I’m new to the Forum and also new to Naim but have been a Hi-Fi ‘enthusiast’ and (to my mind) more importantly a music fanatic for a very long time. I am really looking to tap into your considerable knowledge with this post as I am driving myself crazy with endless episodes of self doubt and potential regret fuelled by complete uncertainty!
I have had a settled system for a long time now, that being the Cyrus DAC XP Signature, X-Power, CDXTSE, 2 PSX-R, Phono Signature, Rega RP6 and Dynaudio Focus 140s.
I am generally listening to records again these days but also have a sizeable CD collection that needs played!
This set up sounds excellent and importantly I have become accustomed and conditioned to the clarity, crispness and separation. The CD transport into DAC XP is outstanding.
The main issue has been reliability, in the grand scheme it’s probably not been too many repairs over the years but certainly more than I’d expect. I had cosmetic issues on new units, CD playing and ejection issues and a couple of different issues with the DAC XP with the most recent being a fault manifesting as a loud crackle on the digital inputs.
I have effectively lost both confidence and patience in the system. Lockdown hasn’t helped my mood and an inability to get the unit back to Cyrus for repair (£300 flat rate) has added to the frustration.
COVID lockdown has clearly had a massive impact on our ability to get into demo rooms etc. I have never bought anything without listening first but based on my experiences with my system coupled with the various reviews, descriptions, forums and awards I decided to be bold and arranged to offload my kit and replace with the Naim SuperNait 3 and the CD5Si which I have now ordered. I plan to keep the Cyrus Phono Signature (I like it a lot and it was a present) along with 1 PSX-R.
So, I got a loan of the CD5Si and have been playing CDs for a few days now through the analogue inputs (obvs) of the DACXP sig. I’ve been underwhelmed! Now I realise that it’s not into the Naim amp nor is it using the preferred DIN connection but I’m now seriously fearing that I’m potentially paying a fair bit for a downgrade.
I guess I’ve become accustomed to the pre/power and PSU set up and a very good quality DAC. I’m not sure I can even actually judge anything yet but I’m worried I’m making a bit of a mistake that I’ll later regret. I probably need to get it all in place, set up and use the appropriate interconnect options to get a better idea.
I totally understand that there is a Naim sound and a Cyrus sound, in actual fact the description of the Naim musicality should suit my love of various genres and live music. I guess I’m just looking for views on whether the SN3 will be able to live up to my previous set up, whether members think this is a sensible route to be taking or a backwards step?
Having read the forums I anticipate adding a HiCap DR to my new setup in the future, that is of course unless I’m encouraged to stick with the current system. Judging by threads on here it looks like this upgrade would be also be a positive enhancement.
As I say, I’m really keen to hear your views. I appreciate that better and worse is totally subjective and different is likely to describe the sound I’ll get but I guess fundamentally I’m asking is this a good move?