Upgrade advice 52 or 552 or Radikal 1 Urika upgrade to Lp12

Make sure it is one with the later mechs and not the VAM1250, which are supposedly not serviceable anymore. Of course I live in hope that will be possible one day if needed and that Naim can reserve some mechs for service like they did with the CD555

My lovely 35 yo LP12 soldiers on, and I got a brand new, second LP12 this week from Peter of Cymbiosis.

Indeed that is true and look forward to getting that sorted after I retire

Hi Graham I replaced my cds2 with a Rega Isis. Loved the cds2 but the Isis is even better in my view. Also, Rega keeps two matched mechanisms for each Isis sold and there is a lifetime warranty on manufactured parts. Not sure how the warranty would transfer to a second hand purchase but the matched mechanisms would still be available. Cosmetically, the charcoal coloured Isis is a good match for Naim kit. Just a suggestion.

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Itā€™s moving in the right direction with non-DR. Latest deals on the usual place.

552/552PS non Ā£7800
Nap500 non Ā£5700
Sell 52 -Ā£3500
Sell 135s - Ā£2200

Leaves Ā£7800 to find. Fast forward 2yrs and that could be closer to Ā£5k.

Servicing costs aside, you have Ā£50k amps for the price of a used MX5 (something I have just decided not to buy as it would spend most of its life sat on my driveway).

Thanks, all, for the suggestions. Iā€™m going to try to find a Naim CDP with reasonable prospects of soldiering on, because I have so many CDs which have music that I canā€™t source on vinyl.

I will have a re-think, if that fails.

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And yes the pertinent point isā€¦ā€¦.

Iā€™m sure what you already have Dan sounds great. Time to jump off the upgrade bandwagon or try to get the LP12 as good as you can. Thatā€™s what I will do when the time comes, treat myself to a few lovely turntable upgrades

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Maybe think about the CD transports that are out there into a modern DAC. I tried this with my old Marantz CD67SE into my Auralic Altair G1 and it sounds pretty good. Of course Naim have DACs but not made anymore. Maybe some nice dealer can demo something like that for you

Perhaps itā€™s time to move to a server and streamer?!

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Dan is very quiet tonight.

I hope it is because he is enjoying listening to his wonderful new system and setup :sunglasses:

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Been a busy boy having family meal out. My son is playing his bass guitar. I had his Thorens TD160 serviced by local turntable specialist and am picking up my LP12 tomorrow morning.

Having drinks with friends with kids here tomorrow. So busy enjoyable weekend.

And yes, system sounds fantastic. In fact my son says it sounds better than 350s and 332 333 system

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The next LP12 upgrades for me will be karousel, kore and probably kandid. I loved what the Akiva brought. Amazing cartridge

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This is my boyā€™s system.

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Thorens TD160 has been serviced, was my fatherā€™s, first time in 50 years! Nice Nait 3, Rega Ela speakers, NACA5 cables

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I have Kore. Going to leave the cart for now and phonostage. See how it sounds.

With NDS sounding so good with ND5XS2 I am finding I am using streaming almost all the time. The CDS2 isnā€™t getting a look in tbh.

And the NAS drive sounds so damned good with new streaming set up. The ND5XS2 was pretty much brand new when I bought it. As streaming transport it now seems to sound better if thatā€™s possible. Mellowed a tiny bit.

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Trust me Dan - you will get back to CDs in due course and find a balance between them and streaming

Good to have both

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And I am not changing my amps or rest of my system for ages. Itā€™s done. Thereā€™s really no point. It is more than good enough. If anything it may be an idea to sell CDS2 and XPS2 if anything. I wonā€™t because it will be third time Iā€™ve done it.

Can always use on my sonā€™s system.

Best thing if anything is to buy more LPs! And see how vinyl journey goes.

The NDS 555PS with ND5XS2 is probably as good as 333 with 300.

The 52 and 135s are classic. And the CDS2 with XPS2 is a classic.

And a fantastic LP12 with Karousel. What more can a man want?

And top speakers, cabling and Fraim.

What a lucky man I am!

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Itā€™s a classic case of when you donā€™t have it you want it. And when you have it you donā€™t want it. Lol.

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LP12 been missing a few days. I miss it because itā€™s a gap on my rack. When I get it back will use it alot. Then revert mainly to streaming because itā€™s easier.

Be interesting to see if this Karousel is any good.

You have a top tonearm already so that doesnā€™t need changing. Have you considered Keel with that tonearm? Itā€™s meant to be alot better. Was told Keel would be wasted on my tonearm.

The Karousel is a big step up Dan , a great one for the price

What tonearm do you have ? I canā€™t remember

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Itā€™s a heavily modified Akito 1. Was upgraded by Audio Origami. He did everything to it. Cost me Ā£800 to upgrade it. Rewired it. New bearings and new base plate to make it more sturdy. It came back looking like a completely different tonearm. It sounded so much better. Will get some pics tomorrow for you when it comes back.

I said I wanted it to be at Ittok level and sound as good. He said it would. But dealers look at it as an Akito and itā€™s not really. Itā€™s very good.

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