Interesting experience with the HiCap. Luckily my speakers are a very benign load, so the Supernait 3 is easily up to the task, but based on my experience with a new HiCap I can certainly understand why some didn’t like the more precise approach a HiCap seems to bring. Dealers says the HiCap will allow a lot more of the source to come through. Let’s see.
That’s strange. You should be hearing quite a marked improvement. Have you sited the HiCap away from any sensitive components and made sure all your connecting cables a firmly home?
All the cables are tight and the HiCap is well away from all the other components. I possibly just set my expectations too high. I’ll leave it another week or so. I suspect when I take it out, it’ll highlight the improvement.
^^Quite possibly this.
When I added a HC DR to my SN2, I distinctly remember how obvious, to my ears, an upgrade it really was. After time it sort of dissipated and I wondered if it were imagined like so many things in audio (second-guessing and all). I took it out and listened bare and I quickly came to the conclusion that I, personally, would not live without the HC DR so long as I owned the amp (or any other future Naim amp that allows a HC DR). To me, it just makes everything more coherent; recordings presented with such ease; instruments so easily separated in the soundstage, even on complex passages in rock or orchestral…and bass really tightened up, with basslines easy to follow. Plus, all bass didn’t sound the same from recording-to-recording, if that makes sense. I’m likely not properly describing what a HC DR truly brings to the table on a SN2 (and likely a ‘3’), but if I had to choose a word, it would be effortless. I think you wouldn’t know what you had until it was gone should you ever decide to move it on (not that you’re thinking that).
I still haven’t added one to my SN3.
I bought a Linn Kilmax DSM for a 5.1 setup first.
Next on the list is a 555PS for the NDX2.
Nice, happy days at M’s.
Occasionally I actually get to sit and listen to it!
I sent that comment earlier about adding a HiCap in haste, the purpose of it being I setup this thread originally as at that time I was still using a SN2 + HiCap DR and was on the cusp of a move to a SN3.
The last phase of my system tinkering led me rapidly in a different direction as is often the case, the planets aligned around a specific path which made budget sense at that time, a Naim discount on accessories which took me towards a Fraim to replace my cherished Isoblue rack, which has now gone to a new home and new journey in South Yorkshire, as well as having a Naim dealer that I’ve bought from for about 13 years that knows me well and also knows what makes sense from a system evolution perspective, both your best friend and your bank managers worst enemy in that sense…
That meant I had a chance to liquidate assets I was accumulating including my NAIT XS2 which was on front channel duty in my then 5.1 system having been replaced by the SN2 some time before that as well as my ND5 XS2 and HiCap DR.
So a NAIT XS2 + SN2 became a SN3 and a Fraim then was quickly followed by my ND5 XS2 + HiCap DR becoming an NDX2.
I’d actually ordered the Fraim to accommodate the HiCap DR then lockdown kicked in and I found myself short of a Fraim level and with a chance to acquire the NDX2, fate led me that way clearly it would seem.
The “missing” Fraim level eventually appeared and I then set things up with an empty Fraim level between the SN3 and NDX2 which is how it stands today.
In parallel I started thinking about the room and speaker positioning and took a leap of blind faith adding in some IsoAcoustics Gaia III feet on my PMC OB1i floor standers.
I did some cleanup and re-terminated my well used NAC A5 runs and having done all that, basically replacing most of the system, including having a failed Hi-Line IC that my dealer kindly swapped with a new one (Naim was still on lock down then).
I think having made substantial changes including the Fraim rack, NAC A5 rework, IC swap and speaker/room treatment it left me still with doubts if I truly needed to add a HiCap DR to improve system performance and resolution.
This then led me to evaluate the broader context of system synergy and look towards adding a 555PS to the NDX2 with a potential longer term option to swap in a ND555 eventually.
@Monkey_Jim has been an invaluable contributor here in so much as he’s gone up the ladder and shuffled his way back down again and found a happy space roughly where my thought process has partially led me to date.
I expect if I were to add a PSU to the SN3 it would be a SuperCap DR with a mind at some point to dabble in a NAC/NAP path and at that point source a used NAP 250 and trade in the SN3 against a new NAC 252, that being an interim step towards a swap out of the NDX2 for an ND555.
Even if over a period of many years I don’t end up at that point, I can still build from the new Fraim I have now and have a source evolution path that will perform well at the interim stages, namely having a SN3 + NDX2 + 555PS, hence my current focus in that direction.
Having said all that, the HiCap is a relatively cost effective addition to a SN2/3 based setup, I used the one I had on many different configurations including a CD5 XS, NAIT XS, NAIT XS2 and SN2, I felt at those stages in the system journey it was a meaningful and worthwhile addition and I’d still stick by that.
