Thanks for your advice. I think what I was really getting at was would the Atom HE sound better or as good as an ND5 XS2 if listening directly through the HE with headphones as opposed to listening to the ND5 through the Nait 50 with headphones. I would fully expect the ND5 to sound better than the HE through speakers going into the Nait. Due in the very least that the HE has an RCA output and double preamp out potentially degrading the signal. I wonder if anybody has compared this scenario?
The Falcon Q7 are also infinite baffle, generally my preference too. Slightly deeper cabinet increasing volume hence bass. Possibly not much in it vs LS3/5a.
I have not compared this particular combo, but had plenty of experience with 2 preamps in a system, starting dac-v1/SN2 and later with dac-v1/82/250. My only intention was to use the V1 as a dac only, but unfortubately its preamp stage cannot be bypassed, so this little detail always bothered me, regardless of the superior preamp I had when there was the 82 in my setup. When I finally decided to change my dac, I bought an nDac, this āsmallā change was a revelation and transformed my system entirely, like there was something blocking the system to sound as it was supposed to sound.
In general I would avoid any redundant links within the entite chain.
Thanks for your advice. Yes, the more I think of it, it would irk me too knowing I wasnāt getting the purest signal even if I couldnāt tell the difference!
And there lies the madness of this hobby!
Just let your ears decide.
Amen
Agh ok..thanks for correcting me.
Iāve used Vertere redline for some weeks but just put Lavender grey back and must say it sounds wonderful on Nait50. Coherent, dynamic and musical. Iāll leave it like this for a while now
Bit curious about those DNM interconnects..
Those DNMs are very much worth a try.. they kind of put all that discussion of āmusicalā and āhifiā behind you and simply become pretty well ātransparentā⦠so you can get closer to the sound of the production rather than the colouration of the production. (some productions are not musical!)
I have tried many interconnects - some superficially engaging - and others create a āmusicalityā that doesnāt really exist in the production⦠- and others are quite transparent - but I often hear a lumpiness somewhere in the bandwidth that I find a detraction. Those DNMs just seem to get on with it in my experience.. but yes you need good speakers and electronics as they wonāt jazz or spice things up if the electronics and/or speakers smother it, or filter if there is added roughness.
I do recommend HFTN modules in the plugs.. they tend to stifle any background RF circulating currents that can otherwise affect the amp stages and line out stages.
I have DNMās from Qutest to the 50. Replaced Lavender. Neither is better, DNM just a bit lighter.
I also tried DNMās into my Michi. Didnāt work very well at all! Instant removal.
I like the groove in Lavender so I guess Iāll stay there for now ![]()
I replaced the Lavender with a (used) Superlumina DIN. The tonal balance is very similar, but the SL delivers significantly more resolution and presence. The Lavender sounds dull in comparison. The upgrade was one of the best so far with the Nait 50, more than Full Powerline on the Nait 50.
interesting lavander and Hiline are very different from DNM. Both have pros and cons through actual physics. DNM uses parallel ribbon cable which has quite different electrical characteristics from coax cable. They will affect small signals differently⦠whether you prefer the pass through or coax shielded conditioning will be a matter of taste, but they are quite different in terms of interaction.. certainly noticeable on high end. I prefer the DNM HFTNs .. which in theory you can use on coax as well as they impede low level RF.. certainly useful with DACs and CD players connecting to a preamp.
I found I loved my lavander cables on my FM tuners.. but digital components I found DNM inherently more natural sounding. Hiline is rather good, but I find it accentuates some parts of the pass band to slightly exaggerate āmusicalityā. For some more acoustic genres this I find can become detracting, but impressive for other production styles. DNM ribbon cable.. which are like PCB tracks, I just find more neutral.. but donāt draw attention.
Oneās mileage will vary on taste, but electrically ribbon and coax are different.. and really would be quite incredible if you managed to get to sound the same.
Specifically DNM ribbon cable geometry have very low capacitance with regard to the audio band pass frequencies so is less of a complex load to the driving line out stage, usually resulting to less frequency filter and resonance across the higher frequencies in the pass band. The exact benefit will vary on the design of the source line out. The down side of DNM ribbon cable if for optimum performance they should be physically routed in as much free space as possible, whereas coax is not as sensitive.
Iāve had Super Lumina in my former 552/500 system and enjoyed it and use SL speaker cables now so that is a likely path when I find a used pair ![]()
Lavender has its limitations on bandwidth but it has a very nice flow to it together with its coherence which make it such a great cable in Naim systems.
Never mind my reply to Blackbird, not sure how to just delete a reply.
Tap the 3 dotsā¦then the bin.
Thanks Neil!
Just out of interest, has anyone compared a Nait 50 to an Enleum Amp-23r, a Chord TToby (yes Iām aware that it is a power amp) or even a Temple Audio Bantam One. The Enleum is much more expensive but the Bantam One is circa Ā£1200 with a remote (Ā£1080 without) and the Chord can be bought used for similar money to a new Nait 50 (here in the UK).
I had the tToby power amp with my Auralic Altair Streamer/DAC/Pre-amp and it worked very well with a detailed smooth sound. I eventually changed it a Nait 50 which to me sounded marginally better . I now have a NSC 222 Front end into the Nait 50. You would not be disappointed with the tToby but the Nait 50 is similar in SQ dependant on your front end.
Thank you - very useful. Front end would be a DAC V1 for this system.