System Spring Cleaning

Hi-Fi Corner
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Ok, it’s not quite Spring yet, but I’ve spent a useful few hours today giving my system a good strip down, clean and rebuild. I partially stripped it down last weekend and put my NAIT 50 on amplifier duties for the week and while it’s done a sterling job, it’s great to have the 350s up and running again.

This time, it was a full strip down, with both racks and equipment fully removed and cleaned. So much dust and spider poo accumulates out of sight behind and under the racks !

It also gave me a chance to remove a spare Power-Line which had been powering my PhoenixNET before I moved fully to fibre.

As well as giving everything a thorough clean, I checked the tightness of the connections on the mains plugs, the Power-Line that feeds my KDSM and the MS HD plugged DIY Hydra that feeds my 350s. All were fine and for good measure, the Bussman 13A fuses in both plugs were removed and re-seated.

With the floor cleaned and vacuumed, the bases on my Isoblue racks could be levelled and with the spikes tightened and locked, I could rebuild the racks and reconnect everything. All plugs, including interconnects, speakers and mains were reinserted a few times to clean contacts.

Before powering everything back up, I cycled the isolator and mcb in my dedicated mains distribution board that feeds the Hi-Fi radial, a few times. With the KDSM powered up, I re-enabled volume control (preamp mode) and switched back to XLR out, before bringing the 350s out of standby and left it warming up for a few hours whilst we walked the dogs.

Probably all in the mind, but I’m sure everything just sounds a bit more crisper and focused.

Whatever, PJ Harvey’s ‘Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea’ is sounding rather fantastic. A bit of a job, but a worthwhile couple of hours spent.

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Nice job.
I have just finished spraying my M-Audio Monitor speakers with silicone spray - a once a year job for me, it definitely improves the sound quality especially in the base.

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It sounds so easy James……when you have a few spare minutes​:joy:

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great job James! looks beautiful and cosy

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If only you lived closer, Gary :grinning_face:

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What, the sound comes out of the base?

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Tell me about the sound difference between nait 50 and the nap 350.
I have just sold my power amp and the 350s are on my demo list and right now my Nait50 is providing the sounds, albeit with nac 252/supercap feeding the nait50.

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Sounds like you did a really thorough job James. I really should have a go at ours, but I keep putting it off. One of the reasons for that is because I tend to think, while it’s sounding so good, just leave well alone. Maybe disturbing it will make it sound worse! That’s my excuse anyway, but if I’m totally honest I just can’t face doing it. Makes me envious sometimes of those folks with simple one box systems on a sideboard or something! Your setup with Isoblue looks great by the way.

PS. Could you tell us more about your DIY Hydra? I’m intrigued….

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I think they have the same family sound signature, the 350s just drive harder and control my 606s with a lot more authority when the volume goes up. With different speakers, the NAIT50 would really be enough though- quite a remarkable little amplifier. I keep meaning to try the 50 with a pair of Shahinian Compasses I have spare, but the effort of moving the 606s…

Given the rest of your system, the 350s should be a good match and I’ll be interested what you think when you do demo them. Remember you’ll need the Legacy Preamp DIN to New Classic PA XLR cables. Cable set 00-010-0244 when you borrow a pair.

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Yes, already aware of cables from supercap to 350s. Hopefully naim/dealer have these reasonably priced.

My inital reaction with the nait50 in series with nac 252 is very favourable. Almost to the point of asking myself “ why am I considering spending potentially £12k ?”

So far I’d say, compared to my previous power amp ( MF nu vista 300), the low end does not have the required authority, even at low levels. So i’ll be looking for an amp that brings that back, albeit for £12k. Im going to roll in the new Rega Solis too. At £6900, i’ll be intrested what that brings.

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I know what you mean Pete. When it’s all sounding good then you don’t really want to mess with things. I just like to do a comprehensive strip down once a year, clean and check everything and then it’s good for another year (and the under rack spiders will need to find another home for a while.

The DIY hydra just uses the spare euro 1mm2 cables that come with the amps. The MS HD plug has a wide enough cable clamp and plenty of room inside the plug to take the two power cables so I use this arrangement for my 350 amps, with a Power-line for the Linn.

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The Solis looks rather good. Another interesting option could be the Exposure 3510 monos at £7500 per pair. No nonsense, powerful amps.

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Mine comes out of a fish.

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No accounting for education :rofl:

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Thanks James. That seems like an ideal solution and very neat inside the plug. Your dedicated socket looks great and reminds me it’s something we should really do if only I can get my head around all the upheaval! Anyway absolutely superb system you’ve got there. I imagine the Linn Klimax DSM sounds like a million dollars. Lovely!

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Thanks Pete. Yes, dedicated mains is a good move and you may find the upheaval to be minimal. I worked out a rough route for the cable as it needed to run from one side of the house to the other. My Electrician was able to find a neat route from the garage where the consumer unit lives, up through some built in wardrobes and into the loft. It drops through conduit on the outside wall on the other side of the house, and down to the lounge.

Electricians are usually very good (and have the necessary kit) at routing and pulling cables through difficult to access areas without needing to cause disruption to internal decoration. Worth bearing in mind if you consider going this route.

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Thanks James. That’s made me feel more like having a go at it. I’ll get an electrician in to discuss it hopefully sometime during the summer. It certainly makes sense and I know we really should do it.

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Totally agree with James. Dedicated power line has provided a big improvement for my system. You do need to get an electrician involved to ensure best routing and optimisation of length of cable procured.

This was one upgrade that Mrs B noticed the SQ improvement without my encouragement.

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