Having made a few changes to my system over the last year or so I thought I would experiment with taking my pre amplifier out the system and connecting my Linn Selekt directly into my nap350 power amplifiers to see what the pre amp brings to my system. I’m using the Naim XLR cables straight into the Linn XLR output and all is well, but my question is has anyone tried a RCA to XLR connection instead?
I have always preferred single ended connections over balanced for short runs, there are technical differences between the two approaches regarding voltage and impedance
(600ohms balanced / 300ohms single ended ) on the Selekt and
( 47k ohms balanced / 34k ohms single ended ) on the nap350s.
Just asking has anyone tried it ? And technically which is better for short runs ?
Will probably try it myself but after advice first.
Not really an answer to your question but during the year or so that I’ve owned a Linn Selekt, I talked about this topic several times with my dealer. He was / is very in favor of the XLR connections and using the Naim cables supplied with the amplifier. We talked about adding a NC 250 to my Selekt DSM at the time but I assume this goes for the 350 as well.
Don’t spend too much time looking at the technical differences; output impedances are typically low opposite to input impedances that are on the high side
Can’t help you here except to say I use XLRs from my Selekt into a pair of 350s and I’m very happy with the setup. Interested to know your opinion of how it sounds versus with your pre-amp added into the mix?
I did notice that very very occasionally when switching the Selekt off there is a very loud pop from the speakers. ( It only happen twice in around 4 weeks ) no idea why and as an electrician I can hand on heart say everything is wired correctly.
I was thinking going from a 4v to 2v output may reduce the pop as and when it happens. Another advantage with a RCA connection.
No it’s never turned off at the back, just when putting into standby via the remote control. I normally let the amps go to sleep before switching off but that’s not always possible without manually switching the amps off.
I tried my Chord ShawlineX ARAY RCA out on 332 To Balanced in on my NC250 . It worked a treat, and was equal in volune to the balanced to balanced output ,allowing biamping .
The Chord imparted its personality into the output of that amp .
My dealer has now made dual balanced cables so rca not now used and rca to balanced now surplus .
That’s the kind of set up I was thinking of between the Linn and nap350s. My set up originally was RCA linn silvers from Selekt to 332 /300 then standard Naim XLR’s to 350s. Everything sounds perfect, however as everything runs through the Selekt to take advantage of room correction I set the 332 to unity gain allowing the Selekt to control the volume. Now the 332 switches off after 20 minutes but the power amps stay on ( they would turn off too if they were connected with system link ). This would be solved if I turned off the auto standby but I was hoping to avoid having to switch everything off after use manually as I’m not the only one using to system now.
As there’s so many people running this system directly into 350s I thought I would give it a try as it simplifies the whole set up as the power amps switch on and off automatically, just the occasional pop though the speakers is a small concern.
All of this would be solved if I just switch the 332 to always on and set the input to unity gain but I just got curious as to how I could overcome everything at once.
As a side note, if the 332 uses the input to measure the auto standby control when set to unity gain surly it would continue to switch off if the program your watching doesn’t have any loud sound effects like the news.
It wouldn’t change anything, the 332 would switch off with music playing and then take the amps too.
The pop only happens when the amps are connected directly to the Selekt.
I run my Selekt directly into active speakers and have never heard a pop when putting the Selekt into standby. I don’t use the remote, though: either the dial on top or an iPad. I do get pops when switching off the speakers but that’s normal I think.
