SN2 vs SN3

were you are from Marcus ? I am waiting for my SN3 me to !

North America. My dealer says end of the month or so.

Same for me

This discussion Soundbase really strange to me. A lot of audiophiles lives with 8w 300b set amp and they are happy. I can listening My 30w nap at 20% of the power and the result is louder than acceptable. Sn2 in My opinion has tons of dynamic and power. Being afraid about the power to me make sense only of you leave in a theather

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The quoted power ratings are for continuous power into the given load. A Naim amp is limited by its output devices and heat dissipation ability under those conditions. Music isnā€™t continuous but can have quite high transient peaks a NAP (and presumably the SN power amp stage) is quite good at dealing with those, the stiff power supply can deliver a high transient current and the output devices donā€™t have time to overheat. Even a fairly sustained forte passage seems to be handled well. About 12 years ago I decided my 1981 Mission 700s needed replacing as the surrounds had perished again. I tried various speakers at home including some Thiel CS1.6. My power amp at the time was a Rega Maia quoted at 80W into 8 ohms, the Thiels have an impedence curve like this
image
nearer to 3 ohm for a lot of it but the phase angle is mostly benign.
During the demo pairā€™s time in my lounge I was playing Mahlerā€™s 10th symphony in the Cooke completion from a CD of Rattle and the BPO. It was summer and warm so I had a couple of windows open and there was quite a lot of noise from the street. There is a large dynamic range on this recording so Iā€™d turned the volume up rather a lot to still hear the quiet bits, when it came to one of the sustained loud sections the sound seemed to sparkle and jump forward at me, which I interpret as the amp running out of power supply. I bought the Thiels regardless but not the demo pair (not after abusing them like that). Later I replaced the Maia with a NAP 250-2 and repeated the Mahler at volume as a test, the 250 didnā€™t have any problem with that passage whatsoever despite having the same quoted Wattage.

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I feel a little silly replying to my own post, but this is the reviewers summary after listening to the SN3:

ā€œHis sonic merits are laying bare even the tiniest dynamic and tonal nuances. Being both agile and powerful he marries a joyful character with supreme ease. The sound of the Supernait 3 is equally sensitive, refined and homogeneous just as itā€™s atmospherically charged- just great.ā€

I guess he liked the 3 :grinning:

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So I have an SN3 + NDX2. Ordered an ex demo SuperLumina 5din cable, changed the game. Also have a couple of ex demo powerlines. But the interconnect made a drastic improvement for me.

For people asking about 80W on the SN3 means nothing. Trust me it goes loud! I had a roksan blak 150W before I got it was concerned the SN3 wouldnā€™t match it, the truth is the bass doesnā€™t overwhelm on the SN3, it did on my roksan, my walls arenā€™t vibrating constantly even at low levels like the roksan but there is loads of controlled bass itā€™s kinda just right. Running into Dynaudio Special 40s, which I was told need a lot of power, it drives them perfectly. I had demoed the SN2 previously and was underwhelmed in all honesty, sounded a little flat and lacking bass, maybe it was other equipment circumstances. The SN3 to me is much more engaging/powerful and alive. Just wanted to share, NDX2 is pretty special as a streamer too, sounds as good as vinyl a lot of the time. Anyway was never a huge believer in cables but the super lumina gave a real pleasant change in delivery if anyone is thinking about it, much more clarity and life, vocals improved, detail etcā€¦

All coming together nicely :slight_smile:

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are you using an xpsdr with the NDX2?

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Not yet, itā€™s next on my listā€¦

Iā€™m running an SN3 with a Nova as front end, NDX2 arriving this week, whether I hear an appreciable difference remains to be seen!

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Iā€™d be interested to hear your review of the SN3 and NDX2 compared to the Nova on its own as Iā€™m considering the same upgrade.

Itā€™s funny, I could say exactly the same thing as SN2, :wink: .

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I currently having Uniti Star and Dynaudio S40 same as JohnF. Was not satisfied with the Star using Tidal with S40. Either hearing your feedback on SN2 or go straight to 282/250DR. Hope that will be end-game for me :pray:

The SN3 provides a nice uplift over the Nova but itā€™s not night and day different and the Nova holds up very well in fact but the SN3 is definitely an upgrade. I have a feeling that the amp is the weak link in the Nova and the streamer is probably pretty good so Iā€™m not expecting my jaw to hit the floor when I get the NDX2! It remains to be seen if the overall investment was worth it in monetary / sonic terms over the Nova,

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I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the NDX2, even better with an xps power supply.

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I heard the NDX2 played with a SN2 at Audio East Show last year and was impressed with the sound, which is why Iā€™m keen to hear what the SN3 NDX2 sound like.

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A lot of people swear by the S40ā€™s but they dident do it for me in my room

I recently went from 5si to sn2 and you are right up to a certain point, it is flat, very flat, does is lack bass, well, itā€™s up to personal preference and speakers as well. It certainly is missing a very small amount of low end, although I cannot tell for certain as I have it for 2 weeks now, somewhere around 50+ hours in listening, so it might not be fully settled yet, but it was obvious right after I changed them, that sn2 has a lighter touch in the bass region, but everything else is absolute joy.

I was testing how its pre amp section is compared to the one in v1 dac and I noticed a slightly bigger body when in av bypass mode, but it loses a bit resolution. I hope after burn in sn2ā€™s pre amp gets better, as it is evident that even with v1ā€™s pre, sn2ā€™s power amp is stunning.

I still donā€™t know what SN3 sounds like, certainly, but I donā€™t find the SN2 missing anything in the bass region, at least with the K6; and I have other well-tuned systems as a counterpoint. That said with almost over 500 hours of operation already, so I think it can still settle something, but I donā€™t think much more.

At first, in the first few weeks, 50h.-100h. running, I even opened a thread, quite worried because I found it to sound pulling bright and, yes, with the bass a little loose, and thinking I could have made a wrong decision buying it and I was going to need more reinforcement; but, as I point out, none of that now, after the tuning and settlement of the system, only a really terrific integrated very capable to filling the 144 cubic meters of the room with balanced and coherent sound, in all honesty tooā€¦

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Thanks for sharing your experience with sn2, most people that bought it went through same stages in the beginning, based on the comments I have been reading in the past few years. Looks like I am somewhere there currently as far as settling is concerned. Out the box it sounds light in the bass, or it could be just a matter of initial perception and getting used to the power and control of sn2.

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