Of course, sorry. I thought we were talking about alternatives to a 500 series, as Dunc mentioned it.
Simon I also preferred a separate power amp (nap 250) driving atc scm 40 after extended home demo of active and passive scm40 over lockdown, and have now have replaced my PMC 20.23 with the ATC scm 40 passive. Iām now looking to upgrade my nap250 nac 272 but do not have much room for more black boxes. do you think the Dave/etude combi would be compatible with the atc scm40? Obviously I will need to demo but am interested in your opinion.
Hi Thomas,
No need to apologise at all. Some of the equipment that I have listened to is at 500 series level but more on that later, once a final decision is made.
Best regards, BF
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Have you tried the SR1a ribbon āear speakersā? Iāve got a pair on order an am looking for an amp to power them. Read a review that indicated you chord amp was an excellent choice. Then an hour later I saw youād switched to this amp.
My system was only an ndx sn2 hicap but I really enjoyed itā¦ untilā¦ about 16 months ago when my wife pushed my sub out of position so she could do āsomethingā. Was going to have the guy from the shop come over and get it setup again but COVIDā¦ I have a very nice Rel g1 and it was expertly integrated. Without it everything sounds a bit thin. So I stopped using itā¦ started using my headphones. Had the Hugo and V1 which were both enjoyable. Got a dcs Bartok and it was mind blowing and I only have hd800 headphones. Now Iām doing a complete rebuild.
Personallyā¦ the first generation Naim streamers were great but I wouldnāt consider the current models. The idea of using bnc as a digital connection in 2021 is absolutely ridiculous. Obviously they didnāt include usb out because theyāre never producing another dac and something else.
Indeed, we seem to have ended up in the same place via different routes! No M-Scaler here, though.
I guess once I ditched the Naim preamp I had nagging doubts about running the 250 without itās natural partner, so although I was happy enough with what I had, I felt I should at least try an alternative, and the Ćtude was the obvious choice.
I meant to do this last year, but a long overdue speaker upgrade intervened. Iāve had my dealers demo Ćtude for several weeks, but Iām picking mine up this week.
Yes, for me itās a significant improvement over the 250DR, with or without the 282.
Hi Chris
Of similar concern is that an Ultima 6 power amp gives a pair of serviced NAP135s much to think aboutā¦
Best regards, BF
Thanks Richard - but maybe a bit of an overkill SCDR with SN3 ?
In the context of a front end NDX2/XPSDR
Iāve never heard that 4 box combo
Bevo
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In the US the NDX2 + 555ps is $21k and the Rossini is $23k (I think). Problem is the Rossini clock which is ākeyā is another $9k and you need two supeR expensive bnc cables for around $4k. Which is slightly more expensive than the nd555 but less expensive than the new linn monstrosity.
Yikesā¦ this is getting expensive. Wish I could hear a nd555 thoughā¦
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Waitā¦ wouldnāt you only use half of the supercap on a sn3? I remember a few years ago some thought 2 hicaps on 282 >> supercap.
Wouldnāt have a clue
Iāve always found the Supercap to be rather magnificent when used on the NAITs. Iām not the only one either. On the old forum I recall Ron Toolsie and Kuma both finding similar. Iāve not tried a Supercap on the Supernait3 (I havenāt even heard a Supernait3 yet), but I would certainly not discount it if a high performance two-box amp was required.
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Thanks Richard, always a great source of knowledge, @DJM please note Richardās comment , might be worth you investigating if you wish to reduce box count
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@ChrisSUā¦I see that you and SIS have both gone down the Chord route, with your NDX2ās. Is this a reasonable match for my 282/300 system? Does the DAVEās Pre stand up to the 282?
Thanks
Thanks Bevo, have taken Richards comment on board 
Chris I have dropped my mscalar out when using with the NDX2 into Daveā¦ it does seem to be preferable and funnily enough seems to provide the best overall performance with more natural textures, intonations and sheer feelā¦ (once I had Roon limit the Naim play out to 24 bitsā¦ which means no NDX2 sample conversion) ā¦ other digital sources could vary so itās in the toolbox.
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Yes it certainly would work wellā¦ give it a demo. The Etude is a very grippy fast amp that excels at timing and rhythmic driveā¦ it also has some interesting architectural design concepts, although not originally invented by Chord, have been optimised by Chord ā¦uses power FETs and is natively balancedā¦ it sounds rather different to the 250.
It also runs quite a bit warmer than the 250ā¦
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Really? Hard to imagine since those were ds/0 without the Dynamic power supply. Unless Iām mistaken. If thatās the case wellā¦ yikes.
No I havenāt tried those headphonesā¦ they sound interesting.
As far as BNC for 75 ohm unbalanced SPDIF I believe that is the most optimal and practical interface available right now, and I use when ever I canā¦ with its balanced AES variation useful for longer runs.
I do avoid USB if I can, it was not designed for audio and needs special handling to avoid conducted noise. Also if using USB try and ensure its duplex USB3.
The best servers money can buy are all optimized for usb. Even the old v1 sounded best via usb and that is 8 ish years old. Try out a $2,000 bnc ic. I have Naim club bnc cables and even I could hear a difference with more expensive options. Still havenāt experienced a ridiculously expensive usb cable that made a big difference. Itās just anecdotal but recent experience suggests usb is solved. Obviously youāre an engineer and Iām just going on limited experience. If I didnāt absolutely need Roon to survive Iād have an Aurender w20.
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