Journey's end 252 has arrived in to the system

Morning my NAIM journey will be almost complete on Saturday installed my new 252

it’s been some 18 years since i first purchased my CD5i - just thought I would share my thoughts & experience on the journey and experiences that brought. So count down the biggest steps in my journey

1: upgrade of LP12 in 2018 by @Cymbiosis took my LP12 into my preffered source (lingo 4 Khan Kore Tranquilty Cirkus DV20X ) kept the Ittock VII arm - thoughts are to move to Tiger Paw Javelin which is exceptional

2: adding in a SC to power the 282 from HCDR, the improvement this brought to the sound stage is stagering 2019, kept the HCDR which is now powering the Stageline

3: purchased a 300 non dr given the choice of that or 250DR, in 2017 had DR fitted, love my 300DR

4: 2014 moved from CDX2/XPS to NDX just needed more room, moved the CD’s in storage, use NAS and Asset - love it

5: upgraded from 202 to 282 in 2016,

6: FRAIM after a lot of sole searching I finally went in a 5 tier FRAIM - was it worth it - YES it’s like adding another black box 2015

7: moved from Spendor S6e to my current B&W 805N speakers which i exceptional, i need a small speaker as my music room is quite small, 2015

so there we are think that is pretty much my journey map, what I have learnt, well first thing it’s not a cheap hobby, 2 things IMO you need - find a dealer who can offer top service, demo, install, home demo and advise, I have been a customer of @Cymbiosis for nearly 20 years Peter, Phil and Wayne are great guys with a wealth of knowleagde

the biggest improvement you can have in your system is balance, I have always used the source first approach it has worked for me

So is a journey and what we all want is MORE music,

THE END??? (maybe)

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It only ends when there’s no more money

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Nice story !!

I recently purchased a SuperCapDr to replace my HiCapDr in a system of 282/250Dr/NDX-2/XPSDr. I now have the chance to buy a 252 from 2003. I doubt whether almost 15 years of age is not too old. Thoughts ?

Enjoy it… I really appreciated my 252DR … a wonderful NAC with a delectable and insightful performance. Yes you are right getting the Fraim, the 252 certainly benefits from it… I found top shelf best with some spacing below.
Another consideration is the Burndy connector lead… ensure that it is inserted using the correct method into the Burndy sockets, such that no undue strain is put on the cables… for whatever reason this does seem to help the performance… additionally ensuring the digital control power lead and Burndy connector lead are not too closely physically touching but have space between them (the odd touch is ok), but follow the approximate same path. (This is about getting the balance right between decoupling and minimising the chance of any induced current into an effective ground loop). The same holds true for the 552 as well. Your dealer may well do this correctly for you when they set it up in your house, but optimum cable dressing and support seems to really benefit the 252.

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Interesting Simon. I understood that the accepted recommendation was for the Burndy and the snaic to run closely together and to touch regularly?

As per my above post … too close and you lessen the benefit of decoupling.

@IvdZ when I had my 282/SC i was staggered at the up lift to the 282

In saying that the 252 is deliverling even more even after a couple of hours than that combo for me it was one pof the strongest 3 boxes in the NAIM range - and with your source should be a perfect match

the 252 should need a service at 15 years, so I would just check but I would strongly look at this option

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I forgot to say, the usual recommendation is for the two snaics/lead to be reasonably close but separate to each other and follow the same path… in practice not too hard to achieve

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Agreed very straightforward to achieve and I’ve now done this. I may have misunderstood other advice on this previously but I thought that the recommended dressing for the 252 snaic and Burndy was to have them touching regularly (i.e. the opposite of the usual advice for these type of cables).
I understood this to be particular to the 252 snaic and Burndy and I think many others have followed that advice.

Dave, Let us know what difference you hear. @Camphuw also talked about lots of touching. Phil

I prefer the presentation with the cables running parallel but not touching Phil. Difficult to describe but it sounds more coherent with improved timing.

Didn’t you say recently that you preferred the cables to be separated or am I imagining that?

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Dave, Yes I try to keep them separated using the fitting slit of pipe insulation to hold the SNAIC. Phil

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Morning Phil - do just encase the SNAIC?
How do you deal with power cables, Burndy and other inter connects?

Bigger box spacing, good access to rear of 3 racks and pipe insulation.

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Interesting…
My spaghetti looks worse… I had imagined that your insulation ran the length of the cable.
I don’t have that much space behind my two-tier fraim setup, plus I have a hydra that snakes about.

My dealer advised the Snaic and Burndy should run in parallel and touch once (at least) to get the best sound quality. I have to agree that without the two cables touching at some point the sound is just off (thin and lacking in bottom end and punch).

@bongoman - that was my understanding and was how I had dressed the cables.

@Simon-in-Suffolk seemed to suggest that the approach should be to run the cables in parallel and close together but separately so that they don’t touch.

Simon - do correct me if I’ve not interpreted your advice correctly.

I’ve tried both and prefer the presentation without the cables touching. As with most of these details it’s up to you whether you prefer one or the other and I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to do it.

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I think @Simon-in-Suffolk agreed the cables could touch at some point?

Yes he said that they could touch. Does that mean that the optimal solution is for them to touch or for them not to touch at all?

Key question - is it “could touch” or “should touch”? :rofl:

I’d say definitely ‘should’ touch once (to my ears anyway). If you hear different then that’s fine, whatever works for you :blush: