What does Team CB think of CB 32, 160 and 250 vs their earlier bolt down versions?
Never heard a bolt down 32 or 250.
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Sorry⌠no idea⌠I started with CBâŚ!!!
Hi
bought some new furniture
⌠NAC 42 - one of the first from 1982.
For its 40 Years it is in really good shape.
As I have no snail 4-4 here I could not test it - but it is running fine. The seller had shown it with a no-naim PSU.
Do not know, if I will ever power it up, BUT what I will do use it for display. It looks too good!
Best at last ⌠200 ⏠
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Enjoy. I just love my NAC42 and NAP110. Bought in 1986. First service 2021 :-O.
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I have just rejoined after a gap of several years as the CB thread sparked my interest.
I have had a 32.5/HC/250 since the early eighties and have amassed a number of CB systems including bolt down 32, 160 and 250 models. It is difficult to compare them in the terms people on here are using but I will try.
First of all the bolt down 32 which I use as standard ie single rail but the phono stages use straight through links and the tape buffer has been removed so the second rail is not needed. I run it with a HC into a bolt down 160 into Kan Mk 1âs and the result is sweet musical sound from CD with no down sides at all. Great for a bedroom system.
The bolt down 250 is in a LP12 with a 32 which is not bolt down but has been dual railed to 32.5 spec and has link wires and 729 boards. This uses a HC and the 250 drives Walnut SBLs with Mk2 bass units. The music is faultless into the SBLs but Saras pose a small problem in the bass which might be the fault of the drivers. With SBLs imaging is excellent and detail is good and it certainly makes me want to get up and dance. I also have a 12s in the system that I also use and there are no real differences
The systems are not in the same location so comparison is difficult but both are engaging and certainly not for changing.
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Thanks for posting Frank. Lovely looking system and good insight into the different amps.
Have you ever compared the BD160 to BD250 head-to-head?
What I like most is the âgenerationsâ aspect in the picture.
Hilfe from the gold old days - together with new media (laptop plus Screen)
Itâs a shame to keep them just for display (he says with his first CB NAP140 sat in the office). That one looks mint though !
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As far as new media is concerned I also use a laptop/Hugo in my main system. It used to have 552DR/500 with NBLs but I was not using it enough to justify the investment. I took a p/ex plus cash on the 500 for a 250 DR and sold the 552 DR. The other sources are a CDS3/552ps, Olive Nat01, and an upgraded Raven with Javelin XV1t and a K&K phono pre-amp.
The amp section is now 32.5 with modern cards/HC/250DR all into NBLs. A bit of a mis-match on fascias but I must stress that in my room with the NBLs, the current system misses nothing and I am a happy listener.
I can certainly recommend the Raven/Javelin combination and that replaced an uber LP12/Aro. Money in the bank paid for super holidays in the Covid lull last summer which was another incentive.
When I have time I will report on the other CB system!!
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Missing snaic 4-4 - that is the reason for (currently) display only.
Waiting for my 52 to come back from repair and would love to have an option for both. Say there are not enough rooms left here to build more âŚ
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Is this really walnut from SBL⌠looks perfect!
Yes they SBLs are Walnut and very attractive, I did have a pair of Santos Rosewoods SBLs The NBLs are Cherry which are also very attractive.
I have been on a long Naim path since 1980 and even had active SBLs and SL2s. The big advantage of Naim is that most components are sought after so I didnât loose much. I donât listen at ear splitting levels and so my present set up is all I need and the results are superb, certainly better than it should be. I donât miss the big amps at all.
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I have thought a lot about your query and I have a 2 more comments. In my âWalnut Systemâ I can swap between a NAC 12S which is bolt down and a 32(.5) which is not bolt down. Both pre-amps use the same series of cards and are both dual rail and the phono stages run from a Prefix so are basically the same apart from the case.
There are differences but they very small. I prefer the 12S as it is âsweeterâ and I put this down to the bolt down case not ringing when it is tapped. All later CB cases ring and I try to put something soft and solid such as a neoprene bag full of lead shot on top to counter this in other set ups. The bags of shot cab can obtained from must diving shops. I remember that Kuma was aware that ice hockey pucks have also been used.
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? - You have a Dual Rail NAC12 - ? Assume this was modified by Naim�
Thatâs very interesting - thanks Frank. The BD160 is quite a lot sweeter than the CB160 so I will try that next time I swap over. Those two are the only ones Iâve been able to directly compare - i.e. boltdown vs CB.
I too find my standard 12 sweeter than 32.5 but I generally leave the original cards in each amp and the older hand-drawn 12 cards are warmer anyway, so hadnât realised the casework was also having an impact. But overall, it sounds like a BD32 will be very similar to a CB32 using the same cards, unlike the two 160s.
I wonder if moving from boltdown casework to CB sleeves was a compromise that Julian felt he had to make. Changing phono cards on the 12 is a complete pain in the wotsit, and I expect dealers were moaning about it back in the day.
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Somewhere in this thread is a description of a couple of dual rail NAC 12 s, one was a mess of external wires but one was quite normal from the exterior. Darran of Class A posted a photo of the 12S and the SNAPS that had been through his hands and showed the Naim serial numbers and the designation as 12 SP and SNAPS DR and so they must be Naim original products.
I bought the NAC 12SP (p for prototype??) and the SNAPS DR (DR for dual rail) from a dealer just before lockdown and I am using them daily into IBLs with Hugo source and tuner. My photos of the rear are not as good as Darrans so you must look through the thread for more clarity but here is a photo of the inside of the SNAPS DR showing that it uses two capacitors unlike any SNAPS I have seen.
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There was an official NAC12DR that used a pair of SNAPS. Some units have been DRed in later years to use a single HICAP, or in the case of the dual-railed NAC12 that was used by Naim in the Service Dept. Listening room, a Supercap.
There was a fair bit of experimentation and on the fly development at this time (e.g. my own NAC12 which started out as a single board S1, then was updated to S2, and then had further updates to pin phono boards, ALPs pot etc., all done by Naim) so sometimes itâs hard to know what was official and what wasnât. However, as itâs all pretty much ancient history now Iâm a bit more relaxed about discussion of period-type mods on the early bolt-down gear.
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Richard - Am I right in recalling that a SNAPS could power 2 units, as designed� So say a PreAmp and a NAXO� But that the 2 outputs are not independent - in the way they are on a HiCap�
It depends on the version. The later SNAPS in the extruded sleeve case had two single ended outputs, so you could have one SNAPS to power a pre-amp and NAXO, or a pre-amp and a NAT101.
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