Need some advise here regarding what sort of power/electric wire to choose from my wall plug to fuse box. I currently have 4 x MK double wall plugs (for total 8 equipments) that connect to a dedicated power line in the fuse box. (As I try to avoid using a power strip)
My system: NDX2>NDS/PS555DR->252/SCDR->300DR->ATC SCM20l
As years ago when I do the home renovation, I have been told to go with a thicker gage wire, so I went for the 4mm sq ones.
But I find that I can’t enjoy the music with a suitable volume as the volume is either too low or too loud for me.
A friend came to vist and listen to my system and says my system lacking the transition from quiet to loud. (I guess similar to my experience above)
Does anyone know if this is likely caused by the 4mm thick gage electric wire which is generally not suitable for naim? Should I go back to the standard 1.5mm or even 1mm sq for best performance?
Or the Nap300 not powerful enough to drive the SCM20?
Also if there is any particular brand/model is suggested for the wire? (I think the length is around 30/40 meters)
This has nothing to do with the wire size.
It sounds like the NDX2 output voltage is to high for the 252 input sensitivity.
I believe the NDX2 output (volume) can be reduced, but best for an NDX2 expert to advise on that.
While it’s high, in many cases it’s not “too high” in the sense that it’s being difficult to adjust the volume. I can’t find the OP’s ATC SCM20"l" speakers online, but if the ATC SCM20 is a guide, they have just 85 dB sensitivity. I have 86 dB speakers and the same system as the OP except for the NDS, and it’s certainly not difficult to find a volume that is neither too low nor too high. Even with the remote if one is aware of the single-tap and double-tap functionality.
Of course you are right that it has nothing to do with the wires, but what the OP describes seems a bit odd to me
Naim recommend 10mm mains cable, so your 4mm is definitely not too thick, especially over a 30 or 40m run.
If you are running it from a spare slot in your main consumer unit I would strongly recommend that you take a separate feed from your meter into a small dedicated consumer unit.
As for your 300, I think it’s a great choice foe your ATCs so I can’t imagine that it would be causing your problems if it’s properly set up and working as it should.
The thick mains wire recommendation from Naim is related to transient recovery on power amps as it offers lower resistance.
The symptoms you describe simply don’t match that. An in fact, I’m not even sure you would notice problematic symptoms exactly from a thinner wire. I don’t think changing any wire from mains to interconnects to speaker cable is going to change the current problem one bit.
It sounds more like an unfortunate interaction between the high input sensitivity of the 252, the ATCs and probably the room you are in. FWIW, the newer preamps, like the S1, and already discontinued 172 and 272 all have far lower input sensitivity which definitely is more suited to the digital age.
How have you set the ground switches on the NDX2 and NDS, I presume only one is connected to the pre by DIN cable and this one should be set to chassis (or is it default), the other to floating.
Are your sockets chained or is each wired back separately to the fuse box? 8 seems more than you need, is anything else using the spares?
If chained experiment with plug order, don’t assume the power amp needs to be closest to where the power arrives, for me it’s the ND first and power amp last but I have a home made block using single MK sockets, doubles may react differently. If each socket is wired back you might get better results with a power block into just one.
What BNC cable? I rather liked Belden 4794R but only compared it to a couple of Chord models which didn’t fare well in the comparison. The Belden is sold as a 12G SDI cable and is considerably cheaper but can’t take a sharp bend. If you have Naim DC1 the comparison is closer I’m told but the Belden is a fraction of the price.
This kind of sounds like just a subjective experience to me, and/or a room issue. Is there a sharp transition between the “lower volume not engaging” and the “higher volume too loud”, i.e., is it strictly either-or? In other words, what happens if you put the volume dial in the position between too low and too high?
My ground is set to NDS as chassis, NDX2 as floating.
For sockets, the 4 x double plugs all connected to a MK power “split box”, basically combines all 4 connections into 1 then to fuse box.
I have a Linn LP12 Lingo/PhonoStage also sharing the 8 plugs.
I am using Belden 1694A BNC by bluejeans cable.
I had one of those too. Preferred the 4794R from bluejeans but I was using different boxes while I waited for my ND555. Another member here liked the one you have better but that discussion was off forum. It’s trial and error when it comes to cables, or if between Naim boxes let Naim take care of that and buy their cable, but it costs.
Wait for the 252 to come back, restart the topic it it doesn’t solve the issue.
I’ve not. I have several heavy duty Furutech leads from the pro audio range (a fraction of the cost of their audiophile range) which are all gold plate or naked brass. And to answer your question, a couple Furutech wall sockets waiting to be installed in a new home build that’s underway. They are just brass.
I don’t really have anything against rhodium. I have a rhodium plated headphone lead that is superb. How much the rhodium contributes I don’t know. But many members have written about unsatisfactory results with rhodium plated sockets so I’ve not gone there.
Electrically, fewer material transitions is better than inserting a thin exotic material transition. The underlying mains sockets and plug pins will still be brass bonded to copper wire. To that end, I’ve opted for naked brass. But still not cheap. The Furutech provides an extremely high contact pressure connection even if it doesn’t look fancy.
