I made the same choices as you.
Curious how you will find the diamond.
A little sceptical but for Ā£275 I felt it was worth a punt. Iāll let you know how I get on.
Gary
I agree. I found with ethernet cables that a āfull-loomā of whatever brand sounds better than mixing, and that the C-Stream is hard to beat for this.
G
That is good value.
Worth noting but when I was last at the factory (pre-COVID) Naim were using a C-Stream to their ND555.
@Geko interesting. A year or so back I tried the C Stream cables but I could not even last a day with them in. The character change was just not to my liking. Shame as they are very good value vs sole of the more esoteric offerings. For reference I use a mix of Audioquest Vodka, Diamond and Catsnake cables.
Iāve come to understand that what works in one system doesnāt necessarily work in another. For me itās all about balance. Iām looking for that ālive musicā experience and some cables/equipment take you away from that towards the āstudioā experience. Nothing wrong with that of course.
Iād compare Chord C-stream to Naimās Lavender cable. I think it has very similar qualities. Very live and musical but a bit over enthusiastic in presentation. The other cable I really like is Catsnake. Much more grown-up presentation but still very live and musical. Iāve tried more expensive Chord and Audioquest cables (Vodka etc.), plus a bunch of others but I find them all a step too far towards the āstudioā end of the scale. Itās always fun trying this stuff out as you can sometimes find that tiny piece of magic that sets the system alight!
Ageee
Any sign of your PhoenixNET yet Graeme ?
Itās arrived at my dealer but not sure when I can collect. Maybe next weekend at the earliest.
G
Thatās a shame.Still, it should be worth the wait
Youāve got something to look forward to. Having seen what kit you have and having heard the PhoenixNet through several Naim systems, including a full 500 system, the new classic 200 and my own Naim system, I think youāll find it hard to part company with it after the home dem, assuming you have long enough to let it burn-in to hear its full potential.
If you are interested, there is a detailed review of the Phoenix from April 2023 with comparisons by audiobacon (Jay Luong).
Thereās a link on the Innuos website for those interested.
G
One more sleepā¦
G
I can now understand why it is more than 5 times the cost of the EE8 switch. It is the scale of the Death Star to a Star Destroyer
And?
Iām just wondering what fellow PhoenixNET users are doing when playing back via their Uniti Core and what is their favourite means of playback? Do folks find the BNC digital inputs give better results than outputting to the PN switch via a network using Ethernet?