Great advice, JROO7
Glad 4o hear positive feedback on the Power supply on Supernait 3!
Sorry Wolf - missed your post somehow
Hello, billywindsock. I plan on staying with Naim of possible. So many avenues to choose from.
Hello Wolf105 - Thanks for the query. Well, I’m always striving to better my system, aren’t you? I’m still breaking in the amp, auditioning cables. When listening to music and knowing that Naim makes great upgrade parts and separates it gets my mind wondering. And I like the Ayre too. But I’ve never had a great Naim Source within an all Naim system. The Tootems are song birds in my room.
Peace
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Thanks, I am trying to take my time and let things play out.
Caio
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I’ve been informed that a supercap can be used on the Supernait 3.
I’m not sure who’s feeding you this crazy information but a Super Cap DR is $7595.00 freaking bucks, you’d end up with a $12.5k SN3 , the HiCap DR is $2500. Buying a Super Cap would be just plain stupid, and the HiCap DR is half the price of the SN3! I had a SN2 and added a HiCap DR. It didn’t do too much and certainly not $2500. worth IMO . The dealer you mentioned previously deals in super high end gear, and is know for pushing regular folk towards big $$ sales.
If your goal truly is a Naim system don’t forget Naim is much more $$ in the US than the UK.
Seeing that you have the SN3 now, put a couple hundred hours on it and see what you think. I’m not really sure how I’d upgrade from there. Preamp or power amp. I see the SN3 as an endgame in and of itself. If you wanted more I’d have started with a Nac and a Nap. I think that in someways a SN3 has you boxed in by limiting your upgrade choices.
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Find a better dealer.
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Yes i’ve tried my SN3 with and without the HCDR. I prefer it with as i find it brings a better structure to the whole presentation. Notes are even easier to follow for example.
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After buying the SN3 I used it solo. 3 months later I added the HC DR and it was a whole different ballgame: more stucture, better soundstage, more details. That was a big upgrade I would never miss. Biggest improvement was the phono section. This setup is far more better than a 202/200 combination as I know very well.
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Yes, you can use a Supercap with the Supernait 3. The question is whether it’s sensible. The thing about the SN3 is that its use of DR tech on the preamp is more extensive than on the Supernait 2, so the improvement you get from adding a DR power supply is that bit less.
Remember that for every person who says that adding a power supply made things a ‘whole different ballgame’ there is another who says it makes very little different.
The only way to answer your question is to try the SN3 by itself, with a Hicap DR and with a Supercap DR.
My advice to you is that a 282, Hicap DR and 250DR would be a far better amplifier than a Supernait 3 / Supercap DR. If you do decide to try a Supercap I’d strongly suggest that you also try the 282/250 setup. Do also remember that as you improve the amplifier you risk exposing shortcomings in you source: I’ve no idea how good your Ayre CD player is.
Another option is just to keep your money in your pocket and to enjoy your Supernait 3 just as it is. It’s a nice amplifier.
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Another option @Gracie.1 would be to keep your SN3 as it is and replace your existing CD player with a nice example of Naim’s glorious CDS3. That way you get the whole Naim sound. (You may have to ship from Europe, Asia etc.)
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@anon4489532 sums up the options sensibly here, much like myself, he’s also had a multi box Naim system and has ended up with a someone more consolidated system built around a SN3.
The fact that the connectors on the NAIT and the various external power supplies are compatible doesn’t necessarily make them an optimised synergy considering the system as a whole.
Adding a HiCap to a Supernait is a tried and tested configuration that many have chosen and find a favourable addition, it’s certainly not a mandatory requirement and using a SN3 without one is not going to end in disappointment.
The benefit of it being that if at some stage you decide a path towards a NAC 282 + NAP 250, you have the basis of the power requirements of that system and can reuse the HiCap across systems. That’s not the case with a Supercap which will only become relevant if you chose a NAC 252 as a next step.
The good thing about the SN3 is that it is more than capable of getting favourable synergy from a good source be that digital or analogue, with an NDX2 being an obvious pairing. I went from an ND5 XS2 to an NDX2 and also moved from a SN2 to a SN3. The move to the NDX2 made the most meaningful improvement to me in my system and was funded in part by trading in both my SN2 and HiCap DR.
Most of these additions and changes will eventually put the preamp of the SN3 as the bottleneck in the system performance, at which point you can either add a NAP 200/250 and use the SN3 as just a preamp or add a NAC 282 and use the SN3 as a power amp only.
The upgrade options are there primarily to give you more modest intermediate steps towards replacing the NAIT with a NAC + NAP and in that sense it can support a wide range of options including reuse of the HiCap across systems.
I’d suggest consider what your 5 year plan is and if the goal is to just refine a NAIT system or to define a path to a migration to a NAC + NAP based system.
I think if I were doing similar I’d start with getting as good a source as budget allows, give that some months to tune your listening to, then add a HiCap DR as the next step.
If you were looking at something like an NDX2 that benefits from adding an XPS DR, again it can be powered by a 555PS but unless your funds allow or you already have one to reuse (like having previously powered a N272 or a CD555) then the additional cost is questionable in terms of the overall refinements to system synergy, again at that point the preamp in the SN3 becomes the limiting factor, even with a HiCap DR feeding it.
At this point, I’d be inclined to add a NAC 282, use the SN3 as a power amp, then remove the SN3 completely and swap in a NAP 250.
This at least gives you continuity across incremental upgrades whilst maintaining a working system and a means to trade in equipment against replacements as you go with the exception of the HiCap DR which stays for the journey across systems.
I’d still advise against a Supercap on a SN3 unless you have money sitting idle and want to do it just because it’s possible to do so!
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Finally all depends if Gracie plans or not to go in the next future to separates.
If yes, the best upgrade would be a 282.
If not, an Hicap dr is a good choice.
As for source, I don’t see any urgency, apart if not liking too much the Ayre presentation, preferring a Naim source to it.
But the Ayre Cx 7 is already a great CD player, on the Cdx2 level.
Do you type really fast, or do you use voice controlled typing? 
It would take my chubby fingers ages to type this on my iPad — especially after a couple of G&Ts or glasses of wine… 
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I typically dictate to my secretary.
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I do plan on staying with the Supernait 3 for a while, keeping the Ayre but looking at a Hicap Dr.
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Seems to be a good plan 
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