So the journey begins!
You’re off to a good start for sure, always happy to share experiences and offer more tips and tricks as you find your feet. You have a setup I’m very familiar with and had many years of enjoyment from, in addition adding the digital source opens up a lot of potential from Airplay to decent Internet radio and of course all the Hi Res experiments we’ve discussed on the thread here!
2 Likes
Hi Paul, Curious to hear if you got your new equipment yet! Raise a hand if you need any pointers getting going.
G’day M,
Well I could have used a pair of knowledgable pair of hands a couple of hours ago. I feel better back from Melbourne, and doctors. New Stereo assembled. Every thing turned on. About to have first audio test. I had to take a break for a shower.
The HiLine was a little difficult to connect. The Sinac’s, I think that is what they are called fitted easily enough.
I do have a question. I am happy to leave the amplifier and Flatcap on all the time. Though I wonder about the CD player. Fortunately or unfortunately my forearms are quite large and I have difficulty reaching over the top of the CD player and the other units to turn them on and off.
The HiLine was difficult to connect. Maybe one more HiLine with a ND5SX if I purchase one of these one day. It has been a big 24 hours away from home and I am glad to be back.
I have also read on this or other forums to leave a CD covering the laser lens to keep it clean. Are all these good sound advice.
Warm regards,
Paul. Off to test my first CD. What should it be. I am thinking Dire Straits Love Over Gold or The Eagles Hotel California or maybe some Pink Floyd. Spoilt for choices.
1 Like
Pink Floyd of course. Enjoy!
Glad to hear you are ok and back home.
The Hi-Line cables have floating (loose) pins and the Naim logo is also off centre somewhere around 1-2 O’Clock looking down on it from above.
You have to be careful to hold the silver part if you push/pull them as the black rings on the connectors are somewhat easy to break. Also make sure the grey band of the connector is at the source (CD player) end.
This is all contained in the instructions and also available online if required.
The SNAIC cable which provides the loop between the NAIT and the Flatcap to power the Preamp are keyed and a little more forgiving typically. Personally I push mine tight and have the lock rings engaged.
Always ensure you power on the sources first, then the Flatcap and after a short wait, finally the NAIT itself. If you need to change any of the wiring, it’s sensible to power everything down again in reverse order, NAIT first, then Flatcap and finally any source devices like your CD player.
It’s preferable to leave everything powered on all the time partly for ease of use and also that the power supplies take a while to warm up to a stable operating state, the exception would be if you were away for more than a few days, in which case I tend to power my entire system down just in case.
I don’t leave a CD in my player, I’ve had it for years and it’s still ok!
I’d start with Pink Floyd maybe!
1 Like
G’day Mr.M and Mike_S,
Well as it turned out the first CD I laid my hands on was Dire Straits Love Over Gold. It sounded fantastic. The thunderclap at the beginning of Telegraph Road sound like it was in the room just behind the speakers. I have heard this track on a pair of sonus faber speakers at a demo and the thunder clap was far more prominent as if you were sitting underneath it.
Shelley left the room as I enjoyed my music. Just that one CD. This was not my goal as I am trying to convince here that I also have headphones that are meant for my music enjoyment whilst she watches NETFLIX.
Yes, for me it was an expensive setup. But it was a truly amazing audio experience. The last CD player, by online reviews did not play audio above 15kHz. I will put the test CD in today and see how far I can hear on this new system. On the last system I was not able to hear above 13kHz. Which maybe due to the ageing of the old system. Or so I am hoping.
The system now sounds so open, light and transparent. Even the bass sounds so much better. I may save up for the demo Sonos Faber speakers. Though I must say I am so impressed with my old Celestion SL6Si speakers at the moment. It is like I have a brand new speaker set.
Also I did an audio dB SPL measurement. It would appear that my average listening level was around 68dB, with peaks into the low 80’s. I must have been confused the last time I did the same measurement. I thought it was at least 10 dB higher.
AT the left hand speaker I took a measurement of 90 dB SPL. At the listening position it was a comfortable 68 to 76 dB SPL peaks with the odd peak in the low 80’s as I said. I had mentioned that I listened at a level of 88dB on a previous post which was obviously incorrect. This must have been a peak measurement reading. So it looks like I have the required 23 dB headroom in the amplifier as required as an industry standard by Paul at PS Audio. Thanks Paul, for the tip.
I also experienced the left speaker as looking at it being more prominent than the right. This will require more listening time though could be due to it being either toed in too far or reflections from the full height glass windows and doors running down the left hand side of the room which open onto the alfresco.
I would like to thank everyone for their contributions and guidance. This has been a long process and has turned out to be a wonderful audio experience at the end. I feel rather spoilt.
Warm regards,
Paul.
2 Likes
Great to hear you are enjoying the system now finally. I’m sure it will give you many hours of pleasure and is surely just the start of your journey!
Wonderful outcome, well done.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.