Hi all,
I am the lucky new owner of a 552/500 and so need to revise my rack. So I’ve had a great discussion with chat GPT (o3 med-hi) and checked with perplexity and this is what’s been suggested for the components I have from top to bottom:
Left Rack - Brain Stack
• Linn LP12
• NDS
• Superline
• 552 Pre-Amp
Right Rack- Brawn Stack
• NAP 500 Head Unit
• XPS2
• Linn Lingo 3
• Supercap DR
• 552PS
• NAP 500PS
It’s also clear that I should be avoid wires touching each other and touching the ground.
What does everyone think? Is AI onto something or do you humans know something that AI doesn’t and there is still some hope for us?
And the 552 head should be as high as possible. I’d take a look through system pics, and also do a Forum search, as stacking order has been discussed countless times previously.
Without being rude or denigrating to the OP (apologies up front if it appears this way) the use of AI for quick answers to be relied on (instead of testing, researching, reading) is a great concern for me.
Before you know it, nobody reads-it’s all taken at face level.
They capitulate when challenged as well.
“No the 552 should be at the top”
“Yes of course, here’s the correct answer” …. followed by a completely different response.
There’s no intelligence here, it’s just text manipulation.
It’s beyond me why someone would think any valid response would be forthcoming. ChatGPT has never received training in the dem room at Salisbury and never will.
It can however make up limericks.
A fellow once typed with a sigh,
“ChatGPT, help—tell me why!
My hi-fi’s all tangled,
The wires are mangled,
And nothing will play but a cry!”
Well seems like I really got everyone’s attention. You know I have to chuckle a bit–there is such criticism of AI yet I’d argue that the information and opinions on this forum are quite variable and arguably not worse than what AI has given me. At its core other than separating out brains (left if facing equipment) and brawn (right) the stacking order from top to bottom is much less clear. A simple example is the 500 head unit. I see pictures of it in the brain rack (usually on bottom), but also advise that it should be at the top of the brawn unit or the bottom of the brawn unit. I agree in principle that sound should dictate the final placement but it would also be useful to have a good general working model for how to at least start before shifting components around to see if you get a better result. Perhaps I missed something somewhere. So respecting and synthesizing the group’s comments (opus, MDS, diggy gun, hungry halibut) maybe with what I’ve put below. That said, realize that y’all are not consistent either.
Have you got a medium/high-level shelf risers for the 500 head unit?
Also, can you accommodate 3 stacks (?), as then you could have a vinyl stack with the LP12/Superline and Supercap – and you can space items, as per folklore.
Yes, while ChatGPT can do very rapid reading for you, it does not know right from wrong, fact from fiction, instead just regurgitates a summary based on what it has found wherever it searched. It is only sensible to use what it comes up with as a part of one’s own balanced research and reasoned evaluation (and that includes being aware of the sources ChatGPT referenced).
The first thing that struck me in the OP’s list, as it did others, was the nonsensical positioning of the preamp: few people would relish bending down to access it at floor level, but of course ChatGPT has no concept of reaching controls.
That sounds as if you expect the advice of humans familiar with hifi and Naim gear to be worse than AI…
Hi @ThrilledCod, here’s an answer from o1, if you’re curious, not too far off @DiggyGun!
A common guideline in Naim systems is to keep all the “active” boxes (source components, preamp, and the amp head unit itself) on one rack (sometimes called the “Brain” stack), while relegating all power supplies to a second “Brawn” rack. In your friend’s proposal, the NAP 500 head unit is sitting with the power supplies, which is typically not ideal.
A more standard arrangement would be:
Left (Brain) Rack
1. Linn LP12 (the turntable)
2. NDS (streamer/player)
3. SuperLine (phono stage)
4. NAC 552 (preamp)
5. NAP 500 “head unit” (the amplifier itself)
Right (Brawn) Rack
1. 552 PS
2. 500 PS
3. SuperCap DR (for the SuperLine)
4. XPS2 (for the NDS)
5. Linn Lingo 3 (LP12 power supply)
The main shift is to pull the NAP 500 amplifier chassis away from the power-supply side and over onto the rack with the other active electronics. This arrangement typically yields the quietest performance and is the standard “Brain/Brawn” practice for Naim gear. Of course, exact shelf order or placement can be refined depending on cable lengths and practical access, but the key idea is: all power supplies on one stack and all active boxes on the other.
Not sure what o1 is? Given the nonhuman considerations of the suggested order, I’m guessing it is another AI response.
Why on earth put the preamp, with which you will sometimes have to physically interact, below the stageline which you would completely ignore once installed (unless limited by cable length.) As for preamp or streamer vertical order, for people – and I assume it is probably most – who almost invariably only interact with the streamer via remote app, it makes more sense for the preamp to be above that as well, Maximising ease of access.
In due course, the AI program will access some of these responses, and may start regurgitating them! But probably only when their number exceeds whatever other data the AI programs are accessing… As was said above there is no intelligence there, and certainly no practical human consideration.
