So the ND555 is off to Salisbury for a repair (disappointed in reliability TBH) and I’m down to a Nova, which I’ve fed into my 552/500 combination using RCA’s!
I’d love to report, “wow, gosh, impressed” but thankfully I’m actually happy to report what is perhaps obvious - the 555 is more than a little better than the Nova.
It’s an unfair comparison I know but interesting non the less to see what you get for your money with a 500 series. What’s immediately obvious is that once the volume goes up the Nova has a woolly-ness and levels of harshness that quite quickly become uncomfortable to listen too. Music is there but quite bullish and heavy, not much finesse. I have 2 Novas and do run one of them into a 300DR, that one always impresses me more than it should but when fed into a 500, nah, not for me.
I guess the lesson is what we already know, system matching matters! Fun to play though. Anyone tried an Atom into a Statement, just for sh…s n gigs?
During an audition session with a Nova at my dealer I noted the D’Agastino Momentun warmed up in the room, I asked the dealer if I could have a listen, he asked what source I would like to use, and was a little surprised when I said, “the Nova”.
I made my own cable, which if you have a soldering iron is pretty simple. I used an old Chord Chameleon, replaced 2 RCAs with 2 Neutrik XLR plugs, noting the unique Naim power amp wiring and then fitted a locking Prehkeytec DIN at the other end. Parts are about £10 from CPC. Getting 2 thick cables into a DIN is not so simple but once done then the soldering is straight forwards.
I have tried several different style DIY cables with my SU in to a NAP300DR, 4 pin din to 2 x XLR and separate RCA plugs (x2) to 2 x XLR, Naim ‘Permanoid BASEC mains cable’, screened cables (various) and twisted pair, all worked fine.