Yes standard lavender Naim Din cable
you are not getting your moneyās worth like this.
You absolutely have to plug the SN3 and ND5XS2 directly into the wall or a high quality mains extension.
the usual one is the wireworld matrix or the newer ones from titan
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Any recommendation which model? I saw the Titan has mechanical surge protection (instead of electrical). Is this, along with filtering, something to avoid?
If both are avoided then what remains for a power block to do that justifies the price?
Wireworld Matrix 2 block with their Stratus 7 cable would get you going for about Ā£200ā¦
Or, the Matrix block for Ā£128 and a Chord Shawline power cable. Thereās an audio retailer who often has Chord Shawline for Ā£150 on eBay with the original carry bag etc. If you offer Ā£140 heās like to acceptā¦ from my experience! Should keep it within your price range.
Editā¦ just search for āchord shawline power cableā, heās got some more now. They have a retail shop as well, not some iffy website trader.
If you were using the same mains block with your XS3 before, then changing it will not turn your SN3 into the punchy fast sound you liked before.
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True. It will tighten the bass, lower noise floor which will help bring out detail and improve imaging a bit as well. The only way to bring back the sound of the XS3 is to bring back the XS3.
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Good point. I think I might give it four more weeks to burn in with continuous playing and then decide which one Iāll keep.
Maybe borrowing an nDAC will help to explore whether a source upgrade does the trick. Will have to check the possibilities for that though as the nDAC is not so widely available anymore.
Personally, I would persist for a while yet. I had the SN2 for 5 years I found it to be a really good amp. The SN3 will have a different character to the XS3 etc but with the addition of an nDac and maybe a HiCap etc in the future, it will make for a very engaging system. I still feel a HiLine, if you can pick up a pre loved one, is a very good upgrade. But, give the system plenty of time to settle before either changing or, adding to it.
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I think 5 months is long enough to determine anything in Hifi, in fact 1 month is. Things do not all of a sudden change after 10 months, what changes is ones acceptance of the sound.
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Trueā¦ for some reason I thought it was only 2 months old.
Completely agree with that. Burn in is more often in the head than in the equipement. Also when i am tired i perceive the sound completely differently, so my state of mind is actually more relevant than any slight change in equipement, so it seems.
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Contemplating a withchat source DIN cable as I have read many good things about that compared to a hi line
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It is 2 months old
Ahā¦ thought I seen that. If it had been 5 months I would say it is what it is if itās been used a lot.
Even at 2 months, if itās been running a lot / non stop on a burn in process, Iām not sure if it will change massively from now.
Shame you couldnāt lay your hands on a well run in SN3 to demo at home to see if there is any difference.
Experienced same going from SN2 to SN3. SN3 is much more lean and gentle and less punch/power. Any of the suggestions in this thread is deemed to fail since it is simply how it sounds. I personally would buy SN2 over SN3 if I would chose between them again. A matter of taste.
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I think that might be exactly what I am missing in the SN3
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Itās a bit same going from 250DR to 300DR IMO. I think that is how Naim defines sound in climbing up the latter within a category (integrateds, amps etc) of their products going from more power, omph and foot tapping which maybe fit smaller speakers more well to more balanced, relaxed and āgrown upā in their more expensive models within its category when users normally have bigger speakers. Just a theory. I believe thats how people define going from 282 to 252 too. That is how itās been moving up the latter with 5i, XS2, SN2, SN3, 250DR, 300DR for me at least. More and more refined, less and less āfunā if fun is bass, PRAT and a feeling of power in the music.
And to add to that. Many will suggest there is something wrong with your system since you donāt like the latest release. Donāt believe in that. Trust your ears and go with the direction you find sound the best and you will in the end become more satisfied. Itās more often about your taste, room, speakers and the balance of it all rather than a cord not being placed at the right angleā¦
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Whatās the power cable ?
I havenāt been following this thread super closely, but noticed a mention of using the same cables as the XS3.
Could be that the bigger amp needs a bigger kick up the behind.
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the better Naim equipment will expose weakness in the setup
Here clearly, OP has not plugged into the wall and uses a cheap mains strip AND does not use Naim speaker cable !
he of course will not getting his moneyās worth and hence this thread.
I donāt buy the ānait XSā was using the same strip theory. He didnāt get his moneyās worth with the Nait Xs either using a cheap mains extension.
Iāve owned the Nait XS1 and yes it is an infectious amp, but has bandwidth limitations which is why it sounded so fast ā¦ the bigger Naim amps are just as fast, but as there is more in the frequency extremes, there needs to more more care to the setup.
Also you really should try a properly soldered (with Naim plugs at the amp end) NACA5 cable to hear if that will bring you closer to what youāre looking to hear.
I recall a while ago a Superuniti owner had written he was not happy for many years - I suggested him to plug into the wall and he answered yes now finally he got his moneyās worth.
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Thatās always the cure in here when you donāt like a the sound of something. Buy more more more and more. And what you will end up with that is an empty wallet and forget about music and focus on diameters on cords, if a cable is 1 or 1.5m, if the wind is from the east and not west, if the humidity is to high, if a cable is pink and not black, if a cable touch the wall or not and so it continues. Sometimes itās not more complicated than that a specific product is not matching your taste, room and speakers and need to be changed. Respect that.
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