The best Naim equipment is for sure up there with the best, but it needs proper setup to do so. Also there is also no doubt that it is quite sensitive to many factors some of which can be out of our control. I do find the Naim sound very special but others are improving and coming up with great sounds as well with a very competitive price tag and reduced box count solutions which Naim needs to take very seriously for the future. Competition is tough and not easy, but that is the real world in which evetyone has to work.
At the beginning of my Naim journey I had a 272 stacked on a 150x. After reading on here about the benefits of physical separation I moved the 150x away onto the floor, the only other place I could put it at the time. I was really surprised at the difference it made. Found the same with my 42/110 pair. Look great together, but donāt sound so great until moved apart.
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Same issues.
I feel your pain. I have two stacks of three and keeping them off the floor and each other is impossible. A highly regarded Naim dealer did tell me not to worry about it, he said burdies touching eachother/floor had only a very small effect in the overall scheme of things.
With 6 boxes I guess a single column would make burndy dressing much simpler. But would it sound better with the transformers directly under the preamp and source? Everything is a trade off I guess.
Being able to move the two separate columns apart would give the best of both worlds but my rack wonāt allow that.
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Iām always puzzled by these things because I also have two stacks and donāt have this problem (though I do have one empty shelf at the bottom of the brawn stack, which is neat to store excess Powerline), so I think if I managed it, it canāt be that difficult
Are you able to move your two columns apart?
Any chance of a pic?
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If I had an empty shelf at the bottom of either of my stacks, the cable on the floor issue wouldnāt be an issue, but I have to use all shelves for boxes! One burndy is always barely touching the floor.
B[quote=āSuedkiez, post:208, topic:24305, full:trueā]
Iām always puzzled by these things because I also have two stacks and donāt have this problem (though I do have one empty shelf at the bottom of the brawn stack, which is neat to store excess Powerline), so I think if I managed it, it canāt be that difficult
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But do people investing all that money in the best audio replay really want to be faffing with āset upā - it should be about relaxing and enjoying the music!
I have Linnās latest offering on demo and you simply plug it in and it sounds very impressive, digs out detail like nothing else I have heardā¦. One box, streaming pre amp into active speakers and done.
I love the Naim sound but this āset upā lark is a little bit odd - spending nearly 6 figures only to be told you didnāt have it set up properly seems to have missed the point that hifi is about music.
I do hope Naim have a good think about their philosophy in a changing market - itās pretty clear that the current range will have a refresh so letās hope they bring something special to the table and it has a good balance of simplicity and brilliant sound.
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I? Yeah, I was able to have a gap of maybe 15 cm between stacks but the brawn stack is narrower than most racks, on special order. So if I had the regular width, there wouldnāt be much gap but the left and right units would nevertheless have similar distance. I have:
Left:
252
NDX2
Superline
300
Right:
Supercap
300PS
Rega P10 PS
555PS for NDX2
empty for cables
Pics:
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When setting up, paying attention to these things is negligibly more work than not paying attention, and itās a thing one can choose to do once. Itās really not so much faffing, IMHO
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I think that the gap and 5 shelves makes it possible. I have no gap and only three shelves.
First class cable dressing all the same, Iām envious!
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Maybe but I have clicked my back many a time trying to reach behind my system to make sure cable A is not touching cable B!
Point I was making is simplicity is being achieved by other manufacturers.
Thanks. About the gap, I edited my post because: āYeah, I was able to have a gap of maybe 15 cm between stacks but the brawn stack is narrower than most racks, on special order. So if I had the regular width, there wouldnāt be much gap but the left and right units would nevertheless have similar distanceā
Definitely 5 levels make a difference vs 3
I donāt get what the issue is here. You can pile all of your kit on the floor and itāll sound good. Take a bit of care with the installation and itās got the potential to sound better.
Thereās no harm in making the most of what youāve got and allowing the kit to work to its full potential.
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Can someone tell me why Naim gear has all this cabling sensitivity, but other products donāt seem to?
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Simple solution: buy more Fraim shelves and leave them empty. I mean, theyāre only Ā£650 each!! 
[BTW I donāt do this. Itās ridiculously costly for marginal gains. I do, however, allow the amplifier burndies to cross (shock horror), having the 552 top left and itās power supply bottom right and the 500 bottom left with its PS top right.]
I get the point, just saying that IF one prefers the Naim sound, then IMHO the effort for the little bit extra (even in case it is not real but just for my peace of mind) is not big enough to put me off it
I already made my best effort in the long post a bit up 
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Thatās a very general statement and tough to answer without being specific. Cable design being one specific element. In these days of living in the RF soup one can say (and many do) that Naim cables are not up to the current modern day thinking as far as screening is concerned. I no longer use long runs if NACA5 and donāt suffer the old arguments that it just aināt as musical as NACA5 argument which i donāt believe anymore. Same with interconnects. Other brands have improved and are leaving the old stock behind. The same can be said for the electronics as well with huge heavy separate power supplies. And so the story goes on and onā¦
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I have been on the Naim upgrade ladder since the mid 90ās and never felt the need to explore other options as it sounded so damn fine.
My 552 had a number of issues that meant a couple of āreturn to baseā moments and I lost a little confidence. During this time I moved house and the sound collapsed and getting to the root cause was a mare with so many boxes and cables - this experience has driven my desire for simplicity.
Now when I reflect multiple boxes, retightening fraim, cable management, Ā£450 for a shelf to have a gap, Ā£650 for a plug etc to get the most out of your system is fine for those that enjoy that but not my direction of travel
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