Just realised reading back through I may have contradicted myself somewhat!
My ND5 is now well run in having been in regular
use for many months from new.
When I first had mine when new I DID leave it playing 24/7 for a few weeks so even though it would have been set to standby after 60 minutes, it never did as I always had it playing Internet radio with the volume low or muted on my amp. I ran it continuously like that for a good few weeks so it was playing something all the time even when I wasnāt listening or in the room, beyond that it settled down and sounded more relaxed and less ādigitalā
I had a HiCap on my SN2 but Iām running it in to my SN3 which replaced the 2 without and it sounds ok so far, amp is new so itās a bit bright and lean but gradually now running the new amp in too.
Hope that makes sense, apologies if I wasnāt clear on my previous comments anyway!
Got it, thanks. Next steps for me is a HiCap for the SN2 and new speakers once I decide on how to explain that to my wifeā¦I donāt understand her shoes, purses and jewelry and she doesnāt understand my stuff. Itās been that way for 31 years now so Iām sure Iāll figure this one out as well.
Brgds.
Iāve not had any problems streaming Qobuz notwithstanding the increased global broadband demand.
Thanks Gromit
Hi @Mr.M - Iām running the same ND5XS2 into my XS3 ad want to add the HiCap DR to my system (though due to funds, will be looking for a new second-hand one), iād be keen to hear your thoughts re the sound as the XS3 settle inā¦
Iāve updated my system in the past few days so itās now Supernait 3 + NDX2 and Iāve traded in my ND5 and HiCap as part of that process.
Still need to settle in both boxes as both new, but my aim is to run as a two box system for long enough to settle them in and see where I take it from there.
Iāll almost certainly add in a HiCap and XPS eventually to end with a 4 box system but even as a 2 box setup Iām pretty happy with how itās sounding.
Of the NAITās I used a HiCap on I would say itās a worthwhile addition.
Yup, same here. Wi-Fi all good here also and Iāve done the Cisco switch, cascade, Vodka in, Bluejeans out malarkey madness, err, no thanks. The Wi-Fi solution is a much neater and sounds better for me also. The switches add too much bass and smooth things out too much for my liking. Like adding too much corn flower, making the music sound thick and stodgy! 
Like a sliding scale of gravy thickness from
lightly tinged water to something you could get a spoon to stand upright in!
True enough on the wired route, a lot of demos Iāve heard of very expensive wired Ethernet kit from the likes of Melco personally left me feeling puzzled.
Itās fair to say you do need to do a little optimisation on the Wi-Fi network to get the best out of it but my ND5 and now NDX2 sound absolutely fine to me over Wi-Fi and Iāve had 0 issues with connectivity or dropouts. Both wired and wireless should work well without needing a lot of expensive kit or networking knowledge, I say use the one that suits your home environment best and donāt over complicate the things Naim spent a lot of R&D time and money simplifying and optimising.
Well, Iām a believer in ābits are bitsā concerning the audio signal even if I can detect subtle differences in ethernet cabling variations and switches. To my ears, which are excessively critical, there isnāt enough difference sound-wise between wifi and hardwired to warrant an absolute and clear preference. I am fully and unequivocally convinced, however, that my hardwired solution guarantees me much greater reliability and control with data delivery. This is paramount to me because I despise signal dropouts, inconsistency, stuttering, and data rate variations. It is like taking a road trip with an unreliable automobile, I simply prefer to avoid a breakdown. Iām happy with mine and to each his own, be it wifi or hardwired. I faintly recall that itās all about the music!
Brgds.
Give wireless a try. In my LAN, wireless connections are more reliable than wired. For audio and video streaming, latency figures matter more than bandwidth and latency might be lower on wireless connections, these days. But above all ā¦ enjoy the new ND5XS2! Congratulations!
Hi nbpf,
Have been wireless for years and years, starting from the Squeezebox days. Once we got fiber a year ago, the family went crazy with all kinds of wifi connected IoT devices. I own a portion of that guilt. I went to considerable effort to discreetly hardwire 7 devices in the house including the streamers and Apple TVs. These devices are receiving upwards of 900 mbps of stable data over Cat6a cabling and it all works a charm. Itāll be a cold day in hell before I revert to wifi for my streamers. Some folks are content to parade about with their pants well below their waist or dye their hair green. Iām content to use my hardwires since I worked like a dog to install them! It all sounds fine to me! Hopefully, I wonāt be accused of xenophobic racism against wifiā¦Iād have to leave the forum!
