552DR ordered and LP12 upgrades

And maybe the Mastergroove is already better vs SL/SCdr….
But I asked because you wrote :grin:

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Thanks Stevie,

I am really happy with steps I have taken. This is now my ultimate system.coming to me soon

ND555? Not really fussed as NDS into ND5XS2 is so good.
2nd 555PSDR maybe. But not priority.

CD Transport? Don’t need it as everything is ripped to Zoneripper. Just something else I don’t need.

Cables? Full powerlines, super lumina interconnect, G3 Musicworks with sparkly botrom. Separate radial for system.

Speaker cables? Have Naca 5. Great cable.

System is done with new upgrades. You can make more work for yourself.

Time to switch off and enjoy music only!

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It’s not a Mastergroove! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

And maybe it is better. Once installed noticed massive upgrade.

The problem is I did loads at same time. So you can’t tell what is doing what!

It would be worth comparing. I remember when we had a Groove + and (SRX??) PSU in the factory and compared against the Prefix with Supercap. They were very, very different…

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The Groove + SRX power supply is very neutral, is my understanding. How did they compare to you Richard?

well, I need to be careful here… I respected the Groove + for what it did, it did very well indeed. It was highly detailed and had great inner clarity. However, I felt it was rather cerebral (bad memories of my ISO HR, which so disappointed after the lovely original ISO) and ironically seemed to lack what its name suggested it should have in vast quantity - groove!

The Prefix with Supercap, by contrast, was incredibly earthy and textured, and while it lacked the same fine inner detail, it didn’t seem to matter as the sound just carried you. Needless to say I loved it and immediately asked Mark R to make me a “Super-Hicap” out of an old 52PS so I could get something close with my own Prefix.

It was an informative listening session as well for Naim. The plan was to create a new phono stage which would build on the earthy, “groovy” strengths of the Prefix by adding the detail and inner clarity of the Groove + and its ilk. It became the Superline…

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Great write up Richard. For me the Groove + SRX seems very neutral, transparent and detailed.

For me, it does the job very well. It is very fine at extracting information from vinyl and has a low noise floor.

In time I may well experiment with different phonostages. This is not always an easy task unless you buy them.

I just didn’t want to go straight to Urika 1 as I know then I would have kept it.

My thinking is see how it goes with the multiple LP12 upgrades and see how I feel about it all.

I was thinking that with my taste in music that the Superline would be the one. That’s another big expense as it will really need a Supercap DR to shine. Will park this for now.

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Superline sounds really good out of Aux2 too, Dan. If 552 has one…? I dunno.

:smiling_imp:

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Don’t dismiss the Superline powered from the 552 - it’s very, very good indeed. The 552PS has dedicated windings and rails for just this purpose. The Superline uses a similar brass mass loaded suspension system to the 552 - they were essentially made for one another. If you have a NAC552 then you’ve already got a superb PS for the Superline - then a Superline becomes a bargain phono stage that’s impossible to ignore.

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Yes, I read all the discussion…
When I had the stageline / hicap olive, I preferred at that time the Tom Evans microgroove.
I guess the Groove + SRX must be very very good. Enjoy.

But I found the microgroove a bit lean too. Went after for my actual phono. Much richer and organic.
Can’t say how yours would compare vs SL/ SC. The cartridge used change things also. Some phono don’t match so well with some cartridges, or the contrary.

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For reference we were using Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua and DV-1S, and Ortofon SPU Royal N. We were supposed to have also have a Clearaudio Insider, but the one that Dave Denyer very kindly loaned us decided to “dis-assemble” itself in my hand as I went to install it in an ARO top… eek!

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You say you broke the cartridge by accident ? Or I misunderstood ?
If yes, I hope it’s the insurance that paid for it.

No, no, no… I didn’t break it - honest! :slight_smile:

I had it in the palm of my hand as I showed it to someone who wanted to see what a five figure cartridge looked like. The hammer head bit then just sort of came away from the rest of the body as we looked at it. DD was very nice about it (or so I was told!)…

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It’s like this: you don’t know what you have heard until you have heard it.

Until I have heard other phonostages and compare, I won’t know.

Dealers don’t stock Superlines generally. My experience of dealers is that they are not keen on loaning out gear unless a certain purchase. They are worried about damage and so on.

So if I go Superline I will likely have to buy one and make decision from there.

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And I must admit, from all my research and my music preferences, my gut was Superline with Supercap DR.

These instincts are normally right with me.

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My limited English got me understand your post with confusion. :grin:

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That is going to be one awesome setup once everything is installed, congratulations, enjoy the music.

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Superline with SCDR is what I have on my LP12 ARO

It’s a cracker combination , certainly blew away the Superline/HicapDR I had before

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