I’ve been saving up some more funds for a system tweak this year. Been thinking of a few things which all seem to expense out around the same:
-Upgrade my NBL’s to a second hand pair of Wilson Sasha 1’s
-Upgrade my SL speaker cable to Ansuz C2 or D2
-Remove the Supercap DR from my Superline and install another 555PS DR for my ND555. I can run the superline from my 552. It certainly isn’t as good as my Supercap DR but with two kids (ages 7 and 5) I just find us using the streamer more than anything.
Thanks!. I should add in my profile that I have an Ansuz powerblock (C2) with C2 power cable from the wall to the block along with C2 on the 552 PS and A2 on the 500 PS. Powerline on the rest.
It’s only my view, but my suggestion on any of those would be ‘try before you buy’.
I’d be wary of buying those speakers second-hand (however good) without hearing them in your actual room, unless of course you already have.
Most of the other changes can probably be tried before buying (or have a 30-day trial period). That may be more useful than my trying to rank those possible changes for you without knowing more (and I haven’t heard the cables anyway).
I suspect the limiting factor here will be your time. Trying more than a few of these ideas will mean some faff and lots of listening to the hi-fi instead of the music - something that wears most of us down eventually.
In theory they are upgrades I guess. The one that has me the most interested is the 2nd PS on the ND555. I wish I were listening to more vinyl these days but it’s almost 95% streamer. I can’t really demo any of these items, no nearby dealer, so purchased either through a third party resale site or dealer out of state.
I ordered my ND555 as soon as the price was announced so was well used to it with 552/500/NBLs by the time of my one encounter with a second ps on an ND555 at a dealer/Naim event set up by Audio T Oxford and Jason Gould from Naim. They used 252/300 and Dynaudio speakers. Mainly it was comparing the ND555 to an NDS, both with 555ps but at the end there was a brief comparison of one vs two ps on the ND555. The room was split about 50:50 as to which was preferable, to me the second ps lost the fluidity that sets it apart from most digital sources. Others claimed improved resolution and possibly scale but to me that loss of flow was too high a price. Now this fluidity is the sort of aspect that is sensitive to system setup and using a linear block, as I use at home and was also used in the demo, plug order in particular has an influence and so does the system layout on the stacks. The demo system that night wasn’t optimised for two ps on the 555 but the experience gives me pause until I can try for myself and since moving to the south of France that’s more difficult. There is a Focal powered by Naim showroom planned for Perpignan, a slog down the A9 from me, and I’m hoping I can put it to a proper test there but I have no history with that dealer.
Your system profile indicates you have what is generally regarded as being well-balanced by those with deep enough pockets
My suggestion though, is to take a trip to Lone Mountain Audio in Las Vegas, and check out ATC’s SCM150aslt. This way, you could chop the NAP500 and SL speaker cables, and not spend $$$$ on the Ansuz cables.
All you would need is the necessary bits to convert the output from the NAC552 to fully balanced.
An audiophile server like Innuos Statement or Melco N10: a definitive upgrade.
Innuos PhoenixNet or Uptone Etheregen / Sean Jacobs : definitive upgrade
A top powerblock : same. But a test at home is necessary. Some prefer the Music Works Ultra , other the Anzus or the new Chord.
Power cords : A test at home is mandatory too. Gutwire, Chord Music, Anzus…will not have the same sound signature.
Isolation devices or platform under speakers : a definitive upgrade in general. But here too, a test at home is mandatory. Interaction with the floor, the room, the speakers….will give different results. But it’s really possible to upgrade from the stock spikes.
Statement S1: I doubt it would not upgrade the system ( 552/500).
( IMO of course for all the points)
Anyway, saying that, my original post was however more on the funny side.
@LindsayM I would agree with you on buying music but I just stream it and pay a monthly/yearly fee. Am I missing something not ripping files onto a server or purchasing the hi-res files and storing them? Streaming quality with Qobuz seems pretty darn good. I used to buy vinyl more but pretty much stream all my music right now.
Well yes. If ever you cancel your subscription or Qobuz goes out of business you will have spent a whole lot of cash and have zero music to show for it!
Possibly, yes. I’ve found a WAV file download (either CD quality or hi-res) and replayed from my Uniti Core, is noticeably better than the same version streamed on-line from Qobuz.
Yes, in theory anyone can then find the music. But as the amount per play is minuscule, it’s only the big artists that do well. One person buying an album, ideally via Bandcamp but even via Qobuz for example, delivers far more money to the artist than goodness knows how many downloads. With the advent on online streaming, so many expect to get all the music in the world for a tenner a month. The music industry cannot sustain it, unless Ed Sheeran, Adele and countless remasters of Pink Floyd is enough to keep people happy. Talk to artists and you’ll soon realise how touring income and merch sales are critical to their survival.
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