unit’, it’s better to keep the head unit away from any PSs.
Is one of the remotes a FLASH unit? I can’t remember what came with units of this age. Be doing well, if this still works.
…Superlines, LP12s and earthing arrangements can be a nightmare!
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Two things from me when setting up the 552
- Shelf has to be level
- Burndy hangs free and doesn’t touch anything else except the SNAIC in one postion
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I thought it was better to have it close not touching all the way, and second best was to touch it at one place?
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If a bit of cable-dressing and shaking helps, I’ll try. If there is no point having a 552 if the Burndy touches a wall OR a floor OR another Burndy OR a signal cable OR the SNAIC OR a power lead OR a speaker cable, I may end up keeping the 52!
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The NAC552 is just like the NAC52 in working best with a nicely relaxed Burndy lead and with the SNAIC 5 running closely parallel. If the latter is difficult, then one overlap is usually fine.
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You beat me to it Richard
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Thanks Richard.
I remember that keeping power leads from lying alongside signal leads was audibly better. It isn’t just hearsay…
I also remember that keeping SNAIC close to Burndy (and hence not lying alongside a signal cable) was recommended - and probably audible.
I have never been able to hear any difference from the 52’s Burndy touching wall or floor, provided of course that the weight being positioned wrongly doesn’t interfere with a proper connection.
I haven’t been able to hear a benefit from periodically shaking the Burndy and other fat cables, but of course I have no way of knowing how the SQ would be if I had never done it.
I also remember that the switch to unauthorised cables improved SQ, but my best guess was that all I was hearing was shielded cables being much less sensitive to dressing.
When making the cable change, we tried a round of careful cable dressing (even temporarily using just 1 source and removing cables to make perfect dressing more plausible) and not a single listener could tell when I (a) did it as well as I could or (b) deliberately did it all wrong. As a result, I have had a few years of not having to worry much about cable-dressing.
I have heard suggestions that dressing is particularly important on a 552, and I will obviously now be using Naim standard cables.
As with box order, perfection may be impossible, but putting in some effort makes sense. Hopefully it will be enough.
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There is alot of focus on Naim equipment with cable dressing and box positioning, particularly with 500 series.
The simpler the system you have the easier it is to manage. For example if you have 552DR and 500DR and ND555 with one 555PSDR over two Fraims then it’s fairly simple to get it all right.
As soon as you start introducing more boxes, a turntable, NAS and switches it becomes more complicated. Especially if you are building a system and take boxes out and cables out and don’t take it all apart. Then you are trying to thread cables through without touching. It takes a few attempts and sometimes boxes need moving.
I have followed the principles. 552 Burndy and Snaic don’t touch and run parallel. No burndy’s touch the floor or walls or any other cable. The interconnects don’t touch any other cables. The 500DR has very large burndys.
I need to do some work on a few things, but with these things in place I am doing what is recommended. Does it make a difference? Not too sure. But it is not causing problems.
But if cables are stressed, and I mean are too short, stretched, snagged I would imagine that could cause problems.
See how you get on with it all.
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Here, here Dan. Like yourself and others above, I am not too sure if there is really any SQ improvement from having cables hang free/not touch each other; but with the investment we have all made in this expensive hobby…it does not hurt to follow the advice, even if only for piece of mind.
I would sit here worrying about the stress on the cables if I had not set it up correctly. Which is why I am about to take my system apart again…it is about an inch too close to the wall so moving it forward will mean no Burndys touching the wall. I still cannot believe how much better it sounds in the new location 
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15mm pipe insulation is always an option. I have cut down alot of smallish lengths of pipe insulation and used them to separate cables where it has been too difficult. Many on here use it. Some use cable risers as well to keep cables off the floor.
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Using a single stack Fraim the SNAIC without touching the burndy is hard to run in parallel, much easier when I had two stacks but as Richard states touching once is okay.
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I can attest to that! My 252/SCDR cables have been particularly difficult to keep apart. I only managed to do so when I upgraded my Fraim from a Lite to a full fat version. That gave the extra separation needed but only when the SCDR is on the bottom shelf and 252 on the top. That is probably optimal anyway I guess.
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My 52 is at Salisbury - if I am selling it, it needs to be A1. As a result, a 112 (plus my old Hicap) s standing in for it until the 552 arrives - thanks to the excellent chaps at Infidelity for the loan. It sounds like my recollection of a 72: better than it should be for the price (and a s/h bargain), but simultaneously a bit dull and a missing a lot of air and detail compared to a 52 (and most of the stereo image I expect).
If you picture the 552 where the 102 is and the 552’s PS where the Hicap is, this is my first attempt at where everything will go. If it doesn’t sound right, I’ll have to try again.
I may need to do rather more around the back. There is still a Burndy to add to this lot.
What’s the box between the 102 and CDS2 in the middle?
Forgive me if I’m wrong but I dont see a 102 Pre in that picture, 122 or 152?
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Superline, with an Airplug in the back, powered from the preamp.
Second row are NDX2 and PS for the CDS2, with ethernet switch between them.
Below that are 300DR and its PS.
Below that are XPSDR for NDX2 and the Hicap (or 552PS)
Below that are Nakamichi DR8 and the Radikal, neither using the Hydra of course.
Of course, I am also wondering about power because the 552 comes with a Powerline. I could plug that into the dedicated supply on the wall using the Powerline, or I could use one head of my Hydra. It will be interesting which sounds better.
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Yeah, I think that’s overstated TBH. Do your best and walk away and don’t over think it 
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