Supernait 3 - Addition of HiCap DR

Indeed and food for thought, I’m still at two boxes, the reason I have an “empty” shelf is that when I ordered it I still had a HiCap to put in it, since then that got traded in with my then ND5 XS2 and was replaced by the NDX2. So at some point it’ll be home to either an XPS or a HiCap.
I guess in my head I was working out how to optimise equipment spacing between those PSU’s and the NAIT and ND. Either taller shelves or putting a fraim lite in the middle as a spacer effectively.
I agree with your observations, first thing my wife said when I added the shelf was where’s the other box that goes in it!

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Hi @Hollow
I fitted them last night and had a low volume session and another today with a bit more volume.
First observation in terms of installation, they seem to have changed the locking nuts so now the top one is a hex shape and the bottom one is a round knurled type. They used to both be round and I could see that being a total pain to adjust and tighten. They supply a good quality spanner for getting it all tightened off anyway which is appreciated. I needed the M8 bolts in my case, it comes with various thread sizes which I’d expect would work in most setups.
I live in an old house and whilst the floors and subfloors have been replaced by me nothing is truly level so things like speakers require a bit of setup to get levelled. That bit wasn’t too bad, getting the logo to face the right way, either towards the front of the speaker or 180 degrees and facing the wall behind the speaker, can be awkward but compared to your typical spikes and nuts they’re easy enough to work with.
Build quality and fit overall is pretty decent at their price point. I had looked at a number of options but felt I didn’t want to spend so much that I was getting into the sort of spend that would be half way to new speakers!
I installed mine one at a time with everything still where it normally would be, in the end I powered down, disconnected and laid the speakers on their sides, a lot easier and I’d suggest do the majority of the setup that way.
Once the Gaia feet are installed they act like a suction pad against the floor so moving them around is a bit more effort than usual, I found it easiest to rest the speaker towards one corner and rotate the speaker to get it where I needed it, you can also put a cloth or tea towel under the feet to stop them sucking to the floor.
Ok so on to what they seem to do to the sound presentation. First word that would spring to mind is holographic, then perhaps 3D. It’s almost like I’d pressed a “surround” button on the remote, if that makes sense.
instrument layering and presentation seems to have improved, there’s a greater sense of layer dimensioning between instruments.
Bottom end has better decay and roll off, it’s a little tighter but nothing major and thankfully it hasn’t made them boomy or bottom heavy which I tend to dislike personally.
The soundstage seems a bit wider and deeper, again relating back to that 3D sensation it seems to create.
With the previous spikes and Linn Skeets setup I found that as I got to higher volumes, up towards 09:30 - 10:00 say, the soundstage would lean towards slight congestion and the top end would narrow in.
That seems to have improved now and it’s holding the soundstage and seperation better.
I’d expect some of these things to be improved upon once a HiCap is added back in.
I’d also add that the SN3 compared to my previous SN2 does seem to do a better job even without a HiCap of keeping things in order in the midrange and especially the upper mids where the SN2 would have a good go but ultimately struggle on occasion. The sort of limitations ultimately resolved
by moving to a Pre/Power configuration, I’d say the changes to the design in the SN3 compared to the SN2 go some way to address those limitations, they don’t go away entirely but it seems to cope better with them now at least.
So concluding initial thoughts, and considering the modest cost in relative terms, I’m happy with what they bring to the system as a whole and would give them a thumbs up. I’ll keep listening and comparing and add any further insight that may be of interest.
:+1:t2:

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I have a ND5 XS2 feeding a Nait XS2 and am quite happy with it. For a variety reasons, I don’t intend to upgrade source, at least in more or less near term (whatever that means these days). I have periodically considered upgrading power supply to the XS2, particularly if I’m able to get HiCap DR second hand. Given your prior experience, I’m curious as to your views as to degree of improvement this would bring. To the extent relevant, speakers are Audio Physics Temp Plus floor standers.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Hi @Gromit1
I certainly used a HiCap on a variety of NAIT’s including the XS2. No question it’s a worthy addition and I’d do it again given the same system.
Typically you can expect adding one to improve control and timing on the bottom end and to open up the soundstage in the mid to upper mids, it’ll make the XS2 feel more at ease and in control and give the soundstage a more relaxed presentation.
I certainly found I enjoyed it more on the XS2 than the XS (original version) where I ended up taking it off in fact as it made it sound a bit restrained and clinical.
I also found it helped improve the SN1 I had around similar time but I never really gelled with the SN1, certainly not in the same way as I did with the SN2 and now SN3.
I’m still running my SN3 without a HiCap but it’s only a matter of time before I add one, however having said that I’m finding it doing a good job without and certainly an improvement on the SN2, albeit with a similar sound between them overall, the SN3 to me has better control over midrange but not quite what you’d expect when adding a HiCap.

