Naim Olive

OK, point taken, ref phono stage. I’m filing this stuff away for when I’m ready. Kind of getting my ducks in a row tbh - been a 2-year journey so far :slight_smile:

Agreed. Until I heard Kans on the end of a 52/250, I had always thought that they were a poor speaker: coarse sounding and shrill. However, with the 52/250, I finally realized that the problem with the Kans was that their small size and relatively modest cost meant that they were revealing the shortcomings of the vast majority of systems they were used with.

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Kans - revealing indeed! Like a previous generation’s LS3/5s, what they do well, they do very well indeed.

Given the reviews of the dedicated sub-woofers now made for LS 3/5s (properly integrated,don’t change the character etc.), I wonder what would have happened to hi-fi if 1979 has brought Kans and 1981 (say) had brought a properly-integrated sub-woofer. Imagine if Kans worked as well on Zeppelin and Zappa as well as on Baez and Bach!

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Even without a subwoofer, I found that on the end of my LP12/Lingo/Ekos/Troika/52/250, my Kans worked just as well on The Sailor’s Tale as on The Soldier’s Tale or on The Colour of Spring as on The Rite of Spring.

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12 months later - from April 21 - an update on “Project Olive” …
Three olive shoe boxes, caught in the evening sunlight.

Naim NAC72 - HC - NAP140

These “new to me” Olive pieces are a delight. A perfect match for our LP12 and Epos ES14’s, from the same period. This is how we have them set-up now, in our new home.

We added these cute little beauties into our home to go in between our existing LP12 and Epos ES14’s. The result is a fabulous system with a nice balance and rewarding synergy.

Our original idea was to set up a room, as a LP only system, for enjoying vinyl records. We have since added an Innous Zen Mini + LPSU, to allow access to our CD collection in this room too, (but excluding the actual CD’s to retain a simple focus on vinyl in the room).

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Lovely photo - I do like the look of those Epos speakers too

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Hello,

I used to use 72, Hicap, 250 and was awesome.

Also 82, Hicap, 250 was even more.

Thanks

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Sure.
It’s understood the 250 would probably add an extra something.
However, we’re happy to stick with 140 - for the perfect symmetry - just three shoe boxes
Actually, the NAP140 - by itself - is pretty good

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Kan’s version 1 or 2 need a stiff amp and a clear source and a very HQ preamp. In my opinion I would go for 82/Hicap/250, and a great record player!

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Agree that Kans sound great with a quality signal but I also think one area that separates Kans/Briks from modern speakers is that a modern high quality speaker will have a level of refinement that helps prevent a bad signal sounding too much worse. Yes, you will clearly hear how poor it is, but it won’t make a complete meal out of it like Kans/Briks tend to.

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Basic question - I use nDAC/555DR via Hi-Line into 52.

The Hi-Line currently enters the 52’s analog input 3, which is ‘Tuner’ on the front panel input selector.

When I reconstruct the racks and gear (soon) I will have the pleasure of plugging the Hi-Line in again.

Can anyone advise what is the best input to use for signals coming from nDAC/555DR?

I don’t use the record function.

I have only a small useable volume range on the 52 from 7:30 to 9:00.

If one input gave a bigger volume range this would be great.

[I have a vague memory of seeing a post saying that on a 52 the analog input 6 (‘Aux’ on the front panel) is the best one to use - but that may be wrong.]


This question has been discussed before: Naim NAC 52 setup - #17 by PaulDavies

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I re-read the thread you linked to, and the thread on the old forum linked to from there, but there is nothing there that answers my question.

Apologies for not reading your post in full. By best, I assumed you meant best sound quality, not widest volume range, especially as that was the question I remember being discussed (which is what I linked to).

I think you might have to resort to trial and error if you can. (Not sure how easy it will be to reach round the back of your preamp to switch inputs.)

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All the inputs have the same sensitivity. Input 3 makes the most sense as it appears to be the simplest so this is what I use on my 52.

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I used Input 3 for my CDS2 when I had a NAC52.

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Thanks chaps, very useful info.

Jim

Can the NAP 180 power a pre-amp like the 110 and 160 do?

Yes, it does a good job too. :+1:

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Nice system Jim!

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