We love the Naim dacs !!!
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I don’t think anyone needs to apologise for diverting. I’ve just caught up and found it most interesting and helpful in clarifying my own thoughts.
@bongoman I will be getting a demo but my priority is to hear the Chord DACs and the impact of the Phoenix. Once I’ve done that I think it would be sensible to then compare to something like the Matrix and I’m also exploring slightly more esoteric (and even harder to source) DACs like the Denafrips Terminator or Border Patrol. My Ievel of amplification is well below yours (and likely to stay that way) but yes, if I can pull all this together, then I will feedback. It would be remiss to do so given the many fantastic contributions on this thread.
@T-elmi I don’t see me getting rid of the Naim pre. Reduced box count was an aspiration but clearly Innuos x 2 plus DAC doesn’t do that 
I’m certainly interested in reducing over sensitive and unyielding Naim cables from my living room.
@frenchrooster I think you make a potentially valid but untested point.
Innuos x 2 plus Qutest versus Innuos and Chord Hugo 2 TT is certainly something to listen to. Former is £6,950 (2TB Zenith) whilst the latter is £7,500.
I tend to agree with others like @HiFiman that the DAC in these arrangements is the more important component. I think it’s accepted that there is a slightly different DAC implementation between Qutest and Hugo 2 but I’ve yet to hear of anyone credibly delineating them sound wise so a non TT Hugo 2 makes no sense to me when I don’t need the headphone or pre functionality. I’d also be paying for those unneeded functions if I went for a bare TT but I’d then be getting a clearly superior DAC, which has to be the main concern.
I think it is widely accepted that Qutest plus M-Scaler doesn’t reach bare TT levels but I don’t think it’s necessarily a given that Innuos x2 plus Qutest also fails to reach TT levels. That’s one for a demo rather than pontificating here when people haven’t heard the impact of the Phoenix. I’m also unconvinced by the statement that Innuos x2 = £5,500 of streamer. That’s a tad disingenuous. It’s predominantly a server with streaming functionality along with a reclocker. Most of the money has not been spent on the internet streaming element. In the end if the Qutest and Phoenix comes anywhere near the bare TT then it has to be considered nicely balanced regardless of the cost of individual elements.
I will still be visiting my own dealer to revisit NDX2 and Zenith but I have to say the Naim looks less good value by the day in many ways. Again, irrelevant if it ultimately delivers a sound that’s right for the family.
I have now heard from Doug Brady and will be emailing them back as soon as other things are out of the way in order to book a long morning. They want me to ring but I’ve no landline and my phone is currently back with Apple for a second repair after they managed to damage the screen changing the battery!
I can’t say re the quetest but I can confirm, from personal experience, that Innuos * 2 plus Hugo 2 goes not come close to TT 2. Despite being a huge fan of the phoenix it can’t make a DAC perform better than its capable of doing and the distance between the Hugo 2 and the TT2 is very considerable
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Sorry if this has been mentioned but what about a Innuos /Chord Dave (used) directly into your Nap 200?
That’s good to know. Thanks.
@Bobthebuilder I don’t think it has been mentioned but it’s likely beyond my budget.
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Anything that brings the joy back of the CDX2 with Nait 5 and Zus has got to be good.
Has the TT a good volume inside ? Perhaps it can work better than 202 into nap 200 ?
So Innuos Zen/ TT/ Nap 200 could be interesting to try too.
Can we change the title of this topic. This particular tether must be well and truly stretched and snapped by now…
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So new year came early yesterday- I acquired a pre-loved SonicTransporter i7 yesterday for a good price and that is a step forward compared with with ZenMiniIII in the server role, plus the option of HQPlayer (not yet though 
)
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It’s a shame that Sonore don’t have dealers, but it also keeps their prices down. You really should consider an opticalRendu with opticalModule and one of their Sonore power supplies (not the Chinese cheap one) for the oR, even better their Signature Rendu all in one. But I understand why you wouldn’t as it’s impossible to demo in person so you would have to take other’s word for how good it is.
That Border Patrol DAC looks interesting. Just reading about it yesterday…
Oh, that’s interesting. I understand it can be bested in many respects but has a very agreeable presentation which makes it lovable regardless.
I actually did buy an OpticalRendu earlier in the week from the UK importer for Sonore and SonicTransporter- he (Martin of Audiostore) is just 15 miles from me - his is a web store business, also for his own-specification servers that also run a version of the SonicOrbiter software. With CV-19 it is impossible to demo, but purchase&return is possible. I had been considering an OpticalRendu or StackAudioLink for a while.
I have already bridged my Cisco 2960 network switches with fibre optic cable, so it was just a case of plugging one more SFP module into the nearest switch with a short run to the OpticalRendu.
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You are correct, the Innuos x 2 is not just £5500 of streamer, it is a Roon core, for those that want it, a server, a USB reclocker and a very good streamer, a very flexible solution.
In terms of which Chord DAC, if you go that way, I have heard the Qutest at my dealers a few times, it was very good and I have had the Hugo TT2 and Dave on home demo. Perhaps a combination of the Zenith plus TT2 will give you both best short term sound quality and future flexibility for developing your system. A Phoenix reclocker can be added anytime and further down the road an Mscaler could be added to the TT2 giving you a wonderful system. This approach allows to simply build on what you have.
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Slowly coming together.
Sorting a demo at Doug Brady to compare
Innuos + NDX2
Innuos x 2 + Qutest
Innuos + TT2
Also now got an option to hear
Innuos x 2 + Qutest
Innuos + Matrix Pro MQA
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Sounds good.
Why not also try NDX2 + Matrix Pro MQA 
Only because the owner of the Matrix doesn’t have access to the Naim.
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Diggy it’s an infinite tether 
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A Used Dave is around £6,000 and you could sell the 202/Napsc/HCDR to go towards a streamer and only three boxes.
Noted, I could indeed do that but it all smacks of wanting to change too many things to no great purpose. My dissatisfaction boiled down to source.