I have a Supernait 3 driving Harbeth P3ESR XD speakers mounted on HiFi Rack stands. This is fed from a Denafrips Aries II R2R DAC which is connected to a Bluesound Node 2i which had a power supply upgrade. The current setup sounds good but not great. I have just bought a secondhand Naim Supercap DR so that I can connect it to the SN3 to improve the sound quality. The idea is to go for a NAC 252 + Supercap DR, using the SN3 as the power amp till the time it gets replaced by a NAP 300 DR, enjoying the improvement all the way!
Can someone help me in choosing the right cables to connect the Supercap DR to SN3? I understand I need one SNAIC 4 and one SNAIC 5 cable. All the descriptions suggest that SNAIC 4 is only for signal transmission and SNAIC 5 is for signal and power to a power amp. Is there any particular variety/standard is required for this configuration?
Should sound great and nicely thought out as an upgrade path - enjoy the journey. I went SN2/HiCAP to 252/SC with SN2 and then added a 250DR - great upgrades throughout.
Glad to hear that you followed my exact upgrade path and had great success.
One final question: There seems to be a grey (colour) and a black version of the SNAIC 4 & 5 cables, the black ones dearer. I suppose the latter is the better one?
Second that! I recently added a HiCap DR to my SN3 and someone relatively new to Naim separates also found this confusing. Luckily, I got some sound advice (no pun intended) and didn’t try to use the grey DIN cable that came with my SN3
There seems to be lots of debate on whether adding an external PS to the SN3 is worth it. All personal preference I guess: but in my experience it has been a very nice addition to the overall sound of my system.
Yes, Naim connectivity can be a tad confusing. The New Classic series seems to have addressed that with a more straightforward approach.
The addition of a Hicap DR to the SN3 gives you two 24v DR rails to power the preamp stages, compared to the single rail provided by the internal DR supply and subsequently removes that load from the internal SN3 power supply (so the power amp section benefits) too.
It’s also a good stepping stone to separates (282 pre etc) if you want to go that way in the future.
@Svetty I’m aware of that and hence improving the pre-amp in SN3 with the SC DR power supply upgrade. I believe it should make a difference as @james_n commented. Once I have saved enough, I will buy a NAC 252 and the SC DR will obviously power the 252 and the SN3 will be just the power amp unitl the SN3 itself get replaced by a NAP 300 DR.
BTW all SN2 and SN3 users, what speakers you are using it with?
Thank you @Skeptikal@kitfit1@Stephen_Tate for sharing the details of your speakers. You have great looking (and sounding I guess) speakers. I’ve gone for Harbeth P3ESRs mainly for their size and I didn’t want my speakers to dominate my living room (by looks BTW). When I get to setting up my own listening room, definitely I’ll go for a floor stander.
BTW I’ll get hold of my SC DR tomorrow and the cables on Tuesday/Wednesday. I’ll post my observations once I’ve set it up. Exciting times
Was running a pair of focal kanta 3 with my SN3 before upgrading to separates. It did an admirable job of it as well. They definitely appreciated the extra clout of the 300 but I had a few years of very happy listening with the Supernait.
The Harbeths should sound really good, let us know how it goes! I’ve got Focal Kanta 2 with the SN3 and am very happy with the combo (although I did run the little Neat Iota Alphas with the SN3 whilst I was rearranging the house a bit and they sounded great!).
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