Nap500 DR incoming

Good evening Naimites…

Thought I’d share my excitement at unexpectedly purchasing a (preowned) NAP500DR.
Now for what I’ve read is the neurosis of setting up!!

Should be with me next week.

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Well done, ignore the set up worries, just enjoy!

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It’s all part of the fun :blush:

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It’s just a great amp……enjoy

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Brilliant news. Congratulations. You will love the 500DR and it will work great with your set up.

Thanks Dan… I’ve just been reading your thread… it looks like you got a great deal on your 500 and you seem to have been on a big upgrade journey yourself this year… Hope it’s all sounding amazing.
How are you getting on with the ND555.

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It’s one hell of an amp! Enjoy :sunglasses:

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My system is sounding incredible. ND555 is a quality piece of kit and am getting a great deal from it.

500 series requires meticulous set up. Enjoy setting it up!

I’ve changed pretty much everything out this year so been alot of changes.

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I demoed a ND555 a few months ago and although it was good, it didn’t seem a big enough step up from what I currently have. That said I only had it for a long weekend and I don’t think it had sufficient time to settle in.
I’m sure it will be back on the cards at some point though :slight_smile:

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I think with sources they don’t make much difference if it was ex demo. If your 555PS was powered up and you switched the ND555 in that’s the sound.

I did NDS vs ND555 shoot out and wrote about my experiences on here.

ND555 is more modern up to date version than NDS with a nice finish and remote.

That said with cabling and switches it can all sound incredible!

My LP12 Klimax spec is my favourite source and that sounds better than ND555.

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I’ll dig that out and have a read… thanks.

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There you go. Shared all my thoughts about ND555 and then did shoot out before I sold NDS.

Hope you find it interesting.

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First, congratulations. It’s a great amp!!

As for setup . . .

The thing is too darn heavy to do much with it on Fraim. You MUST break down the rack and (gently, of course) place it onto the Fraim glass from the top. There is truly no way to slide it in to an already-built Fraim. And enlist some help; as you know already, it really is that heavy.

Also, I have found it to be a bit tough to get the burndies installed. I recommend installing them on the rear BEFORE placing the amp on the Fraim.

Finally, if/when the glass with the 500 on it slips off one or more of the stainless steel balls and the entire Fraim has been built, the trick is to slide a few glossy magazines between the glass and the Fraim. That will then let you lift the glass up and re-install the errant ball(s). Because getting your fingers between the glass and the Fraim with the 500 on it is pretty tough otherwise.

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I keep things simple. The 500DR weighs 25kg. It can be handled carefully by one person.

Work out your Fraim set up. Place 500 head unit in place. Build rest of Fraim units adding components and cables as you go.

I put cables in as I go upwards and don’t slide components in. More chance of nicking the top edge if you slide them in and also more risk of balls dropping onto floor.

It’s all intuitive. Have a plan. Set up carefully level by level, adding cables in. Once you have done it a few times after strip down you won’t have to think about it.

Everyone has their own way of doing it. I live alone and am quite strong so I do it by myself. It’s not that difficult. Take your time and work it out.

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Hey Bart, thanks for those tips , very helpful. I’ll be enlisting the help of my son to do the install and will do the burndies first as you suggest.

I only have a fraim lite at the mo so it will going straight on the shelf… full fat fraim will come at some point I’m sure.

Looks like delivery may be delayed as the dealer s looking for suitable shipping method… we discussed putting both boxes on a small pallet as that should be safer than send boxes alfresco as it were.

Today I have installed some medium risers and repositioned everything in readiness. Will just have to move the 552 head unit to drop the nap in below it.

I must say that the new config with the burndies off the floor seems to have lifted the SQ a bit. A bit more mid/bass. Still evaluating.

Exciting times. :blush:

A p.s. to @Dan_M 's very wise words, is that it’s vital with a 500 get the burndies off the floor, or else bass performance can be severely compromised.

And, as you have probably found with the 300 burndies, unit placement needs careful consideration, with either vertical or horizontal separation depending upon how many Fraim/kit stacks you have.

A tip - ideally, don’t put the 500 head low down, as that elevates the difficulty of handling given how heavy it is (and it also gives challenges on getting the burndies clear of the floor, as above).

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Thanks Happy!

I have two 5 level stacks. Power is on the right , other stuff on the left.
Burndies are now off the floor and there is a difference as previously they were touching.
Cable probably need a day or two to adjust to the new config, but so far it’s sounding good.

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I have 500DR head unit on 2nd shelf up. Initially I had it on Fraim base.

Also I would advise using 15mm plumbing pipe insulation cut into small sections in order to ensure no cables touch each other. And you don’t want the burndies touching the floor as @HappyListener says.

When I got my 500DR I just got it all up and running. With 552DR arrival I spent alot of time cable dressing. And with ND555 arrival even more so.

It’s a case of doing everything possible to ensure cables don’t touch the floor, the wall, or each other. Doesn’t matter how it looks behind. Cable dressing is key here.

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Ditto with me (with a double-height shelf gap). Folklore has it that the bottom shelf is sub-optimal (not recommended). Fortunately, I have some CD shelving behind the racks, from which various strings were used to ensure cable separation.

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