Superline Hot Swappable Cap Plugs?

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Hi, I’ve just plugged in Superline today and I tried to find info but without success, so here’s the question. Are capacitance plugs hot swappable or I need to unplug the snaic (switch off the preamp) to replace it?

I would like to experiment a bit, but not sure about the steps.

Thanks.
Aleks

2
1 Like
3

But never do without either muting, selecting a different input, turning volume control to zero or turning off the power amp - to swap with it connected live to the speakers risks speaker damage.

3 Likes
4

I swap plugs on the loading and cap sockets of my Superline all the time. I just hit mute on the preamp when I do. I have two Z-Plugs (453R and 470R) and use both the load and cap ports to combine them sometime for different values (something like 470R + 453R → 225R).

You do not need to turn off power and/or remove cables to swap out load/cap DIN plugs. Just mute or change the input.

TBH: I have changed load/cap plugs with muting and it never made any noise anyway. I just mute normally out of an abundance of caution.

2 Likes
5

Never had noise through speakers from swapping loading plugs, all I do is lift the stylus.
If the superline’s in the middle of the Fraim shelf getting the plug out of the cap socket can be a bugger, you can’t get a thumb on it and two fingers don’t have much grip so it takes a lot of wiggling.

1 Like
6

Just be careful if you haven’t done up the SNAIC collar as the plugs can be a bit tricky to remove and replace thanks to fitting quite tightly and the movement of the sprung mass-loaded main board, which might dislodge the SNAIC, so best to mute or switch to a different input while you do it.

2 Likes
7

Thanks guys, appreciate the tips. Back to experimenting then.

8

Is there some internal R value to be added (by the reciprocal formula) too, if not, those plug in R values look quite eccentric!

9

This was posted on the old forum by @110dB. I don’t have the link. I just copied the relevant text.

The values 453R and 470R are just what I happen to have from over the years when I had one Z-Plug made for a Dynavector and another made for a Lyra.

If you plug in two resistive load plugs simultaneously to two values combine to give a new value.
Load plug combinations:

1k and 500R = 333R
1k and 220R = 180R
1k and 100R = 91R
500R and 220R = 153R
500R and 100R = 83R
220R and 100R = 68R

Note:

  • 1k and 500R is the same as 500R and 1k etc
  • Obviously there will be no space left for capacitor load plugs.
  • Here’s the math, 500R and 220R = 1/(1/500)+(1/220) = 153R
1 Like
10

Ah the eccentricity of the UK…achieve your desired R by running values in parallel!

11

It actually serves a decent purpose for me. With my Lyra Atlas and Dynvector XV-1s I mostly run them with their single plug values, but for some classical music that is recorded too hot/bright and sounds edgy (i.e. 70s/80s DGs), adding the second plug to increase loading helps.

On the Boulder I plan to get as a replacement, I will use 225R for the Lyra and DV, and 100R for the Lyra mono, and that is suitable for just about everything, and I can change to 100R for those problem classical recordings.

12

Here’s the link

https://forums.naimaudio.com/topic.php?p=2&oid=1566878606593783&coid=159503632588890

I discovered recently that the link to the superline loading thread above is also in this version of the forum’s FAQ

1 Like