I have been using a Nac282/NapSC/HiCap/Nap250 on home demo for the last 2 days with my LP12/Uphorik.
My usual amplifiers are Cyrus x300 mono-blocks. Tomorrow I would like to connect the Cyrus amplifiers up instead of the Nap250 for a listen. The dealer I borrowed the Naim equipment from have said that I am able to do this in the following way using the XLR inputs to the amps via 2 (4 to 3 way) Naim cables from the Amp1(socket 3) and Amp2(socket 2) of the HiCap. They also said that I have to connect Amp 1 o/p to LHS and Amp 2 o/p to RHS as they will not work if they are reversed. Is my understanding of this correct or can’t it be done? Thanks
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Hmm - i think your dealer is wrong here. The Hicap outputs are correct. The 250 uses an XLR connector for its input but it’s not a balanced input and apart from Pin 1 being ground on both amps, it is wired so pins 2 and 3 are used for L&R rather than the usual balanced (positive and negative) inputs that the Cyrus uses. If you want to try this configuration then i would use the unbalanced RCA inputs on the Cyrus amps and get an appropriate pair of DIN4 to RCA leads made up.
Thank James. To be honest I was somewhat wary of that advice and I thought that it would be better to ask the experience of the forum first before blowing something up! Unfortunately I have to take them back on Tuesday so I will not be able to get the cables made up soon enough.
That’s a shame - that would have been an interesting combination. A colleague at work has a pair of X300 amps (in a full Cyrus system) and likes them a lot. By your description of the two cable setup, i’m wondering if your dealer thought you were looking to connect to a Naim NAP300 which uses a pair of handed DIN 4 to XLR cables (they need to be correct at the amp end rather than the power supply end) hence the dealers suggestion.
You are probably correct as I haven’t a clue since I have had no experience of Naim + connectors before! They seem confusing to me lol. I will not be trying this tomorrow then unfortunately but there may be a next time? Thanks very much.
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If you’re going to spend that much cash, it’s not unreasonable to expect the dealer to set up the system for you. That’s what they’re there for, and you shouldn’t really have to sweat over it yourself. It would be cynical of me to suggest that it’s in his interest to not set up your Cyrus amps, if it means he can sell you a 250, so I won’t!
If you do have to go it alone, you could do worse than to get some cheap cables made up by Flashback for the trial. He understands how Naim and other brands use XLR connections in different ways, and should be able to supply the right leads. He delivers stuff quite fast, but maybe not by Tuesday, though!
Cheers Chris - he did give me the x2 cables (4 pin din to XLR) but as I am not experienced with Naim cabling I thought I’d better throw out the question to this forum. A number of people (from other Naim groups) have suggested the same things as james_n that it was the Nap 300! I think my idea is best left alone, pity really as I thought it was an opportunity to try it out. Maybe I should take my amps to him on Tuesday to try his method out?
Yes, probably best to take no chances and get your dealer to connect everything up, at keast then you can just relax and enjoy the demo.
Yep, and if anything goes wrong he can pay for the repair. Thanks for your help. PJ
When I first bought a Naim pre I ran a Rega power amp from two of the ps (flatcap 2x) sockets via DIN to RCA cables I bought ex dem from a dealer, they were made by Naim. This worked fine until I could afford a 250-2 which happened after superline, Aro and Hicap in that order, which took a few years.
Din to phono seems the right way to go. Unfortunately i will not be able to get a pair before i return the equipment to dealer. I am just glad i didnt follow his instructions. Thanks Yeti
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