I read somewhere on this forum that a SN consumes ~0.4amps at the most where a 1mm2 cable can manage 10A. I’m sure it will get what it needs to perform as it was intended. My own experience with the SN3 having compared it to SN1/SN2 and 272/250DR is that it has a sound signature that is not muscles and power that no cable or other solutions will change. If you don’t like that sound I would recommend getting something else. My test was with Harbeth 5s , 86dB, 6ohms.
Toonartist,
base your experience, do you suggest the Stratus 7 between the wall and the Matrix II in a partial Naim system?
Thanks,
David
frenchrooster
"I’m starting to doubt too if the unit is OK."
I think you’re on to something! You either don’t like the SN3 or there’s a problem with it. Either way, it’s back to the dealer to figure out what’s going on. No amount of faffing around is going to make a direct swap-in replacement for your XS3 sound better.
What are the news HNC? You sent it back, or kept it, or it sounds better now?
Reading this thread 
for the first time , I wondered when someone was going to say that?
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A Stratus 7 between the wall and the Matrix II is a good starting point. I done this when dipping my toes into power leads for the first time and it did make a difference. At the moment, I now have Chord Shawlines and moved the Stratus 7 to the Cisco switch.
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Hi,
I haven’t so much experience with hifi than many of the contributors and I haven’t tested the XS3 and the SN 3. My modest experience with Naim’s products was Uniti Atom than Uniti Nova, I just want to share a general observation.
Going from Uniti Atom to Uniti Nova was an upgrade, that suits my taste but I can easily imagine plugged with some speakers someone could prefer the sound signature of the Unit Atom. Nova has more bass, more textures and brings more melted and organic sounds and the Atom provides more “violent” attacks, and the impression, even if it’s less powerful, that it’s more punchier. What I try to say is that investing more money in a system doesn’t seems to provide, every time, an improvement in all fields. Sometime we loose something and got something else. And It’s a very personal matter.
Perhaps you just prefer the XS3 and it’s ok, the most important thing is to get the right sound for you and not the supposedly best gear. You can try, for a moment, to forget the system and see if your ears accommodate to the SN3 and if it doesn’t happen switch back to XS3 and enjoy the sound you like and the economy you made.
Best regards
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I am facing a similar conundrum going from XS2 to SN3. Have you resolved the issue?
I haven’t solved it yet as it seems the different character of the two amps.
The XS3 is the fun and warmer amp, the SN3 is the refined one (its also on the lean side compared to the SN2) and sounds much clearer but sometimes tiring and too forward in my opinion. Both amps are great but very different in my opinion.
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Interesting. I find the SN3 just on the warm side (very slight) and more forgiving with digital formats. The XS2 is definitely more engaging from the off the SN3 easier on the ear, not as snappy but more insightful. I found the SN2 too forward and went for the XS2 instead. Years ago I remember talking to someone who worked for Creek he said that they could produce two amps that measured exactly the same but would sound different. I think this is less likely with NAIM amps but there will still be minor differences. Different setups no doubt also contribute to this.
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Having owned a SN2 a few years back, i recently tried a SN3 and from my aural memory, preferred it mainly due to it being more relaxed and effortless with a slightly fuller balance. After this i listened to a 272/250DR which was even more effortless and engaging. Two weeks on and the 272/250DR, which i now own, is sounding utterly sublime. My SN2 was never close to this level of control, effortless power, and insight.
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I have owned both too Gary, and I agree…the 272/250DR is a whole new level of enjoyment. I also added an XPSDR and Superlumina full loom, but I bailed out of the upgrade path at that point. The 555DR was too much money for me.
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I would never say never, but i can’t see me going the psu route on the 272. I already use a CDS3/XPS2 into it, and don’t want to complicate things further. I have no desire to improve on what i’m hearing and value simplicity.
Looks like you went over to Nagra. I was speaking to someone today who uses the same speakers as me, and he moved on from Naim some time back to a full stack of Nagra… CD player, pre/power etc. He loves it.
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I love the Nagra integrated I use, it simplified all the boxes I had, plus sounds better to my ears. My unit is basically entry level for Nagra, the dealer I got it from carries a lot of high-end brands, including Naim. He said Nagra with Kharma speakers is by far the best system he has heard.
Google “Audio Eden” if you care to see the brands he carries, it is a little shop just north of Toronto.
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The 250DR seems to be one of those universally celebrated pieces of kit. I have never heard one myself. I try to avoid stuff I am not in a position to buy at the time. Congrats on your own purchase. Being happy with your hi-fi is the most important thing regardless of the cost, high, low or somewhere in between.
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I had the xs2 with HCDR, and went for the SN3, again with the same HCDR, there is definitely a change in presentation.
Biggest thing I’ve found is that it needed a slight change in speaker location to get what I missed from the past whilst still realising the gains on offer from the new amp.
It finally all snapped together when changing the speaker cable used on the xs2 (Townshend Isolda) to Kudos ks-1.
I suppose it is like formula 1 cars, each year they make advances in areas, but the overall balance is a real skill and sometimes last years model handles better until they get the balance just right.
Now the capability of the SN3 is fully realised, whilst critically retaining the involvement I enjoyed so much from the XS2.
Isolda speaker cable is about the worst mismatch you could have with a Naim amp. Pretty much on a level with running a F1 car on cooking oil. It’s probably great in the right system, but it’s the extreme opposite of the low capacitance and moderately high inductance that Naim amps need.
Hi Chris, yes I’ve read that, but I actually contacted Max Townshend about this beforehand and he builds in whatever it is needed in the network boxes on the cable to sort this out these days (above my pay grade on the technicals on this one). It’s also a cable used by many a reviewer in the trade within naim setups, so I believe much of the issue is with the original cable and older naim amps. It’s certainly capable of sounding pretty incredible and replaced Nordost cables in my pre Naim system (Densen) and continues to do so in what is now my second , or other system, along with the dct 300 interconnects.
However, given all that the Kudos ks-1 was a lockdown curiosity to go with the SN3 off the back of what you mention for the “just in case” scenario and it’s been a stunning change. It’s all the more satisfying for the fact it is a fraction of the cost of the Townshend cables which I’ve had for a good while now so didn’t hack me off.
Interestingly when I spoke with Max it’s fair to say he was less than a fan of Naim and rated the Densen gear considerably more from an engineering point of view.
For me I get great results from both systems and there’s more similarities to the house sound of both than differences.
I remember having a similar exchange decades ago with Richard Dunn of NVA fame when running some “soundpipe” interconnect cables with Linn amps, my word he didn’t hold back in his lack of appreciation for their gear.
It can be a funny old industry.
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