Source First or System Synergy?

It is science actually.

Fair enough, but I think it will take some time before my whole collection will be at risk. Still seems a flimsy reason to abandon cd for streaming, but each to their own and I realise streaming is a boon to many.

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Hi All,

Thanks so much for your further replies; I really appreciate it! :smile:

I spent some time with my dealer on Friday, which was really helpful, and I placed an order for an NDX2! I think this is the right choice for me, and gives me plenty of scope to upgrade the rest of the system in future and plenty to enjoy in the meantime. I can’t wait for the new streamer to arrive so I can start running it in!

I tried various speakers before realising that the issue was with the room itself. It’s not ideal, but I appreciate having a separate space to listen to music without disturbing everyone else, and it doesn’t stop me enjoying the system; there’s so much else that it does right that I’ve learned to live with it and it still gets my feet tapping.

Have you ever tried isolation feet? If so, did they make any significant improvement?

I’m intrigued by what Linn are doing with their active speaker systems and will be interesting to see how the technology develops.

Thanks @Richieroo! I spent a lot of time experimenting with speaker positioning a few years ago to try and get the best possible results. It was a time consuming process, as I was adjusting the speaker position in ever smaller increments and moving furniture around, but was quite instructive too. Firing across the room made everything sound congested and unpleasant, so the speakers went back to firing down the room. I ended up putting them 20cm from the wall, but I might retest once I get used to the sound of the NDX2 with everything in the current position.

That sound like an interesting project! I’m not that familiar with crossover circuits, but I’m always happy to learn and expand my horizons! I’ll see if I can find further information online.

This certainly matches my experience. I’ve never tried any kind of room treatments, and I wonder if this is something I should consider. I’ve always assumed that because I can’t do anything about the floor, I’m just stuck with the situation, but perhaps there’s other things to try.

Yes, I couldn’t help but come to the same conclusion. It felt like I’d always be wondering about the next upgrade if I’d gone for the 5XS at this stage. Mind you, I’m sure I’ll be thinking about power supplies soon enough… :smile:

Again, thanks everyone! I’ll let you know how I get on once the NDX2 has arrived and been installed.

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Thanks @LindsayM! Yes, I think that’s where I’ll be heading eventually. :smile:

You said on another thread that you ventured down the twin supply route.

Did that mean getting a second electricity Supply to your house?

Absolutely yes! The challenge is what and how, needed and acceptable. This thread is great especially in thethe early days.

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The last time I heard of CD-rot was in the early 90s and it was due to bad manufacturing quality control. And it showed up pretty quickly.

I dont remember the cause, maybe some scrooge mixed water in the chemicals to lower manufacturing cost ….

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CDs or CD Players, no evidence to suggest CDs themselves from 80s and 90s are failing? The volume of new CD players still being produced suggests to me that this formats going nowhere any time soon. I am not convinced that streaming sounds better, I can however absolutely understand the argument for ripping a CD and then streaming, this in theory should sound the same or better. Much like vinyl lovers, I need a physical format and enjoy the whole ritual of this, picking an album by looking through CDs and deciding what to listen to. If I streamed, pretty sure I would not listen through an album and would not necessarily just choose an album at random. I appreciate the whole recommendations things that streaming brings but I have such a varied collection and I am now approaching a time where I have what I need and now just listen according to mood. As always, individual choice, just seem to repeatedly see an argument to stream!

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Yes I agree, I know I have just converted to streaming (took advantage of Naim’s trade in scheme) and am enjoying, but it has always seemed to me that as soon as someone asks for advice on a new CDP the streaming enthusiasts jump in.

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Whereas I seem to repeatedly see an argument in favour of CDs or vinyl. But as you say, it’s all down to personal preferences. It would be good if everyone could accept that so we could avoid any more threads descending into a streaming vs physical media debate, but I’m not hopeful.

Roger

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:rofl: no I meant twin 555psdr to supply the ND555… I have not fully upgraded my mains supply to hifi…I hope to do this maybe next year…by installing a 10mm radial to a dedicated socket together with 16mm earth…this should be a very nice upgrade over the existing house ring main…

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Oh yes, silly me.

I’ve done the exact radial that you describe above and it worked nicely.

Cheers Jim

Nice to hear…yeah it should be good. Have you used armoured shielded cable…or twin and earth…???

We went over to 100% streaming about two years ago, selling the LP12 and CD5 XS.

We listen to music all day and for background listening we play Jazz24 radio from Seattle. For what we would call a dedicated listening session, we use Qobuz and I must admit that we treat it the same, as if we were listening to a record or CD and always listen to the album in its entirety.

We do have a playlist of individual tracks, which we only use as a Test Playlist, if we want to try out a new bit of kit or cable.

One benefit, we have found is that as Jazz is our main music, if we hear a track on Jazz24 that we like it gives us an opportunity to explore that particular artiste. Consequently, we are listening to a wider breadth of Jazz since we got the streamer.

Previously, I was buying four or five records a month, but was finding that the quality of them was often very poor and, had to go through the rigmarole of exchanging them.

However, back to the OPs main question, I believe that the source is the most important element.

But the main thing at the end of the day, is to enjoy our hobby of listening to music and playing around with Hi-Fi.

DG…

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I used two different types of cable - one Lapp and one Belden - details are on the thread below:

Fortunately, Naim enthusiasts have the perfect cd transport in the form of the Uniti Core which complements the Naim streamers perfectly giving you the best of both worlds (sort of).

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Do many people use the core as a CD player into their Naim streamer?

It’s a nice idea, although I rarely see it mentioned here.

How is the sound quality compared to a dedicated Naim CD player?

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Ok, so it’s not strictly a cd transport , hence the sort of comment, but it allows a cd like experience along with a Naim streamer, either in a network use or via a BNC into the Naim streamer’s DAC.

In theory better because it extracts a bit-perfect copy, so it depends on the DAC played through.

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Thanks @Innocent_Bystander! I’ll have a look through that thread and see what my options might be. :smile: