Hi John, It’s a 2019 ex demo model, I’d be tempted to give it two or even three weeks and I suspect some may suggest a little longer.
I would advise against a hasty evaluation for now.
Incidentally, I can’t quite see where your NAPSC is but I would locate it as far as possible away from everything else as they can generate a bit of noise.
Thanks NFG,
Good advice!
Cheers
John
Give it a couple of weeks to settle in but things you might try:
Re-order the rack to separate sources from power as much as possible. Try hicap and MCRU above the power amp then the pre above the streamer and DAC. The pre and source shelves can be exchanged as can the power amp and ps shelves but save that for later. Make sure the DAC is set to chassis.
Try to keep cables from touching the rack, especially power cables.
There are a couple of schools of thought when it comes to the plug order if using a power block, I like the source nearest the input cable, than pre ps, PSC, than power amp last, it doesn’t sound so obviously detailed but is a bit more coherent, however, I don’t know where best to put your separate streamer ps, I’d guess second after the DAC as the DAC is providing the system’s signal earth but you’ll have to decide. Some people prefer the power amp nearest the blocks power input so that’s another option.
You can drive yourself nuts with this stuff and at the 102/180 level the differences might be marginal (they get more discernible higher up the range). Take your time and make your own mind up.
The HC-DR effect is extremely beneficial on integrated like the XS as well, since it relievies the amp section to feed the pre-amp. It’s a multi tasking evergreen piece of kit introduced in 1984.
Every Naim enthusiast should have one. Five years ago when i upgraded to Nac 552, did the mistake to sell my nearly new DR. Last year i ended to get another one for my XS system.
Regards
Roberto
aiming at some point to work up to a 82/250 as funds allow and trying to not stumble on the way!
I ran ES14s at the end of 82/HiCap/2*135 for years, sources Roksan TMS/Artemiz/Shiraz/Artaxerxes and Micromega Trio, it was a fantastic combination, the ES14s held their own really well, I listened to 1,000s of hours of music on that system. If I’d not forgotten to unplug the kit when I went away for a week and had a lightning strike take out a 135 and the downstream speaker, I’d probably still be using the ES14s. My current B&W804S speakers do some things (low bass and control of bass, female vocals) much better than the ES14s, but they lack the raw excitement and pace of the standmounts. The Epos showed all the improvements as I took the amp from a Nait through varied Naim separates to the 82/135s, they are fantastic musical speakers.
Regarding running in, the 102, 180 and napsc are only 3 weeks past being serviced at Class A. Is it safe to run the system with the power amp turned off so I can do 24/7? Obviously the power amp would not be on.
CHeers
John
Thats how I leave my system, everything on except power amp, volume down on the pre amp. Naim kit has low quiescent current so power use is minimised.
Its going to take a while for everything to settle if you’ve recently had it serviced as well.
What speaker cable are you using?
Also, have you tried removing the port tuning to see if that makes a difference?
Hi Mark, using naca5 cable. Tried foam bungs but lost too much bottom end for my taste. Might try putting the bungs back if that would work but don’t think that would help the overly bright sound atm. I think I may well be being a little impatient on things settling down.
My experience was different. A Flatcap on my XS gave a worthwhile if modest improvement, but a HiCap changed the sound making it unnaturally forced to my ears. I was not alone in coming to that conclusion. OTOH, when I moved to a SN1, the HC transformed it. Indeed I wouldn’t have bought the SN without the HC and the DR upgrade of the HC made it even better. I think this a widely held view, but with the SN2 and 3, opinions as to the merits of adding a HCDR vary. Different ideas and tastes in music, of course, but my conclusion is that the SQ effect of adding a PS to a black box depends on both the PS and the box it’s added to.
Roger
Yeah i see. I have had problems with silver plated copper cables sounding too bright but obviously not the issue here. I had a quick google and it seems those speakers are quite sensitive to room positioning. I’d recommend having a play and seeing if you can tweak the sound more to your liking. It really is amazing what you can do. If my speakers are too far out the sound staging is really good but it looses some coherence with the low frequencies. Move them a bit closer to the wall and everything seems to mesh better.
I can’t take it any more!
Just plugged the dac-v1 straight into the 180 and ahhh, what a relaxing sound. I might be able to enjoy listening to music again.
I think this is the way to go until I upgrade the v1 but till then I’m just going to go this way unless anyone has any good ideas?
Looking at the photo I noticed your pre and power are olive and the Hicap DR is not from the same era. I don’t have experience with the olive stuff, and perhaps the gurus here can shed some light. The Hicap DR may be causing the over-enthusiastic sound? Perhaps an olive Hicap is a better match to the olive 102 and 180?
Hi Ryder, have had one commenter prefering the olive hicap to the DR but reading other reviews seemed that the DR would just be more detailed, perhaps it is though.
Yup, that was me. I have used the olive and the DR and have the feeling that a digital source, a nac 102 and a Hicap DR is a bit overexited. Some people might like it, but I’m a 72/140 fan which could be considered boring by foottappingly jumping forward-sound lovers.
Have listened a few times to a hicap dr / 82 and that was excellent, but that was using vinyl and sbl’s.
I think this is a pretty astute observation, as I thought the same when I owned an XS. Ultimately, I kept a HC DR on it anyway as I thought the benefits far outweighted the niggling brightness to my ears. Since purchasing a SuperNait 2, I have experienced no downsides whatever, save for the initial brightness in the upper registers (assumably due to the SN2’s newness) that had settled and smoothed in a few weeks’ time. Now there simply is no going back.
Are the SNAICs genuine and the correct way around although this looks to be ok from your photo.
Move the NAPSC well away from your rack.
All SNAICS naim, napsc is about 10 feet away
So really enjoying the Dac-v1 straight into the 180, especially as I’m a month in following its service by Darran.
Anyone out there want to swap an 18 month old hicap DR for a serviced olive 250 as I think that’s my best move from here?