ND5 XS NAIT XS External Power

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Hi,

Is it possible to power these two on a single external power unit?

As far as I can tell:

the ND5 XS could have 555PS / XPS / XPS XS
the NAIT XS can only have FlatCap XS

So any power upgrade means 2 external units, is this correct?

Dave

2

Yes you need two separate supplies.

A Flatcap, Hicap or even Supercap could power the Nait.

3

Thanks, which in turn begs the question which would gain most to be powered externally? I can’t stretch to both.

4

I would suggest ditching your XS, and get an SN2. Or an SN1 if you can’t quite reach the SN2. I never tried but my previous dealer suggested that a Flatcap doesn’t provide a worthwhile improvement of the the XS2.

5

I’d upgrade the PS on the ND5XS. The Nait XS is a cracking amp on its own.

1 Like
6

If my recollection is correct, @Innocent_Bystander added an XP5XS to his previous ND5XS, and he was rather underwhelmed. Generally, I am under the impression that ND5 users feel that an external DAC (Naim DAC, a Chord Dac, or whatever floats your boat) provides a more worthwhile improvement.

7

Yes there is that route too. If it was me, I’d get the new ND5XS2 and forget the power supply.

8

DAC V1 - 1500
ND5XS2 - 2300
SuperNait2 - 3250
XPS - 2800

improvment /£…the ND5XS2 and Supernait are replacements rather than additions. The SN2 would I guess offer the best sound improvement, but if you were doing that you might want the ND5XS2 as well…
THE XPS or flatcap sounds like they are not worth it.

The DAC is the cheapest option but is the improvement worth it.

Ho Hum

9

I would turbo-charge the source.

10

A used Naim DAC (now discontinued) from a dealer sets you back no more than 1K… A new Chord Questest is £1,200.

11

Indeed that is correct: for me XP5XS added to ND5XS gave only very marginal improvement and I did not feel it worth the money, so I changed it for a Hugo DAC, which made a noticeable improvement, indeed rather transforming the sound to be more natural, or analogue-like as some say. Of course to my ears, in my room and with my system at the time (which was Tag-Maclaren PA10 pre, Musical Fidelity P270 power into IMF RSPM speakers).

With half the ND5XS redundant I later moved to a different renderer.

If you like the Hugo sound, and many on the forum do, then it is certainly a good way to upgrade. I seem to recall another thread recently that considered Hugo or Hugo 2 on ND5XS vs ND5XS2, which might be worth searching out if you are considering what best to do re source.

12

I added a psu (XP5) to my ND5XS and thought the difference huge and very worthwhile. Funny how we all have different experiences which ultimately comes down to not only the electronics but also the room, speakers etc…

It would be great if you could borrow some kit to try at home before spending your money.

13

Yes, I always think that when people say they can or can’t hear a difference with any comparison they should declare the rest of the kit, as that is the only way it can really be meaningful to others. Unfortunately its nigh on impossible to do that with the room, though it can be quite significant.

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