Teriffic photos Dom and great to see my old Kudos X2s looking and (I bet) sounding wonderful.
Best wishes
David
Only £250? That is a steal of the century; good on you!
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impressive ! sme20/ 2a( or3), constellation amps, innuos statement ? bricasti ? audio research réf phono, magico speakers. Am i right?
Hi David, Yes the Kudos are sounding very good indeed. I’m glad I could give them a new home. It’s a simple setup, but sounds great to me.
All the best for 2019!
Mostly right 
SME 20/12 with V-12 arm, cartridge is a Koetsu Coralstone Platinum, ARC Ref 2 phono. Constellation Virgo III preamp, Centaur II mono blocks driving the Magico Q5 (which need all that power). DAC (bottom shelf left) is the new Playback Designs MPD-8. The unit on the right of it is my old Playback Designs MPS-5 player, which is now just used as a ‘transport’ until I can get the new PD MPT-8 transport. You might just spot, in between the 2 PD units, Sonore UltraRendu bridge sitting on top of Upscale Audio linear PS - acts as a Roonbridge. The Core is running on a NAS located in the basement of the house.
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Gazza, great system but have you tried moving network devices (switches, NAS/servers, etc) away from the black boxes.
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Hi Richard.
Do not understand how ones “ about me” lark only reads as about 3 lines although I put in a lot more?! Best Peter
Weren’t you dedicated to ESL’s some years ago, or do I have you confused? In any event, that’s a lovely set-up!
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I did this, to much satisfaction. I see that Gazza’s Core is connected directly to his ND 555, however. When I started with my uServe it was with a connection directly to NDAC; I eventually went UPnP and moved it to a remote location.
The Q5’s are lovely, and I see what you meant in the earlier thread on the old board; those mono blocks are substantial!
What did you decide about the A3’s and Nova, etc?
I did this, to much satisfaction. I see that Gazza’s Core is connected directly to his ND 555, however. When I started with my uServe it was with a connection directly to NDAC; I eventually went UPnP and moved it to a remote location.
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Good point Bart, just noticed Gazza’s Core connected directly to the ND555. The switch could be moved but not sure what the gain would be.
I used to drive the Q5s with ARC Ref 610T. Believe it or not, they weren’t enough to really control the Q5s and get that dynamic deep bass out of them. The Centaurs put out 1000W at 4 ohm (which is where the Q5s usually operate at) - they made a world of difference without taking the sound to a clinical level. Plus they have an enormous 3D soundstage, that go much beyond the one I had with ARCs (Ref 610T and Ref 5SE). Not to diss the ARCs; they are fantastic pieces of gear and much cheaper than the Constellations. But the Q5s are a really tough loudspeaker to drive well, which they need to be to give their best. The system is really singing now.
I’ve listened to the A3s with the Devialet. It worked reasonably well, but was a bit ‘cold’. I’m waiting to audition them with the Nova. Apparently, the substantial transformer in that unit will control the A3s quite well.
I’ll write back when I do so, but it will be another couple of weeks at least until the Nova arrives at the dealer.
Let’s see if I can get a picture in here:
Only non-Naim items for now, more in a few weeks once everything is placed neatly.
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Peter, I’ll look into it. I didn’t think there was too great a character limit on that one.
@Mulberry - is that a Bauer dps turntable? Lovely sounding piece of kit, and quite the prettiest TT I’ve ever seen. If I was in the market for a deck, that would be at the top of the audition list!
Different George I’m afraid @Bart.
I remember the ‘other’ George (who signed himself as George J), and I seem to recall that he had a passion for ESLs, his V1 DAC, choral music and the advantages of listening in mono (as well as cycling). An interesting gentlemen, with lots of interesting knowledge and it’s a shame that events occurred leading to him leaving the forum. I know that many miss him. Maybe he’ll sign up in this new forum under a new ‘nom de plume’?
Hope helpful?
George.
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@nigelb it’s a legacy interconnect, a cheap blue jeans cable that I used on my Nova to Core. It reminds me that I tried Naim DC1, True Signals…£300 or more. The SQ was improved, but not 10 fold or more… I-have not used it to be honest on the ND555 in a serious way, upnp is much better.
@Bart the switch has been moved around including several metres away, but it does a great job just where it is. These things were designed to sit in hot cabinets, chucking data around, seems a breeze in a Hifi environment. Simon in Suffolk mayhave more insight, my ears are my judge, but I play loud?
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