Strange how we are finding similar things. I had a Musicworks G3 lite and ended up selling it after comparing it to my stock MK wall plugs that are star earthed. I also had an old Matrix 2 connecting my TV and sky box and decided to try it on the Naim. Well, blow me down. It was quite a bit better than the sockets and so I’ve used one ever since. My dealer really rates the G3 Ultra and the G4 blocks but I’ve not tried them. I’ve also tried the expensive Chord blocks but didn’t really find them much better than the Matrix.
@Meni had the Matrix then the M6. For him it was night and day.
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Wow, I thought i was the only one on the forum, to own one of these. Never mentioned.
Well the G5 Block does run-in somewhat from what I’ve been hearing and what a friend also told me he found.
By day 2 it was a lot better - discussion with said friend led to my trying a different config on the plugs, which I had been warned influence results.
It seems the only difference between my ‘intuitive’ guess and the alternative was to move my Analogue 555PS to the othe rside of the S1 Pre (either-side of the mains input to the block) and keep the Digital 555PS at the far-end (on the same side as the other 555 plug).
Anyway initial results after swap are very positive in restoring the weight to the bass I’ve been missing and generally more solid rendition - I will see how this pans-out over the next week.
I’m looking to adapt to the new (for me brighter) Naim Firmware presentation as well in all of this.
I will in a few days swap back to my original Matrix 2 to see what the difference really was.
DB.
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Well I’ve swapped it back to what I began with on that block as bass was over-blown in my system and I was losing some deatil for that.
I’ll continue my tests over the next few days.
DB.
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I had always been a bit sceptical about the benefits of these uber-blocks…until I tried one. I had a Matrix 2 for years and then, as part of trying to pin down a different issue, tried a G3. The improvement was not subtle. Then a used G4 Ultra came up…which was even better. Usual caveats of system, room, ears apply of course, but I was very happy with the lower noise floor and smoother presentation from the MW block.
Cheers,
Ian
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There is another, relatively new mains block that you might wish to consider – the connected-fidelity Six Star. It was originally produced in two versions, one with an RFI filter and one without. However, samples sent to reviewers (Hifi Pig and The Audiophile Man) included a switch to enable them to compare performance with or without RFI filtering. Both reviewers found an audible difference when switching between the two. This switched version is now available to all. Given the experience you and others have had with the update to 3.10.0/1 (and possibly future updates), it might be quite useful to be able to switch between the two.
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I’m trying to resolve several things impacting my system apart from the Block test, but will update briefly what I found so far works best:
So I am only have three plugs in use and the above generally gives best results here.
Having the 555 Analogue next to the Pre nearest the input mains to block and a gap and then the 555 Digital plug gives good results.
Tighter bass with the 555 Analogue next to Pre socket and the gap to the 555 Digital removed a problem with bass - a bluntness and lack of naturalness.
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How big do you feel the improvement is over your old Matrix 2 - especially considering the relative costs? Also, can you remind me again which output on the 555PS is digital and which one is analogue?
Compared to the very old block I tried a few years ago - this is a lot better and sounds like a more developed product.
You may have caught me out on the 555 Digital and Analogue feeds, so I will just say which is going into which mains socket:
From perspective of the ND555 looking at it from front
- The Burndy on the left nearest the Analogue output (two bands on my cable) - I’ve called Analogue
- The Burndy on the right nearer the digital inputs (one band on cable) - I’ve called Digital
In fact the most sensitive supply I found is the so-called digital one as it feeds not only the digital circuitry but also the DAC which has the very first analogue part of conversion.
Then the analogue feed is all analogue and feeds all the analogue post-filter and buffer circuits.
Compared to my Matrix block and only if you plug-in the correct sequence (which was also true of Matrix) then the Musicworks G5 seems to ‘settle’ everything into a more cohesive whole and made the Matrix sound a bit ‘splashy’ by comparison.
I was beginning to hear things revealed via the G5 that I’d not heard before so better detail and more refined, whilst having a very tight presentation.
But this is preliminary as I have other problems with my system which means I will have to revisit all this ahead for myself.
DB.
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Well the experiment lasted ten days.
I gave it a decent chance having listened to a lot of music over the holidays but I am much happier with the hydra back in place of the MW block - there is a much better solidity and flow to the sound.
Bit disappointed tbh because liked the look, feel of the MW and the fact that it has the capacity to power six boxes.
ATB
Ray
£3,250 for a mains block. There’s a lot of work that could be done for that amount of money for a block. It would be interesting to see the inside of this G5, as if it’s anything like the G3, it’s poorly designed and has a very compromised mains distribution.
If you Google this block, the only thing that comes up is Signals and the Naim forum. Ka-ching.
Is there ‘good starting point’ for the MW blocks?
I’ve just bought a used G3 ultra and I have the following.
1 nDac
2 552DR
3 nd5xs2
4 555PS for nDac
5 500DR
Sounds ok… not sure it’s much of an uplift from my matrix 2, so may move it on…
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