NA523-2 Boards

Hi,

Sorry for being a bit of a clot in asking this but does anybody know if they are intended for low or high output MC cartridges?

ATB

Ray

Ray, if NA523E or NA523R then theyā€™re for Medium high output MCs such as the EMT or Roksan Shiraz.

If NA523S or NA523K then theyā€™re for low output MCs.

More info on daughter boards can be read here in the FAQ;

@Richard.Dane the 3xx boards. I can see they are designed around linn cartridges of the day. But what does this mean in terms of dB gain, loading and capacitance?
Reason being is that I may run a MC cartridge into my nac 72, so would wish to buy the right MC card and cartridge.
Iā€™ve not seen gain and loadings for the 3xx MC cards published.

The loading is pretty similar. 560ohms for the K and E and 470ohms for the S. Gain on the S and K is the same , obviously lower for the E. Sorry, I donā€™t have gain figures to hand right now though.

Thanks Richard.

Thank you Richard et al,

Going by Darrans resistor identification it seems mine are the S version so I will need a low output MC.

Naimā€™s 323 and 523 MC boards are quite tolerant of what drives them.
I use a high output MC (DV10X) into 523 E boards.

ā€œDarranā€™s resistor identificationā€ - ? Class A Darranā€¦? @Darran

Yes I think so - there is a picture posted in a K Boards thread - from which and having had the sleeve off, mine are definitely S type.

My 523ā€™s were S, but @Darran at Class A has converted them to E specā€¦ :grinning:

Yes, it should be fairly straightforward for Naim or Darren to convert any of the NA523 mc boards to whichever version is required. However NA522 boards cannot be converted to NA523s and vice versa.

Darran got the required parts from Naim, to covert my 523ā€™s .

Richard I have a stageline K and a 32.5 pre amp

Are the MC boards the same in both ? Probably a dumb question

Thanks

Bevo

No, although similar in overall design and spec.

Thank you for everybody who contributed to this thread.

With your help and advice, I can report that I was able to remove and swap the MM boards that came with my Nait 3 for some MC ones from a chaps 82 on another forum.

They work a treat with my RP6/AT Cartridge and all for the cost of postage.

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Of courseā€¦ Both use 5 series boardsā€¦ :grinning:

Hardest part is getting the boards out - from the little white clip that holds them in. I would recommend either big tweezers or needle nosed pliers, to release clip , while pullling the boards gently upwards.

Hi Richard

Meant to ask

Does the stageline K give a better SQ than the 32.5 MC boards do you think ?

Your wisdom always appreciated

Bevo

Bevo, Iā€™ve never compared them exactly like for like. Theyā€™re definitely similar though, but the Stageline has the advantage of itā€™s own enclosure and also would benefit from being directly powered from a power supply such as the HICAP.

I went from a NAC52 with onboard NA523K boards to a NAC252 with Stageline K (BNC) and it was an upgrade. From there I went to a Prefix K, which was an even bigger step up, I felt.

Thanks Richard

Greatly appreciated

Remember that the ā€˜built inā€™ Naim phono boards are no slouchā€¦ :grinning:

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Indeed Ian Iā€™m with you on that one

A comparison will be coming along soon

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