Well I own one, and I prefer to run it with an offboard DAC rather than an offboard PSU, not that the latter isn’t a very worthwhile upgrade. I haven’t heard the NDX2 with an NDAC, but having heard the original NDX with NDAC, the improvement was huge, and I would be very surprised if it didn’t bring improvements to the NDX2 as well.
Maybe its the other way around, they don’t own one because it gave us a hard time
This is a bit perky though - sorry about that. In general, I have a slight preference for the Chord take of dacs. When listening to the NDX2, I wasn’t sure. Still need to listen to nd5xs2+ chord or ndac.
I did own one. I had a NDX, NDX2, and an NDS in house at the same time. The NDS was pretty comparable as a DAC to the nDAC (with the same power supply), the nDAC and NDS were substantially ahead of the NDX and NDX2 musically. Again with the same power supply.
I kept the nDAC because the streaming sections of the NDX/NDX2/NDS weren’t of interest to me. And in the US, the NDX2 is $7K USD, which represents extremely poor value. YMMV.
Me, too, if I’m completely honest with myself. IMO, the ND5 XS2 + Chord (Qutest) is equal to the NDX2, may be better suited to my performance taste. Add the XPS-DR to the NDX2 and though a different beast, I really couldn’t say it’s ‘better’, just different (subjective). Again, one’s taste is going to be a huge factor here (preference), but I wouldn’t say it is ‘better’.
All this said, @Zenarcade provides a valid point that in the states, the NDX2 represents poor value by comparison. If one owns one here and uses an outboard DAC…well, that’s a pretty expensive transport.
I had ND5 XS 2 for nearly a year. Great player. NDX 2 shows it a clean pair of heels though, without the additional PSU. With the PSU it leaves it for dust.
I ran my NDX 2 w/ XPS DR Power Supply with my SuperNait 2 and it sounded fantastic. I never did compare it to a nDAC or any other DAC brand. I do know that I have a few years of listening to music which has been absolutely sublime to me. My room, my system, and my ears…
I do enjoy listening to music…
(BTW - I now have the NDX 2 / XPS DR with a 282/250 and feel it is a great combination as well)
JMHO - YMMV
Very helpful Stephen, thanks. That may just have cost me a great deal of money!
Here in Canada,an NDX2 with a 555DR power supply is about $23 K retail. An ND5XS2 with a Qutest DAC is around $6K.Yet many prefer the cheaper setup…
Th price of a new 555PS is pretty crazy, I only have one because I was offered a second hand one. I don’t think the 555PS is value for money new on a NDX2.
I have said it before: any time you spend substantially more on a supporting device than on the component itself, you are loosing the North.
For the average person who love Naim, the price of SCDR and 555PS is…sad.
I sometimes dream of flying to the UK, buy some gear and sneak it back as carry-on luggage and say it’s a "new laptop computer " lol
I was actually born in England, lived there until I was 9, so maybe I could even bring some gear back to Canada without a hassle? I am pretty content with my ND5XS2 feeding an Mscaler/TT2 as my source, so no desire to change anything. Dave 2 might tempt me, if that ever happens.
Hi Haim. I’m not sure that’s really the case. I know the concept of a £5,000 player and then adding a £7,000 power supply can seem a bit potty, but the way I think about it is that the bare player is one thing and the player with PS is another. The real question is whether one feels that the NDX2/555 justifies its price tag. With other manufacturers you’d have to sell the first player (say a Linn Akurate) and buy another (say the Klimax) but at least with Naim you don’t need to sell what you’ve already bought.
I don’t know if you’ve compared the NDX2 and NDX2/555 and if so what you thought? Sometimes we need to put away preconceptions.
HH,
I am sure that the NDX2/555 sounds wonderful.
I had no intention with my remark to cause members to question their own very personal choice of gear.
I am in the minority here, not caring much about the last increment of sound improvement, just making sure that I can relax and enjoy my modest system.
Personally, in order for that to happen, my set-up has to make sense philosophically as well as in terms of $, hence my words about loosing the North.
Haim
Hello community- I received a Digital Coax cable that I was waiting for and a DIN >DIN as well. We’ve been discussing “Supernait 3 upgrade options”. Wow! was I surprised to find an 18 awg power cable with the Supernait 3 when I unboxed the unit at 4:30 am. Has anyone else had this happen? My NDAC has a 14 awg, Oppo 14 awg. Even the 15 year old Naim Wiremold strip has a 14 awg extension. Does anyone know or have any technical Specifications why a unit with such a robust power system, IMHO have such an inadequate power cord? So I’ve already upgraded the stock power cord to a non Naim supplied 12 awg cord from a previous setup.
G.
Strong words.
Naim obviously believe it “adequate” or else they’d not ship it that way.
Yes there is room to “upgrade” and it sounds like you already have. You can spend $40 on a cryo-treated 14-gauge Tibia cable here in the States. $70 for the 12-gauge version. I probably can find you a $4000 cable. And an $8000 cable. And all options in between.
Did you “hear” a difference when you swapped cords?
Hello Bart - I didn’t even attempt to use the 18 awg extension cord. I’m aware of where to buy better sounding and higher performance power cords. Yes, I’ve seen and heard what a good power cord can do for a system. YMMV.
The thing for me is that there is more than one North, depending on what you seek. For me, the source first setup, with communication prioritised, lets me find my North, and that’s all anyone can hope for. The way you posted suggests that anyone whose North differs from yours is wrong, which I’m sure was never your intention.
That is very silly. How can you know that the one in the box isn’t as good unless you bother to actually try it?