Just wanted to share an experience to which I was very sceptical at first. Actually sceptical enough to try this experiment without having a clue as to what I was listening to. Method: close eyes. Press display button many times. Keep eyes closed listen to music. Press display button. Listen. Press. Listen. Press and so on. When it sounds best look. Repeat. Result: display off sounds better. I’d say it’s a nice change adding more detail perhaps, rendering a sence of more airiness. Nice! Inexpensive.
I’ve had a 200/202/HC2 and NAPSC for 11 years. Tried this multiple times with and without friends and family. Not one of about 30 people has ever heard a difference. Thanks for sharing but ymmv.
Well the difference is very subtle to my ears and really hard to detect. It’s more a sence or feeling. It’s that level of change. Never the less a change it is (I think😁).
Rest of system is nap200dr ndx and Spendor D9. It might also be that this system is more reveiling than the one you had, who knows.
I suspect it makes more of a difference on the 202 when not using a NAPSC - the control and display sections draw quite a bit of current from the supply rail and so display off should have more of an effect. A simple thing to try anyway and glad it works well for you Lucifer.
I haven’t gone to the lengths of demoing display on and off but my view is that if you do not need the display on permanently (and who does?) and it might, just might sound better off, why wouldn’t you turn it off.
I have always run my sources and pres (202, 282, 252 and 552) with the displays off
The less lights the better for me. Just the logos is enough. Never been a fan tbh and always from my early days of HiFi have had the display off where possible.
Can’t say I have tested it on any Naim product but assume there is no degradation caused by having it off and most probably a slight improvement. I must say there was a definite difference on my Marantz CD67-SE though! Display off was much better but that was a £300 CD player with an internal power supply!
Thank you. Forgot to
mention the napsc😊. Have one and a Hicap dr.
Have always had lights off and wholly agree with the less is better ethos but in 11 years of listening and multiple people encouraging me to test it literally none of us detected anything changing when lights were on or off. Nor do I think it’s about how revealing a speaker is. There are room interactions; cables; stacking order; source and much more to consider.
That is true of course. The thing that sursprised me was that I could pick the time when the lights were off. The difference, however is, as I said, VERY, small.
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