Well,
I’m seeking some advice and experience from all the members here, I’m a new Naim NDX2, NAC282, HiCap, NAP250DR owner in a 120V environment. Firstly, I’ve been in this hobby actively for 20 years or so, so my experience is extensive, but this is my first Naim system. So far I really enjoy the energetic, big and lively sound but what I don’t like is all the noise the system generates powered up at idle.
We all know that any system will generate some level of “hiss” or “buzz” when its powered up with no signal and with your ear pressed up against the speakers. However, what I’m getting with my Naim system is 10X that as soon as you unmute the preamp. With the preamp muted and the amp powered on there is barely anything audible from the amp itself. But with the preamp unmuted you can hear the hissing from 20-24" and more away… the hissing also changes a bit over time and begins to pop, crackle and buzz some once you play some music and then pause again. To the extent that you can hear it at the sitting position during the quiet transition between tracks.
Now a little about my environment and things I’ve already tried to isolate the issue. I have dedicated 20 amp power lines running to my listening room directly from the fuse panel, terminated with TOTL Furutech GTXD receptacles in the room. I’m using all of the factory Naim power and interconnect cables. I’ve tried to split the player and the preamp/amp/PS’s by having them connect to their own receptacles, then I tried to use a Power Receptacle Distributor and have them all connected on the same single line. Then I disconnected the wired ethernet line from the player to see if the noise was coming from there. Then I tried to use different inputs on the preamp, and finally I disconnected the input entirely and started switching the inputs while everything was on. None of these things have reduced or changed the noise I am hearing at the speakers.
I’ve spoken to Naim and am currently still in discussion with one of the Techs, they tell me this is not normal and perhaps points to a ground loop, dirty mains or other interference. Well, my mains are clean, with very consistent voltage at all times, there’s nothing else on the lines to interfere as they are dedicated and I’ve never had any ground loop issues with any of the other 100 systems I’ve owned.
I have spoken to some Dealers in the area and they all tell me that Naim is not known for their noise floor and they all hiss to some extent.
At this point and from my experience this doesn’t appear normal to me, and I cant be the only one to have experienced this by now. Everything I have seen points to either a preamp issue or a power supply issue. Perhaps even one of the cables. But I don’t have any one with another preamp to drop in nor any new cables to try without actually buying them.
I have taken videos of the noise and I will attempt to post them here.
So… any advice/experience/guidance?