I have a Naim Set up on a good rack arranged as follows:-
Bottom Shelf. Power amp with Hi Cap direct on top
2nd Shelf. Pre Amp on its own
3rd Shelf. NDX5 Streamer with Stageline phono stage. Phone was ontop of NDX 5 but created hum so have had to squeeze it onto shelf behind Streamer.
Top Self. Emotion SE turntable.
The power and interconnections run in cable duct at rear of stand.
Have some noise on system still any thoughts anyone please.
Thinking of getting a SuperLine in place of stageline and another Hi Cap. Perhaps also to extra shelves. So all are separate except two HiCaps next to each other.
You should keep mains and signal cables well apart. Putting them all in a cable duct won’t be helping. Set them free. You should also get a separate shelf for the Hicap. Whether the Superline makes sense depends largely on what the rest of the system is. A £2,500 phono stage/PS with a £2,000 turntable seems somewhat unbalanced.
Hi. Thankyou for your advice. I have set them free and it has reduced noise and the base is much better.
I get what you mean but hi fi is a bit of a seesaw. That is what to get next to upgrade. Are you thinking a better turntable would be a better upgrade starting point.
I’m no expert on modern decks so can’t really advise usefully. What I’d do first is sort out the rack so that the Hicap has its own shelf and the Stageline is away from anything with a power supply inside it. I’d suggest you detail what your equipment and stand actually are, which will help anyone trying to advise you.
I would have a think about where you intend to end with this round of upgrades, and get a rack with at least enough shelves to give one to each box. The way you appear to be heading means that you might well be better off with two smaller racks rather than one tall one - I’d say any more than about 6 boxes really needs this.
That looks ok to me, though I’d have the 202 on the second shelf to get it further from the Hicap and 200(?). Try the Stageline next to the turntable and next to the 202 to see which sounds best. I would get hold of a napsc - they are not expensive and will give a good boost to the 202. I wonder if it’s possible to buy an extra shelf and two sets of shorter legs. That would let you separate the Hicap without making the whole thing really tall.
Given the rest of the system I’d say a Superline was a bit too much.
Do you have dedicated mains? If not I’d see if that were possible.
I’d say that a £4k phono stage for a £2k turntable is way over the top. If vinyl is important to you, I’d put a turntable upgrade at the top of your list.
Going from a StageLine to a SuperLine is quite a reach. I would look to third parties for a phonostage upgrade that sits somewhere in between. That seems the most sensible upgrade to me. All my electronics are Naim, except my phonostage (which is roughly comparable to a SuperLine in cost/level).
Now thinking the extra shorter legs for stand to get an extra shelf and also mount turn table above on the wall. Will investigate the addition to the preamp and look at what turn tables are around.
Any thoughts on turntables that work well with Naim.
NAPSC was a great upgrade for my 202 when I had it. You can also leave it on the floor under the sofa as its best as far away as possible from the other kit! I think ai paid about £200!
I can understand getting a superline at this point but run it off the pre, you might lose a bit of detail but you gain in coherence, spend the money for the second hicap on a rack that has enough shelves or better yet one that is expandable like Fraim (lite) or isoblu. A superline doesn’t even like sharing a shelf let alone sitting on another box.
I’m not entirely convinced by this idea that some turntables would work well with Naim, and not others, at least as far as Naim amps are concerned. Still, to put things in perspective, for the price of your turntable and a Superline/Hicap, you could get a Rega RP10/Apheta/Aria with enough cash left over for a new rack.
I agree. One can argue that there is synergy with Naim for certain cartridges and phonostages. The one caveat is if you skimp on the turntable, the better the other gear is the more likely it will be to reveal the shortcomings. For example I would not be inclined to expect a whole lot with a Rega P1 on a SuperCap’d SuperLine into a 552.
