How about these?
Take up the dealer’s offer to swap to the sn3 and just pay the retail difference ie no loss on the value of the xs3. If you skip this offer you will only get back a % of the xs3 value. Whatever you do, you’ll hanker after a better amp at some point!
Remove and sell the non Naim psu. Use the £ towards naca5.
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Hi,
ND5 XS 2 with a NAIT XS 3 should be a very sweet sounding combo indeed. I would definitely have some NAC A5 cables made up by a competent dealer, this should bring huge rewards if done properly, so use your Naim dealer to make them up for you. There is more to it than just soldering the wires on willy nilly. Before my SN3 purchase i was running a NAIT XS 2 with my current streamer and they were an excellent sounding combo. Either way, you’re in for a real treat. Use the supplied interconnect lead that came with your streamer. Try using your XS 3 without the third party PSU also. I’d be very wary using anything other than a Naim PSU to be honest.
ATB
Stephen
Thanks @robert_h - indeed, he said to pay the difference which to be honest, is a great deal and I’m going to firm everything up in the morning.
This thread had been a great help (and a pain, in a good way!) I’ve been looking at DACS, Phantom Cables and the NACA5s, various interconnects and everything in between. Ultimately, I’m heading towards the SN3/NDX2 combo, with corresponding PSU.
Funnily enough though, I was listening to Craig Charles on 6 yesterday evening and was grinning from ear to ear (earlier in the day I’d also played around with my speakers) which then caused my wife to question this upgrade - I then started thinking about adding a dac - which one, was getting in to a right old pickle with it!
Mind made up, grab the the SN3 and at the same time, also treat myself to some new speaker cable, but which ones??
Thanks again everyone - even though its not the biggest system here, I really appreciate everyones input 
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I doubt very much you’ll regret the SN3. It is a beast of an amplifier. I’d rig it up with Naim’s SA8 right angled plugs onto some NAC A5 cable with matched plated Deltron plugs at the speaker end! 
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Quick question re the NAC A5, due to space, my speakers are about 1.5m from my XS3 - if I go ahead and order and you mention min 5m upthread, this is going to be coiled up behind my system and speakers, it’ll look awful (and the Wife will certainly have a view on it).
I’ve seen other suggestions re the length being min 3.5m (even this would be coiled up) - do I really need either of those lengths?
Hi,
I’m sure 3.5m will be fine and it was when i used to it at that length for many years, albeit on older Naim kit. Some say 5m is a sweet spot. I now use 8m but to be honest and i can’t say if it’s that much different, perhaps a little smoother and at ease. The main thing is to have the cables made up correctly by someone who has good experience with NA5 A5. Really good soldering and termination skills so the cable can be plugged in without any stress on the sockets and with a good surface to pin connection. With minimum insertion loss on both pins in the plug.
There are pics of naca5 neatly coiled under the rack…look up the system pics thread
I use 3.5 meters
Thanks Stephen, I’ve seen your comments (on one of the other threads) re soldering, it’s good to know this.
One concern I have, is around the cable being very stiff and fitting SA8 right angled plugs on to the cable - having looked, I’m not sure there’s enough room, as in the gap between the speaker outputs to the shelf my amp sits on, its about an inch and given the stiffness, I’m worried about putting undue pressure on the amp terminals?
I owe you a glass of wine or two for these questions of mine!
Thanks @anon93526344 - I’ll have a look through.
I wouldn’t worry too much as the sockets are very robust and as long as the cable hangs down freely without it being twisted in any way then all will be fine. You want to try and make sure that the plugs/pins fit in straight and smooth so they are not digging in at an angle in the sockets from undue stress applied on the plug itself. This is one of the reasons why they need to be terminated properly. The pins themselves should have a little play in them and not touching the cap that is screwed onto the plug itself. Hope that helps.
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Have the cables made up so the cable goes upwards from the back of the amp, that would avoid the clearance of the shelf.
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Here is how to neatly arrange naca5
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Just coming back with an update - the SN3 has been paid for and 'm picking it up this coming Friday, I cannot wait - I’m really looking forward to listening to this over the coming weekend.
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You won’t regret it, it’s a wonderful combo!
Like other suggested, get some Naca5 and some decent power cables and enjoy the music.
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Also run it bare, ie don’t attach that psu. If and when funds allow, add a hicap.
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How big is your room ?
The Vienna Bach are little floorstanders and relatively easy to drive. So if your room is less than 16 m2, the xs2 is enough for them.
Adding a Naim dac on your nd5xs2 would uplift your source very clearly, for less than 1k. Two members did it recently.
If your room is big enough, more than 20 m2, the SN3 would be a good choice too.
Good choice and sure to be an enjoyable process. Assuming it’s a new one allow a little time for it to settle in and allow yourself time to adjust to its sound presentation. You’ll likely find that the volume is somewhat keener than on the XS and up beyond 09:00 and towards 10:00 it’ll get loud easily, beyond that unless you have a big listening room you’ll find it probably too much for any length of time. Just go easy on the volume initially anyway, I listen to mine down around 08:00 on average.
Over an extended period of time you may well find your ND5 XS2 feeling a little more strained on the mids and upper mids than it was with the XS, they work well together overall but you may find the SN3 exposes the source constraints somewhat more than your XS ever could.
I’d certainly say give it time, let it settle and work out where you can or want to take it later down the line. If you wanted an evolution plan I’d focus on the source personally before adding any refinements that adding a PSU may offer. I ran an ND5 XS2 for about a year and then replaced it with an NDX2 and I’ve found that was a more cohesive and balanced pairing. I’m running that as a 2 box system with a SN3 and I’m finding it very capable whilst still allowing for refinements later on, likely with a further focus on optimising the source first with a 555PS on the NDX2.
I owned an XS and XS2 and enjoyed them a lot but you’re in for a treat moving to the SN3 which will give you a lot more composure and control and a solid foundation for later source improvements.
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Congratulations and look forward to your comments once you have it up and running!
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Nice one, it’s a fantastic amp, you will have lots of fun!
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Thanks @Mr.M some great comments and observations. I rarely go about ‘9 o’Clock’ on the sound, my room is a little too small. I must say the step up in sound is just incredible, the XS3 was a massive step from what I’ve had previously and the SN3 is more than I’ve ever had - even my wife noticed the difference. At the moment, everything is standard - I’m gong to sit back and enjoy!
Thanks everyone.
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I’ve owned all the Supernaits and loved the SN2 and ran it for some time. I’d say the SN3 brings everything I’d grown to like about the SN2 and makes it better without making the SN3 sound presentation deviate too far from what made the SN2 such a good integrated amplifier.
As you settle in to your new system you’ll begin to appreciate the improved refinements, control and grip especially on the bottom end and with improved seperation and dimensionality.
It’s not the last word in refinement but it does give you a taste of the abilities of the NAC/NAP range and an entry point to that sort of system.
Having said that I’m feeling now that it has potential to be a low complexity end game system when balanced with the right source.
I’d say it’s the first NAIT I’ve owned (there’s been quite a few) that hadn’t left me needing to add a Preamp PSU like a HiCap DR to make it feel complete. Naim have done a great job in my opinion of really taking a lesson learned approach and adding refinements to the SN3 as a revision to the SN2 that make it a truly great one box integrated that continues to impress and excite and is capable of truly magical music reproduction that doesn’t fall far short of what comes above it in the range 282/200 or 250 at least, beyond that greater things await but at a significant uplift in cost and setup complexity.
I’d like to think a truly great end game system could be had from a SN3 + NDX2 + 555PS, which I’m hoping will keep me happy for a while anyway!
Do update as you settle it in and welcome to the SN3 gang officially
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