I’m sure over time I’ll get to see who has similar tastes based on their findings. No doubt gravitate towards their thinking and suggestions.
Yeah, making one change is sensible to be able to assess. On th other hand, with the LP12, I’ll try and do more than one to save travel/down time and extra work costs.
I’m going to try and get a dem of the kore and Urika at some point soon.
I had a Valhalla powered LP12 around 20 years ago. It was great at the time, but the one I have now is certainly better. The geddon was good, but definitely not as good as the radikal. Can’t believe how much difference it made really.
First things first though… Power amp upgrade tomorrow, with plenty of records being listened to and maybe a nice celebratory single malt!
I wouldn’t recommend Geddon either, but with an Aro it has a nice synergy and it doesn’t affect the amps like Switch mode power supply’s do or Lingo with the mains filter in place.
I think that a Lingo 1 with removed mains filter ( Darren does that ) is hard to beat, when it comes to swing and groove.
It may be rose tinted memories as it was about 18 years ago, but it’s why I’ve always lusted after one. It sounded sublime and was with a lingo 1.
Yep, I’d love an aro, but know there are so few of them about (decent ones anyway) and don’t think there’s anyone to repair them.
One thing I would say though, is that the radikal (I believe) is switch mode, but has zero impact on the naim stuff… other than to make everything sound much better! No negative impact at all. Not cheap, but it’s made every album I play sound so much better. Some albums I’ve always thought were a bit of a bad recording, flat or harsh sounding, now sound amazing. It’s incredible how it’s improved things.
Can only imagine how good it would be with an Aro, too!
Depending on where you are, you may benefit from the fact that so many of these boxes are widely owned here.
In recent years, I have lent various Naim boxes to various people or had them pop round for a quick listen with one of their boxes under each arm. I have also hosted more than 1 dealer and a couple of fellow fans who let me hear their stuff.
To me, olive boxes have more boogie and pace but some are less quiet and so have less detail than OC, even DR versions. The right compromise for me for years was olive 52/SC/250. All 3 boxes are outstanding VFM to me - and getting more so.
I expected the right upgrade from there to be 135s, but using ears showed it to be a 300DR (not the older 300, which was a bit cold to me).
If I only played guitar music at high volume, the 135s might still have won. If I never played Zeppelin or Hendrix, I might have got a 252 instead of my 52.
If I wanted to spend even more, I might get a 552, but I suspect I would keep the old 52 and get a 500 instead of the 300DR. Different compromises….
Ideas on this forum can be really helpful, but eventually I need to hear the boxes to draw any conclusions. Depending on where you are, and depending on what works for you, it may be easy for you to do the same.
Yes the Aro is very special,I have had two Lp12´s with Aro one with Armageddon and one with Lingo 1,and the Aro/ Armageddon is very fluid sounding, but I prefer the Lingo 1.
I also prefer Ekos/Ekos2 in most cases.
Have you tried to listen to another source and then unplug the Radikal completely from the mains and the Nac 82,I´m surprised if you don’t hear a difference.
Wow, I’m surprised you preferred the lingo over the Armageddon and ekos over aro, but get why.
I haven’t done that actually @Igel but I only have one source… The LP12. There is zero detectable interference that I can detect. I know the lingo 1 had issues and there was a fix, but there’s no issues whatsoever with the radikal.
With a Radikal, I have no problem with it impinging on other sources’ SQ. However, that is because the Radikal is on the house mains and everything else is on the dedicated radial from the meter. Doing it any other way gives such a loud hum as soon as the Radikal is plugged in that music becomes unlistenable.
As I understand it, other people with similar boxes to me had that sort of problem with a Lingo but not with a Radikal. It may be possible to predict that sort of thing, but I suspect that that is a black art.
Oh wow! No, not had a peep out of the radikal in my system. Mine are all plugged into the same 6 way musicworks extension block, but certainly don’t hear anything untoward at all.
I did know about early Lingos causing issues until there was a fix, but thought that was consigned to the history books. Looks like I’m one of the fortunate ones @NickofWimbledon !!
The early Lingos had a filter built into their mains socket which caused issues with Naim amps. This is easily remedied by swapping to an unfiltered mains socket.
