End of my tether

Try Pro_Ject. I have a DAC that cost me £140 , takes three types of signal including optical. Use it for the TV and Blu Ray. On a pound per sound basis I am very happy with it. Well made

Why not sell the CDX2 and buy a second hand NDac. You’d have some spare cash to service the NDac if required.

It has 4 optical/wired digital inputs for Sky Box, DVD player or CD head unit.

@fatcat thanks but probably because I’ve not yet solved a fundamental sound issue; money is at a premium given various commitments and if there is a next move it would be NDX2 with Innuos Zen3. Move to an nDAC and I’m still shelling out money I don’t currently have on a box I don’t need and would still need an Innuos to feed it music.

@Ian2001 I’d looked briefly at the Pro-Ject thanks but ruled it out as the Schitt got much better reviews; looks smaller and smarter.

My only query then is if the RCA output is single ended then I’m not techy enough to know which cable I’d need for the pre. Some kind of single ended RCA to DIN?

The Schiit Modi 3 mentioned above seems to have the standard pair of RCA outputs. Have a look at the photo of the rear here:

(The single RCA-type thing is the digital input.)

Thank you. Took the multimeter back to they who loaned it me. Initial view is that my voltage range would definitely cause transformer hum, which it definitely does, but need further discussion to get a view as to whether it might harm the amp/impact sound quality. Watch this space.

In our house, voltage is high too, and it can get close to 250V. We haven’t been here for long, but I am pretty sure that fluctuation in voltage explains variation in humming… Also, I am worried that the high voltage in our house might make my system underperform. What sort of voltage have you measured?

The nDac does not require servicing…unless something is broken

Regards

242 to 254 across a week. Different locations and times of day.

Hi Mike,
If you are concerned about both excessive input voltages and Naim transformer hum, then it may be worth looking at a balanced power supply from someone like Airlink transformers. I use an Airlink BPS5120MP to both step the voltage down by 10 Volts and to remove any of the asymmetric mains that can cause Naim transformer hum. It is mounted under the mains consumer unit in our garage, with a 10mm2 radial going from it to the living room for the hifi.

As far as I can tell, this has been wholly beneficial for sound quality in our house, with no down sides.

However, what works for us with our mains may not apply to your situation.

Best regards, BF

Since the mid 1990s the UK mains voltage has been set at 230V +10%-6% (I think it is statutory) so the tolerance is 216-253V, and anything sold for use in the UK, at least in the past 20+ years should be able to work satisfactorily anywhere in that range (if not then arguably would contravene the Sale of Goods Act). As the previous UK voltage was 240 +/- 6%, giving a slightly higher upper limit, older equipment should have no trouble at all at the upper end of the present range, though might possibly give problems if the supply drops to the bottom end.

254V is over-range and unacceptable, though of course the accuracy of the meter then comes into question. Nevertheless it may be worth reporting your findings to the supply company and ask them to check your supply, and if not happy with their response contact the ombudsman.

Transformer hum audible direct not through the speakers is commonly caused by DC on the mains and not fluctuating mains voltage, which is another matter entirely, and could arise in your own home or externally, but I am unaware with any correlation to sound quality.

Variations in voltage at different times of day is quite normal, depending on the load - peak times like, twenty or thirty years ago I seem to recall, Christmas Day TV adverts during the James Bond film when people went to make a cup of tea, can cause very sharp dips in voltage (and up again at end), and the supply companies try to anticipate and bring up capacity to match, but of course there is not a perfect match.

I’m not a UK resident, but if my home power was out of spec, I’d absolutely work with the utility supplier and authorities before buying an expensive unit to rectify (no pun intended…well maybe) the situation.

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Yep, definitely regardless of where in world.

Incidentally, I believe the same supply voltage range applies across the whole of the EU, or at least there was some EU directive requiring that for harmonisation, though it might be that some countires have derrogations.

I was told that in some remote parts of Australia the voltage could regularly range from 250-260V, and Naim kit has in the past coped with that just fine. The only noticeable effects being that the transformers could get noisier, but that was purely anecdotal evidence.

Please bear in mind that all of my kit bar the 200 runs off a Musicline Powerigel.

That device is totally passive, I believe. Whatever comes into it reaches the Naim boxes; no voltage reduction or “smoothing” etc.

Exactly - it’s a Hydra type arrangement, albeit that the connection block between all the cables sits in a sprung cylinder.

Out of interest Mike, why don’t you run the 200 off the Powerigel like the rest of the kit ?

I have been watching this thread since the start, and there is still no resolution from what I can see, is this right Mike?

Have you attempted to remove the power conditioner, all AV components and simply attempted to stream music from your iPhone or computer into several inputs on your preamp to take the overall system down to the simplest of form and test cables and inputs. This will rule out the power conditioner, cdx and any other interference. Unplug tv, and all components from mains socket so that just the amp, preamp are powered up. Then systematically add a component if the iPhone/computer gives you some of your sound back all be it out of an MP3 file. If it sound terrible still with an iPhone, switch signal cables etc. Should take only 30 min.

Scott

The system was originally all on the Powerigel. I liked what the Powerline did when I heard it at my dealer but less so when I heard them on every box in a system. Tried one at home on each box in turn and found that the most satisfactory impact was on the 200.

Except I’ve no DAC to stream into the pre!!!

Yes, no solution yet but some progress. TV came out and within 48 hours there was a meaningful improvement in CD sound albeit a long way from great. TV has gone back in on a different input (Aux 1 rather than 2) and TV sound has also improved. Not had a chance to listen to CD sound since the TV went back in as I’ve been otherwise engaged. Will happen sometime this week.

Totally unrelated to sound issues but just a quick question.

Left stack is CDX2 on top of 202. Right stack is HCDR2 on top of XPS2 on top of 200. Thoughts on order?