Naim Superline and AirPlugs

I treated myself to a Lyra Etna last month and can only describe it as “remarkable”!
The recommended loading from the importers is to “to be determined by ear”. I have settled on the 1000R plug at the rear of the Superline as the best to use in my system. The 500R is an alternative if the 1000R does not do the job.
A further refinement would be a pair of AirPlugs which I have on order from my dealer. Does anyone have experience of them? Difficult to see how much further you can go in getting quality sound out of the good old LP.

Douglas.

Douglas

When I had the Superline I used the Cyro Z Airplugs with the Kandid and Etna for a short time
They are quite expensive but I found worth it, I got them from Leicester

Lyndon

Yes I got an air plug from somewhere around Leicester. More dynamics,space around instruments.

Regards,

Lindsay

There is a fair body of knowledge on the Lyra cartridges, the Etna, and loading. I would start with the 400R, as AVOptions recommended for my KleosSL. You might contact them directly about what you need. They may have one in stock.

Also @kuma had an Etna and would have direct knowledge of what sounds best.

The Etna is several steps up from what I have heard. Congratulations.

It looks like the AirPlugs give a bit more “air” around the soundstage. There’s always more.
My dealer checked with Symmetry (Lyra importers), the advise was the 1000R. I have used this loading so far but might need to review things after the AirPlugs are fitted.
Thanks for all the advice.

Douglas.

My airplugs are from Peter Swan at Cymbiosis. Compared to the standard plugs it’s a huge gain.
For the Linn Kandid he had very specific resistances ready. They may also be known to your system. As far as I know, he spent quite a lot of time finding out those values.

I’ve settled on a 400R ( Z foil Air plug/ no cryo ) with my Etna SL. It’s highly personal and system dependent for sure. For some reasons 500R or 1kR loading never worked with anything for me.

Z-foil Air plug is a worth while upgrade from a standard Airiplug. Tho my understanding is that Naim does not offer it.

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When I talked with Peter of Cymbiosis about my RP10/Aphelion experiences with the Superline he told me the Naim resistances are not a match with the cartridge recommendations. This probably explains why the preferences above are different from the manufacturer’s recommendation. I asked on this forum before my demo, but didn’t discover the right resistance!

Phil

When I was looking at loading and phono cables I inquired of Lyra about their Phono Pipe phono cable. They told me that they were not the right match with the Superline because the Superline incorporates an internal load of some kind that cancels the benefit of the Phono Pipe. This is all beyond my expertise. But it sounds consistent with the comments above.

My dealer ordered me a 576R Z foil Airplugs from Naim 6 months ago and that didn’t seem to cause any problems? A very nice performance lift, which seemed to take a slight grittiness away from the original standard plug.

That’s very interesting! When I bought my superline last year, I asked the German distributor for the airplugs with that specific resistance. But nobody knew it there. So I had to order at Cymbiosis in England.

It does not seem to be an official product of Naim. Maybe it is made only on request?

Hermann, yes, AFAIK it’s a special product made to order…

Thanks Richard for clarification.

However I think a distributor should know that.

Yup, I agree.

Richard,

But NAUK isn’t offering a Z plug is it?
Did you get a standard Airplug or Airplug with Z foil resistors?

My dealer has confirmed that( on special order) the Airplug will be with Z foil resistors.
That’s a good shot, kuma, of your Etna.

Kuma, I’m afraid I don’t know what resistors Naim use these days in the Airplug. I’d have to open mine up to look (which I’m understandably rather reluctant to do). However, isn’t the Z foil a special offering from AV Options?

I have a Z foil from NA UK, admittedly on the second attempt but we checked and they were Vishay Z foil.

Sorry to high jack this thread with Airplug topic but it’s interesting NAUK is supplying Z-Airplug. Yeti, when did you get a Z foil plug?
I was under the impression that Naim only offer a standard Airplug so I always ordered from AV Option. Would love to know their current policy.

Richard, I would love to see inside your Airplug. Here are a few innards of 2 different inside Airplugs.
Standard Airplug:


Z-Foil TX 2575 Airplug:
airplugZ
A variation on a standard Airplug. IIRC, this was an early one. I can’t remember where this one came from but the execution is a lot to be desired.

How is Aphelion? I was rather impressed with their current cartridge offering.
Have you tried a new Aura phono? ( you can forget about loading nonsense if you get this ) :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: