I’ve got a HiCap DR on home demo this week to power my SN3 and collected it from the dealer yesterday. Well after a day and a half listening to it I don’t think it will be going back. It just seems to take everything the SN3 does well and builds on it so I’m hearing a more expansive soundstage, better separation of instruments and a more open and airy sound all the while keeping the depth of sound the SN3 excels at. It really is to my ears at least a big jump in sound quality, almost as much as moving from the Nait XS2 to the SN3.
On the technical side, why does it need both a 4 pin and 5 pin cable to power the SN3? What are both cables doing? I’d have thought one cable supplying power would have been sufficient? Also, what is the thinking behind still needing to have the SN3 plugged in to the mains as well? I’d have expected the HiCap to negate that need. Also a bit annoying that the 4 pin cable is not included in the box or is it just the SN3 that needs that extra cable?
The Hicap only takes over powering the preamp section of the SN3. The power amp section is still powered by the SN3 internal PSU hence why both items need to be powered from the mains.
The SNAIC5 cable carries two 24v power rails from the Hicap to the SN3 and carries L&R audio signals to the Hicap, which then return via the SNAIC4 to the SN3.