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Thanks. Very helpful.

FWIW - I started with a ND5 XS > Nait XS 2 > ProAC D2 and demoed a HiCap DR and concluded that I preferred the sound without. My system, my room, my ears.

Now a few years later with a XPS DR > NDX > SN 2 > Ovator S-400 I demoed the HiCap DR again this past February and this time felt it added to the system. In particular to detail and lower volume level listening.

Once again my system, my room, my ears. A number of members in the past stated they prefer the sound without a HiCap with the SN and do believe it is a personal preference and the update may not be an uplift for everyone.

With that said, adding the XPS DR to my NDX 2 had a tremendous uplift in sound quality and have not read any comments from anyone who did not find that PS upgrade beneficial across the board.

So see if you can arrange for a home demo. Check with a dealer who may allow a home demo. With the shut down, some dealers may be willing to ship, or arrange for an extended demo if you pay up front but return within a designated timeframe and only pay shipping costs.

It never hurts to ask and good luck with your decision and journey.

Thanks, very helpful.

So is there a definitive answer to the question: does the HCDR benefit the SN3 and now much?

It’s challenging for me to give a personal opinion as I traded mine in before I even had a chance to try it on my SN3.
As my SN3 is new and still running in I’m likely to give it a decent 6 month window running without a HiCap and then perhaps add one back in again.
I’m probably more inclined to add an XPS DR to the NDX2 first having said that as the bias of opinion here would suggest it gives the greater improvement.
The purpose of this thread was in line with the choices i’ve made since, namely to replace an ND5 XS2 with a NDX2 and in doing so trade in both the ND5 and HiCap to make the NDX2 seem a bit more affordable. I did the trade in and bought the ex demo NDX2 from the same local Naim dealer.
I would say now the system has been running a while the SN2 and SN3 are quite similar in their presentation and drive but even without a HiCap the SN3 would seem to have a better grip on the mid range and a more cohesive soundstage.
The things a HiCap bring to a SN2 I would expect to apply in a similar fashion to a SN3, the difference being now I have a better source and a path to further improve it, something that wasn’t possible with the ND5. I bought the ND5 new and used it for about 1 year to establish if I liked the new ND streaming platform from a features, usability and performance perspective. Certainly compared to my previous experience owning an ND5 XS, I can say it is a big improvement across those criteria, enough in my case to further invest in it with a move to an NDX2.
I think if it wasn’t for the opportunity to do a good deal on a SN3 I’d be pretty happy with the same path based on a SN2. To me the SN3 is a better integrated than the SN2 but probably not enough to hands down move from a SN2 to a SN3.
I would say that improving the source to the sacrifice of the HiCap was the right order to do things in, I’d still say a bare NDX2 and either a SN2 or SN3 is a better balanced system than the same NAIT with a HiCap and a ND5 XS2. I mostly enjoyed the ND5 but I did find myself all to often finding its limitations, it works well enough with a Supernait but I’d expect it probably is more comfortable and confident paired with a NAIT XS 2 or 3.
Hope that helps provide some insight, raise a hand if any other aspects are of interest and warrant discussion.

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@Mr.M Do you think HiCap DR might help opening the vocals/midrange of SN2?

