Supernait 3 v NAc122x, 150x and flat cap2

Towards the tail end of 2021 I was after new speakers and ended up listening to around 8 of them all through a supernait 3. ( ended up getting a Neat Ekstra) I was impressed by the Supernait sounded compared with my system at home
A year later : a new job and a payrise and I am in the situation where I have the cash to get a Supenait 3. The rational voice in my head tells me that I have a good enough system and that the money should be spent on home improvements however…

My dealer loaned me a Supernait 3 for a few days to listen and compare
My dealer set it up and connected my turntable to the Aux input( cartridge is MC ) I then heard almost no sound and even adjusting the gain it sounded muffled. At first I wondered if the dealer had fitted it to Phono input and so I selected the phono input and a faint muffled sound emerged. After connecting it to the tuner all was right and off I went.

The first thing I noticed was that the Supernait 3 does not go loud as quickly as the Nac122x ; I can have the Supernait up to the 2 pm position before it becomes too loud whereas with 122x that was reached at the 11pm position.

Compared with my system the Supernait has a wider soundstage ( though not as wide as the Aethos I also demo’d), a fuller midrange and greater precision in the treble with great bass control.

I had initially considered keeping the flatcap 2 and using this with the supernait 3 but initial readings seem to suggest that pairing may not work.

I’m amazed you get the volume on the Supernait 3 up to 2pm
I rattle my ornaments and windows at 10pm and that a little too much. :scream:

only with vinyl.

my wife come from the other end of the house to tell me to turn it down at 9:30 figuratively and literally. I run wilson tunetots which are 86db. I would guess that you are not matched correctlynat all

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You seem to have an issue matching somewhere I was referring to my vinyl.
Kandid, Urika into Supernait 3 & Kudos X3s :thinking:
9pm is chunky and enjoyable getting to 10pm is being silly. :scream:

Are you saying you’re connecting a turntable with MC cartridge to the tuner input, without using a phono stage?

Or has your turntable got a built in phono stage? Or are you running an external phono stage? Guessing you are since you mention adjusting gain.

If you’re using an external phono stage of some sort then any line input, like tuner, should be fine.

The Supernait phono input (RCAs) is for MM cartridges at typical 5mV output level.

Which MC cartridge - is it high output?

Perhaps low volume level is due to low cartridge output or low gain on external phono.

Something mismatched somewhere.

Any naim amp we’ve owned (SuperUniti, 272, 252) would have blown up the speakers, eardrums and fabric of the house at 2pm on the dial. Typically 10pm is very very loud, on phono can’t get it past 11pm without ear bleed.

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Apologies, my initial post was perhaps a little garbled. What I had meant to say, was that I was using an external phono stage for the MC cartridge .I appear to have spoken early about the power issue; when I posted that message I had been running the Supernait 3 for about 3 hours. It seems have boosted itself, for want of a better term. Just played a Chasing the Dragon recording of Vivaldi, there is no electronic amplification and at 10 o clock it was punchy and at 11:00 I had reached its limit. Any louder and I suspect all of my neighbours would be complaining

I had considered a used 202/200 ( there are several threads on that topic) but quite like the idea of reducing the boxes and cabling. I will need to work out what to do with the soon-to-be empty 2 shelves on the rack.

Hmm running in shouldn’t change volume level.

If I was you I’d turn everything off, remove and reseat all connections etc. then restart.

Could be you have a connection or cable on the way out or was loose.

11pm should definitely be loud :+1:

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They don’t boost themselves you only get a disturbance like that if something isn’t right. :thinking:

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Schoolboy error - The gain setting was not set correcly. I have adjusted the gain and the output is on point

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Glad you got it sorted.
Talking about a problem helps. :+1:t2:

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Good to hear it was something “user error” and not component, socket or lead failure.

Enjoy the music!!!

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It’s playing wonderfully now. I think that now that I have blown £4k any upgradeitis is cured.

I’ve got friends coming round for Sunday lunch and records tomorrow. It shall be interesting to see what they think of the system. One of my friends has a RP2 Brio and bookshelf speakers. So I wonder what he think of a supernait 3 into Neat Extras with a gyrodec , 309 and Quintet bronze.

I fished out some suitable records and a real curiosity- Nik Turner’s Sphinx. Recitations from the Egyptian Book of the Dead with vocal effects ( reverb, delay etc) to Sax and flute recorded live from the Pyramid of Cheops. My copy was found in a charity shop and is signed by Nik as well. The album is well…

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