So this is going to be one of these posts, I guess, but I was listening earlier and my system sounded so good my foot tapping in a long time, and I am really happy.
So what changed… I had nasal polyps and it completely blocked my nose, had surgery last week to remove all of them, and was just casually listening to my system, and everything just clicked, rhythmic, foot tapping, exciting, musical…
I have a Wiim mini Pro playing Tidal MAX into a Chord Mscaler, Chord Dave, 282/HCDR/250DR with full Superlumina loom into a pair of Dynaudio Focus 260. I did get one of my Superlumina cables repaired as it had a damaged (slight bent) Banana connector.
after this, do I want to upgrade. No. it sounds really good as it is now.
I am sure repairing the Superlumina has a positive effect, but I think also the surgery helped unblock my ears.
So overall I really felt like the “band was in the room” and this is all the Hi-Fi I ever wished for.
just a happy with my hi-fi post and no upgrade thoughts at all.
That’s great to hear @Analogmusic. I’m right there with you, although not with the nose thing. That doesn’t sound fun AT ALL!
How wonderful it is to feel totally fulfilled by your music system.
Just switched out a narrow glass shelf to a full depth one in my source rack this morning and sitting here thoroughly enjoying the tunes.
I have achieved everything I wanted now too and am really happy listening to great tunes on a great system.
Long may we continue to enjoy
There is a strange theory that, because it is possible to upgrade Naim systems, it is necessary to be on an endless path of upgrading.
My system today is more or less the same as that which I bought from Grahams HiFi over thirty years ago. The only change is a new CDX-2/XPS DR to replace a CDS II/XPS because the CD transport mechanism failed and could not be repaired or replaced by Naim HQ.
Best hifi upgrade; ear cleaning… (return to factory default setup ideally)
Fully agree.
as to the OPs, erm, ‘Op’ (operation)…
when ny mother cut gluten from her diet, she had a lot of uncomfortable facial pressure disappear, and her hearing improved hugely…
Fair to say…
being relaxed makes a huge appreciable difference when listening to music as well…
(Ive never understood how some chewyyoube equipment reviewers do ‘on the fly’ reviews with unfamiliar test tracks on ‘new kit’… (the ‘mild stress’ wpuld greatly affect their hearing acuity/‘brain disconnect’)
congrats, and ‘yay’ to “band in the room”.
First time I listened to some Audeze Sine (on ears) driven by a Chord Hugo, tears formed… (sound was ‘real’)
hifi IS a rewarding hobby.
A Team, “Love it when a plan comes together”
Quick question - are you happy using a Wiim as a transport? I seem to recall a post many months ago (by you I think if not I apologise) knocking the Auralic as a transport posting pictures of the Auralic innards against a Naim streamer.
a friend has the Wiim (pro), and ‘vs hifi seperates’, aka cd transport/half decent UHD spinner (etc) it kills the soundfield left-right staging by around 20-25%, and just about all sense of ‘front to back’ imaging.
I have told my friend a few times that swapping its’ power pack would serve him well… (he uses digital out to a Denefrips R2R)
Peter Gabriels’ latest (“I/O”) in hi res streaming (3meg a second) sounds crap, comparitavely speaking, vs the ‘low res’ CD version.
(as does ‘every other stream’ vs the CD equivalent).
They do the trick and at a very low price of adoption.
five star ‘budget kit’ is still ‘budget fi’, and five star budget fi doesnt touch 3 star rated hifi (you get what you pay for)…
that being said-I havent heard one with a power supply upgrade; but I’d doubt it could clamber bavk enough quality to compare well with ‘nice kit’.
certainly lowered the price of entry to nice convenience though…
Yes I’m happy with the WiiM, upgraded from the basic WiiM to the WiiM pro which has Ethernet, can’t hear any problems and when compared against much more expensive streamers, it sounds good as a transport into an Mscaler Dave
I use it through the optical output into the chord Mscaler
The wiim has tidal Max capability through connect, and doesn’t cost a lot of money. As Rob Watts always said, a streamer only has to provide a bit perfect stream into one of his products, and jitter is not an issue for his products.
I once had a Wiim Pro as a stop gap for a few months feeding an nDAC. The upgrade in sound was dramatic when I switched to an ND5XS2 as a streamer feeding the nDAC. The Wiim Pro is a good enough streamer for its price, but with the quality of your DAC and other electronics a better streamer would definitely improve the sound overall.