I would expect it to be a worthwhile addition to a SN2 based system. I can only speak for my own system and ears but certainly when I added my HiCap to my SN2 i found it gave better grip and timing to the bottom end and help improve the congestion in the mids to upper mids and gave some improvement to the soundstage. I’d add to this that if your longer term plan is to stick with a NAIT based setup it’s worth including a HiCap in your plans as it will help to get the most from the integrated design.
I’ve found that some of my personal niggles with the SN2 are improved upon with the SN3, namely instrument layering and dimensionality and some improvement in congestion in the midrange, it’s worth noting I’m still not using a HiCap!
The conclusion here is that any integrated amplifier design can be pretty good and the SN2 is a good example of that, but can only really be improved upon further by a move to a NAC/NAP type system, I’m ok with that and have learned to live with what it can do as a system, I’d certainly say tweaks elsewhere have made a big improvement to my enjoyment of the system in particular moving to the NDX2, the ND5 was just another bottleneck in that sense.
I also fitted IsoAcoustics Gaia III feet to my speakers a few days ago and they’ve exceeded my expectations, they do things to the soundstage and imaging you’d not think possible from 4 metal discs between the floor and speakers.

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@Mr.M Thank you! For the near future I plan to keep my NAIT because I also plan to buy a PSU for my nDAC and probably at some point upgrade my Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 streamer with NDX/NDX2 so I have a long way to go. Probably at some point I will go to a NAC/NAP system but what is good is that the HiCap can be reused for the preamp. As a whole the Naim PSUs have good reusability options across different components and seem like a good investment. I’m not sure if a congestion is what I also sometimes notice but in my setup sometimes I feel the vocals have a bit hard time to come out of the speakers and are not very effortless. This is my main point that I hope to improve after my upgrades.

A number of additional factors apply here of course.
Speaker cables, speaker make/model, speaker type, speaker positioning, room dimensions.
The source does matter and system matching is something to bare in mind. I also found this when experimenting with different Naim CD players and power supplies on them.
I’d certainly agree that the HiCap is a really flexible and effective addition to multiple devices. I used mine on a variety of equipment including a NAIT XS, XS2, SN1, SN2, NAC202 and even a CD5 XS!
I’d say apart from the NAIT XS (original version) and other things lacking (to my mind) with the SN1 that the HiCap didn’t fully address, it made meaningful improvements to everything else I used it on.
I miss it the least in my current system but both the Source and NAIT are new and lots of other things have been changed including a move to full Fraim for example.
Do factor in your source in your overall plan and do experiment elsewhere in the system with cabling, equipment layout, speaker positioning and so forth.
I also invested in a dedicated mains spur some years back and that alone is worth doing regardless of what you plug in to it.

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I’ve been waiting for some thoughts about the addition of a HiCapDR to a Supernait 3, but seems this combination is too new. My dealer has come to the rescue. In a few weeks I’ll have one to try myself. I’ll pass on my experiences.

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Sure to be good. I took a slight detour to an NDX2 as you may already know from further up the thread.
I’d also add that the addition of the Gaia feet to my speakers made quite a difference and I’ve been impressed with those.
I’d also add I think the SN3 standalone is a very good integrated and mine is settling in nicely now.
Do post your thoughts and findings of course and always of interest, either here or on another thread. My journey continues, I’m re-ripping 100’s of CD’s currently, as you do…

I have SN3. I connected old HiCAP to it and noticed a nice improvement in sound.
My original question was if I replace the old HiCAP by HiCAP DR, will I notice further improvement.

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I do vaguely recall your question @haimsh
I’d be inclined to say it should be an improvement and a general rule of thumb is not to mix and match DR and non DR components, your SN3 does have 24v DR on the Preamp stage so adding in a Non DR HiCap would I imagine have the potential to add noise and colouration.
I don’t have an absolute scientific answer to give you here but my instincts tell me a HiCap DR is going to be a better match and provide more cohesive system balance overall than a Non DR HiCap.
You can if you wish have your existing HiCap serviced and DR’d at the same time, likely to be cheaper then getting rid of it and replacing it with a newer unit that was built DR from new at least.

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I am still waiting to receive my HiCap DR to try with my Supernait 3. I will report back, but it seems that Naim are pretty busy these days and I still have no idea when it will arrive. My SN3 is now five months old, so I assume it’s reached its peak from new, so really interested to hear how the HiCap improves things. If it does. I’ll report back, but not sure when that will be :wink:

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Good luck!
I got rid of mine and the ND5 XS2 and now have just the SN3 + NDX2, all good for now, a 555PS for the NDX2 in the longer term planning.

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Looking forward to hearing what you think; tempted to try the same soon. I’m very happy with my switch to NDX2 and SN3 - no regrets there.

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