Informed choices there!
If you can hard wire end points easily and clearly have done already thatās preferable naturally.
Thereās a risk of this quickly snowballing into one of those networking type discussions!
Howās the ND5 settling down now itās had a few miles on the clock?
Hi David,
I wouldnāt get too hooked up on others opinions. Itās what suits you that counts. I was just merely commenting from my own experiences, from which I did end up finding myself in a bit of a mess when I got caught up in the āmaniaā thread. I allowed it to spoil my journey. Anyway, congratulations on your purchase, I canāt praise the ND5 XS 2 enough. Itās a stunning source component!
Happy Listening! 
@Mr.M Well, so far so good with the ND5. Fortunately, I wasnāt expecting a toe-curling big-O and that didnāt happen. I can detect the synergy with the SN2 and it does sound good on the right recordings. Lots of control and drive. Able to do more listening than component-scrutining and thatās what the (n)aim was. Still want to receive the replacement Hi-line that had arrived defective and add a HiCap for good measure. 3 boxes should be enough to procure enjoyment for a while. Definitely donāt regret the purchase even if it remains a modest system by some standards. Thanks.
@Stephen_Tate Hi Stephen, yes I followed your adventure with its ups and downs. You took a bit of heat on that one indeed. The thing is, youāre right, this is all very subjective and we need to identify a place to stop and just enjoy the music. I wonāt question any longer my audio signal delivery configuration. It just works and if it aināt broken, I wonāt seek to fix it!
Brgds.
I ran exactly that setup up until quite recently @anon64018693. SN2 + HiCap DR + ND5 XS2 + Hi-Line.
In my case I already had everyrhing apart from the ND5. I had a gen 1 ND5 a while back and whilst I found it OK it was no where near as capable as the gen 2 you now have.
The HiCap is a worthy addition and will just make a lot of things click in to place certainly on bottom end cohesion and reducing the muddle in the midrange soundstage to an extent.
Iāve since made some changes and moved to a SN3 and NDX2 but in doing so parted company with my friend the HiCap. It wasnāt an easy loss, I know what it can do having used it on an XS-2, SN1, XS 2 and SN2 over various system phases.
Iāve found the SN3 is quite similar to the SN2 in many respects but seems to have an improvement to the soundstage dimensionality , grip and timing are more defined especially in the mids to upper mids which have a habit of getting congested at times on the SN2.
In your case adding a HiCap is a worthy addition and one youāre sure to enjoy. The ND5 will take a few weeks from new to settle down I found, the firmware has also improved through the last year and Iām finding myself using the Naim app a bit more than usual having gone on a discovery journey with Roon.
Keep the updates coming on your experiences always nice to hear of others journeys with similar systems.
@Mr.M Thanks for the feedback. Do look forward to a HiCap indeed but the economic apocalypse has me watching my sheckles rather closely now. The Minister of Finance with whom I am betrothed is fundamentally opposed to eating cheap pasta exclusively for the next month. But hey, a bit of salt, pepper, olive oil and pesto sauce would be fine meā¦
Thereās a broken cable or device somewhere if wireless is more reliable. Also impossible for latency to be lower unless there is something massively wrong.
This is a time to troubleshoot your network, not recommend it. 
If it helps, thereās deals to be done out there, this was the case for me with the NDX2 which pre-plague was way down the road on my system journey, maybe out in to the years given I only bought my ND5 XS2 new a year ago!
Thereās currently no new stock feeding the distributor network so if you can help move demo kit on or do a trade in youāll find dealers somewhat more willing to ādo a dealā than normal.
If a dealer thatās local or even in country has a HiCap sat on a shelf in a demo room gathering dust, make a reasonable offer with a take it or leave it approach.
Well said David! The test that convinced me with the new streaming boards is to unplug the Ethernet connection or WiFi after 30 seconds or so into a track and the music kept playing thanks to the stream being buffered. This led me to stop tinkering and just listen to music.