Gents,
I’m Looking for a warmer/fuller presentation in my current setup whilst maintaining detail. Most of my music is streamed through tidal which I believe maybe part of problem. For £6k I can go with a used NDX2 or NDS and 252 with Supercap… my question is what would it bring or would you suggest another route?
Deegs, The boxes appear to be standing on top of each other. The floor appears to be some kind of inlay. Both of these things may be compromising your existing set. I would ask yourself if you are happy with these things before you splash the big $$$s.
Before you spend more cash on different boxes it would be a very good idea to get your existing ones on a decent support rather than on top of each other on the floor.
Deegs,
Christopher and Dave have advised precisely what I was thinking when I viewed your photo. There is a consensus forming here which, in the first instance, may save you some unnecessary outlay.
I know it’s not ideal but it was a compromise with the wife, she got the wooden unit she wanted under the tv I got the Sabrinas! if I move the boxes to the side and buy a new unit to stack then the superlumina then become too short, not to mention getting something that matched the decor will be nearly impossible…
Other than the speakers, that’s the system I own. It sounds absolutely fantastic. But there are two significant differences:
My system is fully optimised, Fraim, every cable hanging free, dedicated mains, MusicWorks G3 Ultra mains block, geeky network stuff
I don’t use Tidal, as it sounds awful on the 272
So what to do? I’d gently suggest that if you are going to pile your equipment in a heap so it sounds as bad as possible there may be no point in owning something so good. I’d get shot of that shelf thing - it has nothing on top and serves no purpose other than taking up space and being brown - and get a Fraim. You could then install Bubble UPnP on a NAS and use that for Tidal, which will raise the quality immeasurably. There are very likely other options to do this.
Deegs - there really is very little point in owning the level of equipment you have if you are not going to take the care to support it properly. If there is no option to get a Fraim or something similar then you’d be better off selling the lot as it is being given no chance to sound anywhere near what it is capable of. If the SL cable becomes too short with a rack to the side then trade your existing cable length in for a longer set.
If a dedicated rack isn’t an option perhaps you could explore some isolation feet that go under the feet of the black boxes. Quadraspire do a range which are aimed at users in just that situation and these ‘interfaces’ give much of the performance of a dedicated rack. The wife would hardly notice them. 
Hmm, not convinced. The SL interconnects would still dangle on the floor - you may as well put the £3k in the bin for all the good they’ll be doing.
I was aware that i’d come in for a bit of stick for the stacking but the system still sounds extremely good…I’m living in the Middle East and have moved around a bit in the last 6 years hence the arrangement, I am looking to settle now and have a more permanent setup but want to explore the options and take some feedback from the forum…
How about running a Roon Nucleus instead of a NAS/Bubble UPnP?
I’ll take your advise and try to find a shelving system I can try, living in the Middle East that is easier said than done
This is a consideration, have you found it makes a significant difference?
The 272 isn’t Roon Ready so Roon isnt an option.
Sorry, I’m not too good at the technical stuff. I know there is a clever way to make the 272 Roon ready by installing software on a nas. The bubble thing works easily and well, as I’ve tried it, but there may be other ways. Do try to get a really good rack - it makes a huge difference. Then once you’ve got the best fro what you’ve got you can decide what if anything to do next. I’d go with Fraim if you can - I’ve owned various racks and have yet to find anything better. It lets your wires dangle free and the boxes work at their best.
Well, I tried some on my Quadraspire rack to try to replicate on the lower shelves the performance I was getting on the top two where I have decoupled bronze upgrades. They worked very well indeed. I ended up with four sets, each added by a A/B listen on a different black box. The difference was pretty obvious, especially on the PSUs.
Doesn’t the 272 have “native” Tidal?No need for Bubble UPnP.
It does, but it sounds awful. It’s much better with Bubble.
I think everyone needs to relax and actually help Deegs rather than criticise the set up. It would be quite easy to place a couple of wooden shelves under the cabinet with glass inlays and domes, which will improve isolation and address most of the set up issues. A bit of creativity goes a long way. Cables can be hung etc to sort that out.
Then I’d recommend the NDX2 as you stream a lot and the old platform is not as stable for Tidal due to the limited buffering.
If you are keeping the cabinet, you’ll need to thing about how many boxes can be fitted in. It looks like you could hide some power supplies to the side, and there is quite a good length to work with.
Plan B could be to keep the shelf thing if there is particular affection for it, buy Fraim and set up the Fraim to the outside of one of the speakers (to the right of the right-hand speaker, or to the left of the left-hand one).
As it’s setup that needs to be addressed it’s hard to avoid being critical of the setup. It’s best to say things straight rather than fannying about and I’m sure Deegs can discriminate between helpful criticism and criticism for the sake of it.
