That’s one hell of a long time to wait. I never understood why can’t hi-fi companies do the break-in/burn-in before leaving factory?
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Can you imagine how big a factory they would need if every item had to be run for hundreds of hours?! Not to mention the size of the energy bills!
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Some companies do 
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Point taken but if you pay 10-20-30k for a pair of speakers or hi-fi component, I’m sure there should be part of the facilities dedicated to these “units” and their prospective buyers.
Maybe it’s me.
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I’m glad to hear this but none I heard of and Naim, as far as I know, is not one of them.
I believe some dealers may be prepared to provide this kind of service. I am certain this came up in conversation with someone in the past🤔
A fee was involved of course…
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Just for the record @Tony, I think run in periods some manufacturers suggest are wildly exaggerated.
I do not deny that brand new products, or even freshly serviced ones, take time to settle. Hovever, in my opinion, hundreds of hours is quite ridiculous.
An argument could be made that no product ever stops changing given the daily changes in their environment such as temperature, humidity, even air pressure.
If I’ve just spent tens of thousands of pounds on a set of speakers played on an average of 4 hours a day in a home, I would definitely be very cautious about purchasing. It would be effectively more than a year before I’d know how they were going to settle in my environment, which of course may change significantly in that time period.
May be a naive way of thinking, just a thought.
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A good reason to buy fully warranted demo equipment.
If they did it would add to the expense for us. I don’t mind so much. When I get new gear I just play music and enjoy. If it improves over time even better.
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Hi Mark,
I’ll admit I just did a review search for pure transports and this seems to stand up well. I could get it on 30 day return from Richer sounds, and just went for it.
Currently it is a complete match for a total lossless rip played from a NAS system.
Seems to be doing the job nicely.
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My Solid Tech Rack of Silence Reference provides isolation. The base of the rack is coupled firmly to the floor via Finite Elemente Cerapuc footers but the individual levels are not fixed to the pillars and are hanging freely by means of springs.
In theory yes, but it’s not that simple as there are different ways of implementation in real life. Isolation can be incorporated at the base of the rack, at platforms of the rack where the components sit, or a combination of both. In the case of individual levels on the rack, the component needs to sit on the platform, and at the interface between the isolated platform and component, additional isolation devices can be placed here for example Isoacoustics Orea, Solid Tech Discs of Silence or similar products from other manufacturers such as Townshend.
I currently have Finite Elemente Spider and Solid Tech Rack of Silence Reference and these racks sound different. The placement of components is arranged between the racks for the best sound reproduction.
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I used to think that my Isoblue racking was “isolating” my boxes from room acoustic feedback until it was pointed out that what it was actually doing was “grounding” any vibration that might be present.
The practical upshot of this was that, when I removed the little ball-and-cup widgets I’d placed under the boxes in an attempt to further “isolate” them, the SQ noticeably improved.
Even if true “isolation” was needful, and hanging stuff from springs still doesn’t “isolate” anything and likely just feeds back phonic vibration anyway, the only way to achieve it would be to rigidly free-float everything inside a vacuum, surely.
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This is the sort of mistake that many people seem to make. Adding bits and pieces to racks in an attempt to improve them when what they are actually doing is negating some of the design philosophy.
That’s not true. It is the basis for suspended sub-chassis turntables like the LP12. Springs, according to their specifications, will isolate at certain frequency bands. Even from a common sense perspective it is clear that a spring is doing something very different to a spike.
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I think you might have your idea of coupling and decoupling confused.
If a rack is made so it’s a rigid assembly - everything firmly attached, then it’s a coupling design.
If a rack has some interference between its assembly of different parts, be it springs, spikes, balls or soft compliant materials, then it’s a decoupling design.
Things get even more confusing if it’s a rigid decoupling - spikes and shoes.
Or a wobbly decoupling - ball and cups, springs.
Or a third method of soft damping the wobbly decoupling.
Possibly many more, such as mass damping in a coupling design. I remember seeing a massive granite rack reviewed once in a hifi rag.
And, of course your low mass wobbly coupling lp12 ikea stand. 
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Agh Dan. I have only just caught up on this and have scrolled back to your initial post about it.
My dad died of secondary liver cancer in 2006, they never pinpointed the initial site but we suspect prostate. He diagnoses was well progressed and he hid it, told no one! Eventually when he did do something about it it was far too late and he refused treatment, typical old country man!
In 2019 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer but luckily enough it was caught early and was sorted with radiotherapy, though I do still have side effects. I totally agree with you re the NHS, from my consultant, all the nurses and right down to the 2 porters in the Cancer Centre each and every one of them were terrific!
I mirror your sentiments and your positive attitude to all of this. One just has to get on with life, I’m 64 now, but I have always been active and will continue to as long as I can. I started climbing in 1977 and have climbed a fair bit around the world, but now I have to slightly adjust things due to the side effects from my treatment but thats ok, it is what it is!
I feel the same as you about this group, it’s like a family. Keep at it buddy and beat it, I and the rest of us here wish you all the very best.
South of France this time last year.
By the way, I really do like your system!!
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I think you might have your idea of coupling and decoupling confused.
But I’m all ears. If you can provide me with a convincing explanation of how a spike achieves decoupling then I’ll eat my words.
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I’m no expert, and may well be wrong.
Perhaps some others could give a succinct answer, or you could open a thread to discuss this further.
To confuse things even further - there’s a difference between coupling and decoupling a hifi item from both airborn vibrations and the vibrations within.
This is a landscape photo that you have posted in portrait format…
NB - Joking of course. Rather you than me!
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Some rack manufacturers claim that their racks both couple equipment rigidly to the floor to provide a mechanical ground for equipment generated mechanical noise, and at the same time isolate equipment from mechanical noise in the surroundings! A totally bizarre claim that even viewed superficially just doesn’t make sense.
I did request that if there are any mechanical engineers out there they could perhaps start a thread rather than divert this one any further as it’s clearly not the right place to do this fascinating aspect of our hobby justice.
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At least he’s not free-climbing…they give me the frights. One slip and it’s Goodnight Vienna.
I still frighten myself about two guys I saw on a tiny sloping ledge on a sheer drop in Utah…