What will sound better? A bare ND5XS2 or an Allo Signature plus Shanti PS into the nDAC?
There is similar thread here:
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I would say the transport of the Nd5xs2 is better vs the Allo. But the Ndac is better vs the dac inside the Nd5xs2.
Difficult to respond without comparing both on your system. Perhaps someone here have done the test?
If you have already the Ndac, you can see the thread on Auralic Vega which is continuing.
Some are very pleased with it and an outboard dac.
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I don’t have either yet. That’s why it’s difficult to compare.
It’s different. Here it’s about a bare Nd5xs2 vs a transport + nDAC. Both are my threads
When you personally compared the ND5XS2 (your pick to be the better one) to the Allo as transports, what BNC (I assume) cable were you using? Into what dac?
Hi,
I honestly didn’t compared both transports, but regards of the enormous differences in price between both and the very positive feedbacks on the quality of the nd5xs2 transport, I would be completely surprised if the allo is better as a transport.
If it is, Naim would be in serious difficulties.
The allo costs 80 pounds and the nd5xs2 more than 3k.
Got it, just clarifying to the OP and other readers that your opinion is based entirely on anecdotal evidence.
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Your pricing is a bit off — 759 USD in Europe without postage. That’s for the DigiOne Sig with USBridge Sig Board and Shanti to optimise SQ…
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Absolutely, as all posts here.
Prices are of course not a proof. Some components sound much better with less expensive price.
But for 80 pounds you can’t make miracles vs something costing 40 times more.
I was looking prices of Allo digi one. Not signature.
Here it’s 350 euros from what I see. With a good linear ps, things begin to reach another level.
So ok, the signature with linear ps closes certainly the gap. And I don’t know how it compares to the Naim streamer, however I would not hesitate one second to take the later.
Just me.
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This sounds very much like comparing based on price, without knowing the price!
If you read the thread carefully, I will figure out it’s here about the Signature plus Shanti. Apart from this a pi hat without pi and power is pretty useless… 
I meant the DigiOne signature player plus shanti
It’s a hard question though, it’s likely not very many have actually made the comparison.
I have first hand experience comparing the older model - NDX (2017) with an XPSDR (2018) to an Allo DigiOne (not signature) with a Shanti PS on an RPi 3 into a Chord Qutest. Massive price difference. I thought the NDX combo was a bit better when I first did it. We are talking $16,000 retail (Canada) against $500. In the past few days I’ve put the DigiOne back in with a nicer BNC cable and so far I’m happy with the results. So much so that I can’t justify the cost of the NDX/XPSDR combo. The XPSDR is up for sale, the NDX will be kept just in case I change my mind, we are allowed to! After a period of time it will go on the market too if I’m happy.
The ND5XS2 I’m sure is a good product and will be plug and play where as the Allo DigiOne/signature could involve you to get your hands dirty configuring it. If you don’t like that sort of thing, the Naim streamer is a good choice.
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Thanks!! That is a very useful comment 
How do you like your Spendor A7’s?
I had a home demo with the A4’s and thought they were good to my ears. I got the A7’s based on the A4’s and the fact my large room would like the bigger speakers. I did not try any other speakers so my experience is limited. Had them for 1 year and am not looking to change any time soon. Working on transports into my Qutest lately, Allo DigiOne is my current choice as mentioned, with the NDX as a backup.
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Thanks! I’m torn between the 2 of them (size wise). Anyway I don’t mean to hijack this thread. I do wish Naim would update the nDAC with a footprint like the HiCapDR.
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It doesn’t come with an SMPS, as stock one ?
And the title of the thread is mentioning allo digi one signature bare, without the linear ps.
So seriously guys, you believe a 300 pounds transport can compete with a 3 k Naim one?
If yes, if it’s true, Naim is a very poor value and even a steal.
Naim streamers are acclaimed all over the world and are among the best. So it’s completely unlikely that they can be competed by pc tweaks costing 1/10 of the price.