Superline with Hicap DR etc

I ran my RP10 with a Superline powered by the 552 Aux2 supply for 9 months or so. I was vaguely thinking of looking to add a SCDR but the sheer expense (the PS, the extra Fraim shelf, the £500 Burndy plus the 4 to 5 din that would probably need to be a hiline at that level) for what is not my main source meant that was just not going to happen.

I was chatting to Jason about it while he was fitting my new SL2 tweeters the other week and he recommended adding a Hicap DR to the SL as, in his experience, that combination sounded absolutely superb. Whereas he’d definitely recommend a SCDR to power a SNAXO.

He also mentioned the additional benefit of taking the 552 PS away from the SL and the improvement that can give to the other sources (some have mentioned this previously on here).

With all that in mind I ordered a HCDR from my dealer along with two new Fraim levels so that I could remove the IKEA unit that was housing my NAT01, Superline, RP10/TTPS and switch. This would enable me to move the two stacks about a meter further away from the speakers and use the entire 5m speaker cables length. I was also pleased to make a new kit order as a sort of (indirect) thank you to Jason for so kindly sparing the time to install my new SL2 tweeters.

So how does it all sound in comparison to before? The RP10 sounds beautiful. So delicate, rich and involving. The NDS and the NAT01 also sound different in a good way. Now, clearly there are quite a few factors in play here; Fraim, distance from the speakers, the Hicap and, of course, the new tweeters which are running in.

The whole thing just sounds so right now and is an absolute pleasure to spend time with. A few pictures of the updated set up below:

Thanks to Jason for the recommendation…

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Nice that Jason came round and fitted them ,thats service for you👍

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Many experienced forum members suggest that superline powered by 552 can be more coherent than the hicap option. At some point in the future you can try again the 552 power and see what you think on this option ( all other factors have to be equal)

What I understood is that the OP found a nice uplift in sound powering his Superline with an Hicap dr vs straight from the 552.

I think he found it better with hicap but superline was better placed on fraim, further away from other components, new tweeters for speakers etc

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Yes - lots of variables for sure. I’ve no doubt the SL powered by the 552 is excellent and I may well try it again. However the HicapDR on the SL also sounds sublime and I do think there is a small uplift on the other sources with the 552 taken off Superline duties.

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