Nd5 xs2

Hi-Fi Corner
21

Have you tried it?

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22

NP5/ndac.

Yes. It sounds excellent :+1:

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23

Have you tried ND5XS2?

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24

No. But I canā€™t believe it will be anywhere near as good as NP5/ndac.

People are adding the NP5 to first generation Naim streamers and are reporting an improvement in SQ, just as people are reporting ND5XS2 improves sq of first generation streamers.

25

Maybe you should try it. For me I found it a superb piece of kit. Many use it with NDac on here.

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26

You clearly love what you have. Fair enough.

But you havenā€™t tried the ND5XS2. I have. Itā€™s excellent. Have moved on but I know what it does.

You donā€™t. So to say what you have is better without listening to ND5XS2 makes what youā€™re saying unqualified.

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27

Iā€™m sure it is a great match for the ndac, as is the Primare NP5.

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28

The main thing is what you have sounds great with the nDac! Nothing else really matters if you love what you have.

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29

Iā€™ve happily rocked with the ND5 XS2 for roughly 2 years. Fantastic stand alone source. Great usability and versatile functionality.

I literally JUST added nDAC about an hour ago.

Fuxk. So good. So fun.

Takeaway: an upgrade path exists for the XS2

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30

Welcome and congratulations to the ND5 XS2 + nDAC club lol.

Your journey is identical to mine. I ran with the ND5XS2 for roughy 2 years then got lucky and found a nDAC locally. Enjoy what you have before you think about adding a PowerSource for the nDAC.

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31

Standalone streamer will be way off the performance of the top tt, to close the gap youā€™ll need to put effort into those main areas: power supply, network, vibration isolation and cables.

32

In some near future, there will be no single second hand Ndac in the market.
Naim community forum will exhaust all of them.
If only one remains, better bring it to Rick at Pawn Stars, to sell it at a much higher cost.

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33

Hi @Nichols.paul2

I hope you do not mind, but slightly off thread.
I am considering the same turntable and arm.
Which other TT/arm combos did you audition it against?
Thank you.

34

I had an LP12 Ittok and then an Origin Live Resolution and Illustrious. Then then the Sovereign and Enterprise. Each was a significant upgrade but none more than the phono stage and I think that cannot be ignored and is very important, I digress.

35

Hi.
Which phonostage were/are you using when you were auditioning?
Thank you.

36

Is a naim dac the same as an Ndac?

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37

Yes is is the same

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38

Hi So if I buy an n dac an xps and a bluesound node will it be worth having compared to a nd5 xs2? Any views appreciated as i see the connection would have to spdif

39

You may wish to read this thread Importance of Streaming Transport Quality? as it gives many peopleā€™s views on this topic. I would still recommend demoing streamers yourself as different people have different rooms and prefer different things from their music. For example the chord dacs are also highly thought of around here, Iā€™m not sure their presentation would suit my preferences but from what Iā€™ve read I can see why others like them and would happily try one to hear the differences.

Also while bnc is generally preferred other connections are an option. I hesitate to admit this but my dc1 is actually bnc to rca because my dealer had one on hand that they gave me a great offer on. They also didnā€™t feel the difference would be huge and given their expertise I was reassured. My ndac sounds amazing and Iā€™m now very happy with my system.

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40

Linderman or Primare transports would be a better choice vs the Bluesound.
Or buy a Bluesound and later replace it with the Nd5xs2.

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