I’d say in my case and where I find myself today and where I can see the system evolving towards over the next few years it’s something I can live without comfortably. I enjoyed and valued the SN2 + HiCap DR system a lot, it felt like the right place to end up given what came before it, NAIT 3R, NAIT 5, NAIT XS then SN1, then NAIT XS2 followed by SN2.
I’ve really enjoyed the SN3 and my instincts tell me that unless I make a major leap up to at least a NAC 252 + SuperCap DR + NAP 250 DR I’m not going to end up making gains significant enough to my ears to offset the financial penalties.
I’d also expect by the time I’d taken a system to that point I’d have imbalance elsewhere, primarily the speakers and to an extent the listening environment itself.
Hope that helps, that’s the longer version answer anyway!
The crux of the system cross roads dilemma. You reach a point that is really quite good and a significant improvement comes at a significant cost and you run of risk of needing new speakers, then does it all hang together in the room…
My expectation would be if what I have became a NAC/NAP system based around 252/250/SC DR I’d be looking at spending probably North of £10k on speakers and additionally new cabling to have it working at its best.
It’s why I can’t see a reason not to add the 555PS to the source as regardless of what it feeds it’s going to provide additional enjoyment to what I hear.
A choice between a HiCap and a SuperCap DR is a tougher call ultimately, cost to one side, a SC DR is a more capable supply but is not really designed with the SN3 in mind whereas a HiCap DR is the right partner ultimately.
Having now built a new system the intention is to bed that all in, give it a solid year of listening and evolve it as time and funds allow. I’ve got a 555PS pencilled in that I can get if funds allow in the coming months but other priorities may dictate it’s not the right time, I can add that at a time it makes sense financially and live with a system today I’m finding more than capable and engaging reassuringly.
I took a side track to evolving my seperate 5.1 system and that became the short term priority, it benefits my family and helps me declutter my AV room and modernise the setup.
I looked at multiple options including the Uniti Atom, Nova and a selection of AV integrated amps and AV processors as well.
I ended up with the Linn Selekt DSM as it gave the best balance between price and features overall.
It has modularity that allows for adding amps/speaker outputs, pre amp outputs, HDMI inputs, DAC options, AV processor board and has the Linn Exakt system to support an LP12 or active speaker arrangement if my path leads in that direction, it’s something I can grow in to over time with managed costs and end up with a high end solution that does a lot of things in one box.
I managed to get it for less than the cost of a Nova or decent AV amp knowing it was a solid foundation for a longer term system evolution.
In that sense the 555PS got sidelined as my Naim 2 channel system is performing well enough for me today as a 2 box setup to not worry about what it lacks.
I’d like a new 4K projector as well so that may push the 555PS down the queue again!
Always intereresting to hear of others journeys in parallel including those who have used a HiCap across multiple system and to hear what they feel it brings to the mix in their setups, it’s one component amongst many of course and considering the system as a whole from AC Mains to speakers should always be factored in as options are added and priorities made.
Same as me. The HiCap DR has been very rewarding on my SN3, especially since adding a EE 8Switch. I can’t imagine being without it now.
That’s interesting - just shows that my SL2s are a good buy as they are perfectly happy at the end of 552 and active 300drs! And also explains why to get a significant improvement I would/will have to spend a lot
That’s a wet finger in the air assessement of course, I could likely get good fun from my PMC’s but would always be left with a desire to fiddle about with speaker options!
These are all of course problems I don’t have nor will likely have any time soon.
I was happy with my system before the HiCap and when I look back to my post when the HiCap arrived, there was a considerable uplift. So I definitely won’t be sending it back, but I was still hoping for more as it bedded in. Just being too greedy I suppose. @jsawyer09 sums it up beautifully above.
I think I’ve reached my limit now. I know the pre and power amps will add better sound objectively, but as this little upgrade has shown, upgrading the equipment doesn’t necessarily mean you enjoy your music much more. Finding that right level is probably what this hobby is about. And that’s obviously a very personal thing
I had a hi fi friend around yesterday for him to listen to my systems for the first time and we had this exact discussion. The systems sound very good, yes you can objectively get more refinement and slam, and at some point would need bigger speakers to match. But it’s very much a point of diminishing returns for investment versus improved SQ.
Well said…really well said.
and John- may I ask how do you find the Zen works with your system- I am debating the Zen or Core at present thanks Martin
I’m very happy with the Zen. SQ is good and so is the software.
Innuos products are well thought out and easy to integrate with NDX2.
many thanks - good to know