Supernait 3 with Supercap DR Upgrade

Not mandatory by any means, but myself and many others have found a happy ground with that combination so certainly worth you trying it out for yourself and seeing how you like it.
I used Focal Kanta 1’s with my SN3 + NDX2, they do require appropriate consideration for interaction with the room they live in, they are somewhat sensitive to positioning and room interaction simply put, but with some effort in that respect will perform well, as would be a similar case with the Kanta 2’s or 3’s one would imagine.

The Focal Kanta 3’s are lovely, aren’t they? I too use a pair of 2.5m NAC A5 to connect the Harbeth P3ESRs to SN3 and they are great.

As others suggested, I’m considering buying a NDX2 and I’ll go for the speaker upgrade later on.

The NDX2 is a very good streamer and now Tidal is going to Hi-Res FLAC you will be good going forward with Hi-Res from Tidal using the NDX2.
When I started with streaming i wanted Tidal For the music videos and also the Hi-Res via MQA which ruled out Naim Streamers for me at that time but its all changing now.
Good luck with your streamer upgrade you wont be disappointed.

Sorry for a long pause!

Finally I placed an order for an ex-demo 2019 model NDX2 which will be delivered next week. I understand it will come with a grey SNAIC cable. As I know the black SNAIC cables are of better quality, will I be better off ordering a black one? Or do you have a recommendation based on your experience?

RCA :+1:t2:

The grey cable you’ll get is a standard DIN5 interconnect. The SNAIC is different and can carry DC power as well as signal where required, and it’s that cable that has grey and black versions.

I find the standard interconnect works fine. Maybe consider a Hiline if you want an upgrade, although it’s not cheap.

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@Skeptikal Thank you.

@ChrisSU Thank you for clarifying that - I do have a pair of Chord Shawline RCA inteconnects which I’ll use.

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@madhana
Do the comparison you’ll be amazed.
RCA all the way. :scream: :+1:t2:

Hi Gav
The kudos crossover you mention, is it active

Is there a possibility that the gap from good to great is the source?

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Naim have always advocated the use of DIN terminated cables in their systems. Having tried a number of different RCA cables in a Naim system I found the standard DIN cable included in the box with a Naim streamer to be better in all cases, including in comparison to some quite expensive RCAs.
Having said that, there’s no harm in experimenting, and of course it’s best to keep an open mind.

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I’ve tried both the Superlumina DIN and some Audio Sensibility silver RCA leads, and much preferred the DIN with my NDX2. I’d certainly suggest comparing the stock Naim lead against the Shawline RCA’s (which I’m sure a pretty good anyway).

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@ChrisSU You are right :slight_smile: I got my NDX 2 on Monday and managed to set it up with the stock DIN cable. Immediately I can see (hear?) the difference! It was far better than the Node 2 but can’t compare side by side with the Node 2->Denafrips Ares 2->SN3 as I don’t have the Denafrips anymore!

Then I replaced the stock DIN cable with Chord Shawline RCA cables with high hopes as per @Skeptikal and played the same tracks. To my disappointment, the sound stage kind of shrunk and the whole listening gone flat :frowning: I’ve gone back to the DIN straight away!

@Mike_S That makes me wonder only if I could afford a super lunina DIN …

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Sounds like a good result!
There is rarely a consensus on what cables work best. Sticking with DIN in a Naim system is a no-brainer in my experience, but when I tried a Super Lumina it did nothing for me so I passed. On the other hand I did quite like the Hiline, which isn’t cheap, but it’s a lot cheaper than the SL. Just be careful with the DIN version though, as the plugs are fragile.

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Advice taken :slight_smile:

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Yes a signal single earth in Naim is far superior than a twin earth ground-loop RCA. The stock cable is indeed excellent.

I’d suggest maybe your DIN cable isn’t right. Have you tried swapping it for another one?

It’s the brand new Naim one that came with my CDP and I have a friend that has the same and tried it too the difference is very obvious you don’t have to look for it.
It cost nothing to try so I don’t get the disbelief.

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Hi @madhana
My experience with the HiLine between SN3 and NDX2 is it was clearly preferable but the usual caveats apply - the HiLine should hang freely without twists or touching anything else and the DIN connectors should be pushed all the way in (home) then gently pulled back out a quarter of an inch. Don’t hold the ends by the black plastic rings when fitting.
A right faff, but worth it. If that’s not possible, stick with the standard lavender cable supplied. Either install it as it’s meant to be fitted, or opt for something else.

That sounds like rather a lot to me, I’d have thought a couple of mm would be enough.

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