My only piece of Naim equipment is a Supernait 2 that I have to earth separately to prevent a hum. I am contemplating buying a Naim dac and/or a Hicap DR. My question is would either or both of these provide the earth the SN2 requires.
Usually only one is required. Actually, youâll notice any issues if something went wrong
Another option is to use DC Blocker
Your 230v power supply should provide the earth, it does not need another.
Unless you have an L & N only power supply such as in some EU countries.
If you live in a country that allows a 2 wire L&N supply, I advise getting the power supply checked by an electrician, it should be possible to add a earth, but it needs to be done correctly.
The earth switch arrangement is for providing a single point common ground for the signal path (also known as âstarâ ground)
It is not and cannot provide the safety earth/ground if the power supply does not have an earth circuit.
Hum is possible when the system is connected to the double insulated source. In this case the dc is flowing from the double insulated device to the socket through the amplifier which gives hum
The solution is either to add an additional earthing or to use the dc blocker
Use the DIN plug supplied with the NDAC to connect it to the Supernait. This will carry the Supernait signal ground to earth, providing a single earth point for the system, giving you the optimal grounding arrangement as designed by Naim.
Make sure that the mains socket you use is earthed, which a standard UK socket should be, although this is not always the case in some countries.
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Dear Charles,
Is it possible to have all your HIFI components connected to one power board and then have the power board connected to a single power outlet? May I also ask which country you are in, please?
Warm regards,
Mitch in Oz.
Earthing or grounding? All AC powered Naim boxes need an earth but Naim provide for a signal ground to earth connection only in their digital sources, except maybe the DVD5, there should be only one such connection so DACs and streamers give you a choice. Iâm not sure what was done before CD existed. The Naim DAC would provide a awitchable ground to earth connection, a Hicap wonât.
The switchable ground on DAC and streamers is for signal path only.
It has nothing to do with the safety earth that is provided with the normal 230v (110v in NA) power supply.
All Naim units, DAC, amps, streamers etc have this earth connection with the 3 pin IEC socket connection.
If your home supply only has two pin sockets with L & N, your local electrician can help.
I am in the UK.
Dear Charles,
I found this on a UK website; sorry, I can not provide a link (forum rules), though please search this item and any power boards with Star Earth included in them. Sometimes, it is included in the description as an option.
Isotek V5 Elektra Mains Conditioner W/ Initium Power Cable
It is expensive, and I run a standard Belkin 8-way power board for all my NAIM pieces of equipment for my XS system with ISOTEK IEC power cables. The TT has a Thor power board, an Australian product. They are expensive, though. After spending all that money on my XS NAIM system and TT, I did not want to go searching for ground loops, and it, in my experience, was money well spent.
I hope I have given you enough information to go with. Please check my Bio for equipment details. It is possibly overkill for an XS system; however, I have never had an issue with it.
One reason to purchase all these high-priced accessories is that I live two hours drive away from my dealer and did not want to go back and forth. That is two hours of Australian driving at 100 km/hr. I dislike city traffic and like our sleepy village lifestyle.
Warm regards,
Mitch in Oz.
NDAC wil provide signal ground. Hicap will not.
Sound like you are talking about signal grounding⌠yes a Naim source will do that. Additionally Naim preamps integrateds work best with the signal ground aligned to mains Earth ⌠so if you had only one.Naim source you ideally would switch that to âchassisâ on the signal ground mains Earth reference slider switch.
Naim apps are designed to one and only one source being Earth ground referenced⌠so other Naim sources would be set to floating.
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Dear @Simon-in-Suffolk I m not sure I understood.
I m going to have a 332 connected to a sn3 with hi cap and a Ndac. Your suggestion is that everything has to be floating except 332?
Set the 332 signal ground to âdefaultâ and the NDAC to âchassisâ.
This assumes that you donât have another Naim source such as a CD player or streamer in the system.
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as Chris said
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Just as an aside, you wonât need a Hicap anymore in this setup as youâre just using the SN3 as a power amp.
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I mentioned the hi cap but i know it will be out
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In case i will have a future ndx2 same config as ndac if i got properly
If the NDX2 is connected directly to the preamp set it to âdefaultâ. If you keep the NDAC connected to the preamp you would then set it to âfloatingâ so that the amp doesnât have two signal ground connections.
This is not that clear to me, let me recap, 332 will be set to default and, in case I will have only one source it will be chassis and in case I will have 2 one will be default the other chassis. Am I correct? Or is it preferable to have ndx2 chassis?