TT hum is usually caused by a ground loop. The phono amp and amplifier each have an earth. The earthing arrangements within the TT itself can join these earths. Most cases off this I have experienced myself have been caused by the TT chassis being connected to its PSU earth, the Arm earth connected to the chassis and the arm cable connected to the amplifier earth post. Breaking the loop fixes the hum. Or it did for me
But have you tried to unplug the Radikal from the mains and the Nac 82,to hear the difference when listening to another source, otherwise it’s hard to know,I think.
In my case, we had a ground loop issue on the new (to me) Stiletto LP12 with Radikal that was fixed by ditching its Phonopipe, unhooking the earth on the signal lead to the Superline and running a wire from LP12 sub-chassis to the earth post on the back of the 52.
As a separate issue, plugging the Radikal into the sockets from the separate radial supply while the amps were also using those sockets created another hum. That one did not happen if both were plugged into the ring main or if only the LP12 or only the Naim kit was using the dedicated radial sockets.
The previous Lingo 4 and the Lingo 1 before it had no such issues, no matter what was plugged in where, and the LP12 with the L4 still doesn’t.
Throughout the whole episode, SQ on other sources was great and no different if the Radikal (or L4) was plugged in.
I have no idea why these effects appeared or why exactly these were the steps required to remove them. As I say, it’s a black art, and I am just grateful to the practitioners at Infidelity for their patience in sorting me out.
Just to add a comment regarding 82 with 250DR. I have that combo with a single olive Hicap and find the system sounding very good indeed. Sure always room for upgrades and tweaking. But all in all a very much functional and nice sounding combo as far as amplification goes. I haven’t ever heard an olive 250 though so can’t compare.
That’s great to know @Lucifer! I guess without comparing and contrasting, you’ll never know… but if it sounds great to you, then it’s great!
I suppose over this thread, it’s what I’m starting to conclude. I can’t imagine anyone saying anything Naim sounds pants. Yes, there maybe preferences, but even the less favoured stuff (like my nap180), still sounds bloomin good!
I’m only about an hour from knowing if I made the right move!!
That’s great ,but then you don’t really know how the Radikal´s Switch mode Power supply affects the system.
I would try to have it as far away from the amps as possible.
I guess not, but it certainly isn’t having any negative impact, if that makes sense. I wish moving it apart was an option, but sadly I can’t. It’s on the hutter rack with the rest of the kit. I don’t really have the space for another set of shelves. Maybe in a future move around of furniture, but not currently. I’m trying to be wife/relationship friendly!
I see it’s good that you are happy and after all it’s an very fine LP12 you have.
Here’s something Julian Vereker wrote about Linn Lingo and Linn CD12.
“Just a little re-cap, it is the mains input filter in the lingo that seems to cause the problem, since it is not just enough to turn it off, it needs to be unplugged. This also applies to the CD12 to a greater extent - the difference here is quite shocking. julian”
You were correct… I went with the 250DR. Just picked it up from Cymbiosis, a lovely recent/ish one. I’ve said goodbye to my 180 and welcomed the next piece into my system!
So, from looking at upgrading my phono stage, I’ve now got a lovely new (to me) NAP250DR… Thanks guys!
The next part of the journey begins! Going to pick up with Peter another time soon re the Kore and Urika. Let this settle in for now and see how it goes!
Another absolutely faultless experience with Cymbiosis. I must say, they are exceptional. One email in to Peter and I’m literally sorted within 30mins! Prices are always fair, advice is always swift and clear, trade in is seamless… Incredibly helpful. If anyone hasn’t used them before, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough!
Wayne even said if I for any reason aren’t happy when I get it all in and running, let them know and I can always swap back. Nothing is too much of a problem. Needless to say, I’m 10mins in and I doubt I’ll be doing that!
What I would say, that my 180 certainly didn’t disgrace itself. To say there’s the best part of 25 years between them, that 180 is stonking! This is better for sure and sure it will only improve as the system warms up again, but the 180 wasn’t a million miles away y’know!
Right… OK. Crazy that they can and do work so well together, when they have such a fundamental issue. I literally thought that issue was a thing of the past, as I’ve not experienced any issues. It’s something I’ll definitely look out for, but I’ve not noticed anything untoward with mine.
,but then you don’t really know how the Radikal´s Switch mode Power supply affects the system.
