Mike 5m is generally thought to be a good minimum length although Naim say at least 3.5 m. So you could reduce it, but it won’t improve the sound. Probably won’t make any difference in practice.
I have seen better soldering, but I really doubt that these would be the source of your problems, unless you can feel any looseness at all in any of the soldered joints.
Again I doubt the burndy would be responsible for a substantial loss of bass, but the XPS2 could be, so leaving that out for the time being is a good move.
The soldering is probably fine - not the best, but far from the worst I’ve seen. There appear to be no broken strands, which is good. The trimming of the excess could have been better and could still be done now - the should allow the pins to move as they should within the plastic case (this is important as it allows the pins to best follow the path within the socket, rather then being forced down a particular path and thus compromising contact).
I would keep the cables at their current length - i.e. wouldn’t shorten them. Just concertina the extra and tie in place then hide behind the rack.
@Richard.Dane and @davidhendon thank you both. I’ll leave the cables as they are on your advice as my dealer clearly knew what he was doing and then, when the 202 comes back, I’ll put some effort in along the lines of @Thomas excellent pictures on the other thread.
There isn’t enough room for the cables to go behind the system itself but I can envisage how the left speaker cable could be arranged behind the right speaker as it goes towards the system and the right speaker cable could go behind or under the right sofa.
Have to say the soldering looked rock solid David. No looseness at all.
I’m not so confident it’s not the Burndy, at least in part. When I had my previous big set of issues my Burndy was identified as one of the multiple issues and, whilst it wasn’t night and day, Mark Raggett from Naim A/B’d it against mine and both he; my dealer and I all agreed his cable was better so I inherited that.
Interestingly this was the Burndy which @Richard.Dane identified from pics as having been inserted in the wrong direction sometime in the past year. It had been thus for a number of years since Mark put it in.
It would appear that once again I potentially have multiple issues. I’m trying to be positive about this as last time round was caused by dealer error. This time? Who knows but if my dealer wanted to take a refreshed/repaired 200; recapped and serviced 202 and a HC2 DR off my hands as part ex for a SN3 right now Mrs. H. and I would bite his hand off. Indeed right now she’d happily keep the Nait 5.
I thought there was less warmth and PRaT with the XPS2 off but Mrs. H. certainly preferred the presentation and the return of some bass and we have at least a couple more days to let it warm up and see where it takes us.
Just doing the maths. HC2 DR must be 6 years old at most. 200 was fully serviced about 5 years ago. XPS2 recapped then too. The HC2 DR won’t be going anywhere and nor, as yet, will anything else. The XPS2 was 12 or 13 before it was recapped by Naim. Long overdue but really ought to be okay at this point. The 202 is nearly 12 and has never been touched until now.
I’ve never heard of this being a “thing.” So if one box that is 12 yrs old might be so degraded that it’s sounding off . . . a six-box system of 2 yr old boxes might also be “off?”
At that rate of decay, and using that math, @Darkebear has no hope of ever having a right-sounding system!!
All good here!
My experience is that - apart from a fault - things earliest begin to go softer after say 8 years and it is usually 10-12 years you should consider the boxes if you feel things are not right with your system - but 15 years is often fine too.
Run-in to optimum is about two years so you don’t want it new all the time either. Set-up and Fraim rebuilds generally make more difference along the way until your boxes get very old and you have them topping 10 years for a few, then there is more chance they are from best.
Listening to music. Just listening to music. The joy of listening to some Misty In Roots with actual bass; mid warmth and bass that wasn’t one note. May try my Lulu box set tonight.
What a great band. Did you get to see them live? The last time I saw them was at Uni and they didn’t go onstage till well after midnight. It’s such a shame that their brilliant albums are no longer in print.
Perhaps the people who said that naim amps are not the best match for high efficiency speakers were not saying stupid things? I include myself.
I heard once Avant Garde 104 db horn speakers with high powered solid state : the sound was agressive and not refined.
I am not saying that it’s absolutely true in your case, but probably.
We will see when your 202/ 200 will return in the chain.
Yes I did. Saw them at Leeds Uni and then a couple of times after that including at the Band On The Wall gig after their reactivation. I’m no fan of live albums at all but will always have a soft spot for you know what.
In my case I’ve no doubt the difference is mostly down to the Nait outputting less than half the power of the pre/power combination. Is there a lack of “refinement”? Most probably yes but then that isn’t an adjective I strive for in my musical appreciation or at least it’s not top of the list.
Definitely a band who walked it like they talked it too. Literally went back to Africa and paid a heavy price for it too. Their commitment to environmental and African issues has never wavered though even though the sound has softened considerably over the years.
I’ve also a soft spot for Musi O Tunya. Knew a white Rasta from Ilkley through a friend and the former imported white label singles from Jamaica in industrial (and possibly illegal) quantities. Came across that song as something they’d recorded as a one off in Zambia and it was then imported into the UK via Jamaica.
Also heard an incredible 45 of a terrible McCartney song. Wish I’d bought it on the spot. Never heard it since.
I like Musi o Tunya, though Counter Eurovision and Wise and Foolish are my favourites. It’s a shame reggae is unfashionable now. There were some superb albums made in the 80s.