Some of you may recall that I reached the end of my tether a few years back.
See End of my tether - #884 by mikehughescq.
Solution was that my ears needed a more relaxed sound and I eventually moved to non-Naim streaming using a very cheap bridge. I committed to very slow upgrades and a longer term plan to replace the Naim amplification and associated cable spaghetti with an integrated.
Bridge plugged into the streamer gave a very engaging and direct sound but was accompanied by considerable noise. The sound of St. Vincent acoustic on MassEducation was nevertheless astonishing. Every creak and shift of position. You were sat alongside her.
Moved the bridge away from the streamer and across the fireplace by inserting 5m of cheap no name Cat 5. Noise dropped but so did the immediacy. At no point did it become less enjoyable overall but at each stage there are trade offs. I’d love that immediacy back but…
Replaced the Cat 5 with Chord C-Stream and have lived with that for far longer than intended as it’s just a lovely listen.
In the midst of this deliberately slow progression I sought advice on changing the bridge.
See Choice of wireless bridge and cable - #31 by Blackmorec
Found myself enjoying music far too much to ever get around to doing it. Last night I finally installed the TP-Link AC2600 RB 650 as suggested by @Blackmorec. It’s significantly larger than anticipated so a bit of plug shuffling went on. Turns out tape is not required to block out the LEDs as there is a button to knock them off.
Initial impression very positive. A lot more (but possibly less controlled) bass; overall the sound has more weight and some of the audiphile detail is back (long reverb tails etc.). Listened for 30 minutes and for the first time in maybe half a decade found myself gently cranking the sound up and up and annoying my tinnitus.
Have since done a firmware update but I plan on spending some time this afternoon and evening. Initial signs very positive though.
I have a power amp audition at home lined up for early next month and I’m hoping to audition a further integrated having loved everything about the Enleum bar the sound.
See Moving on from Naim - #98 by mikehughescq
I stand to be corrected but tubes are looking the way to go.