Finally made the switch from the Nova to the 222/250 pair. So it was a work in progress getting this setup. I noticed another post that closed out last year regarding some of my same issues–so sorry for the repeat.
At first, I was getting a loud-ish hum from both mid-range drivers, and an electronic type buzzing from the left tweeter in my Kanta 2s. Weird the right tweeter had no such issue.
I read that some replaced the XLR cables that helped. But after advice with Naim/Focal America, I moved the Ground switch from floating to default which helped quite a bit.
The humming is very faint now when I put my ear up to the mid-range, and the left tweeter just has a very faint hissing sound now. Again, strange the right tweeter has no hissing. But there is nothing that I can hear from my listening position. Naim/Focal said the faint hum is typical for high end audio like this.
So a couple of questions, how big of a difference do XLR cables make, is it “worth” moving from the NAC 5 cables to super lumina, and should I set the 222 to never go into standby mode as the manual suggests?
The beauty and quality of these components is fantastic.
The great thing about the NC is it sounds excellent with OEM cables. I have no humming in my system though I suspect that’s an issue that could be resolved upstream.
It’s always difficult to identify the culprit. Try to remove first all the SMPS you can have near your system.
Maybe try another cable, perhaps it’s faulty.
Then if nothing works, you can try an Ifi DC blocker between the 250 and the power cable. You can return it easily through Amazon. It worked in my case.
Then, with Naim, you will very often have some hum , it’s common. However it’s only on one speaker in your case, if I understood well.
Before moving to expensive/exotic cables, I would try an NPX300 first. It does make a significant difference to the 222 SQ. The next step would be to look into changing the pre/power XLR cables. I would leave the 222/250 on for the first few months, it does take a few months to burn in and to get to peak SQ. I had my 222/250 set to instant on after around 4 months.
A bit of hiss if you have your head close to the tweeter is not uncommon. Toroidal transformers do sometimes hum, and the source of this is usually a household appliance or a bit of electrical kit around the home or in a neighbour’s home. Tracking down the culprit can be time-consuming.
I have the NC 222/250 combo and have no problems with hisses or hums. I would suspect that one of your devices is faulty. Have you tried with headphones on the 222?
No. i am running NAC A5 speaker cable, which is very loosely coiled, and which is not near the power line power cable.
the faint hum and hiss from the tweeter is only the left channel. i swapped the xlr cables from right to left to hear if the hum and hiss switches to the right, which it didn’t.
i also unplugged the tv and 4k player from the outlet bank—which is an audiophile outlet—but no change.
further, when i unplugged the xlr on the left channel, the slight him and hiss was still there. so guessing the 250, not the 222 is the culprit? again, the right is dead silent.
naim/focal said it is of no concern, but strange it is just the left channel.
I really do n’t understand why they are saying that. It may not be a concern in the sense that it is not damaging, but it certainly is a concern with regard to SQ.
Maybe take it to your dealer and see if they hear the same issue.
problem is, i bought from a private party. and there are no dealers where i live.
with my nova, i didn’t notice anything. but i don’t remember ever putting my ear that close to the speaker. so i hope it is not the speaker. that would be a major pain to repair.
but i will swap speaker cables to hear if the humming switches side related to the speaker cable.
i will also try another amp (not naim) from a local audiophile store to learn if i can hear the same thing to determine if it is the speaker.
That statement was standard in the early 80s by NAIM and attributed to avoiding filtering so as to preserve micro-information, as they used to say. Of course, it depends on the nature of the “hum”. Same reason that you could hear the radio through speakers if you lived in a city. Not saying this is what is going on, just saying that there is precedent for NAIM dealers saying this is what NAIM told them. Of course, it was 40+ years ago, so lot of water under the bridge…
My brother runs Wilson Audio Watts and Puppies, with a Jeff Rowland Concentra integrated amp and Moon DAC and streamer. He also has very faint hum and hiss too.
But i will keep messing with my system–not sure what to do at this point–maybe a power conditioner?
I advised you the Ifi DC blocker before the power cable and your 500.
It worked for me with the past NC 250 and Ear amp I have now.
It doesn’t impact sound quality, just reduces the hiss.
Worth trying.