I’ve mentioned on here before that altho not a fan of the snake oil, mirrors & smoke approach to hifi tweaking I’m willing to accept that by & large it does work on Naim gear. FF to last weekend, Wickes [can we mention them? Other DIY type outlets exist] were knocking out foam pipe lagging at 80p for a yard or so’s length.
Back home and the long awaited but often forgotten job of cable tidying & separation is done at last. And I’m amazed at what it’s done, just by keeping cables apart and off the floor. Much improved focus, tighter bass, all in all just that bit nicer again much like when the Powerlines went in.
As cost effective tweaks go, that was 80p well spent. The receipt’s in the bin.
I think this is a tweak subject… cable dressing. Often mentioned but I don’t think I’ve seen any definitive guidelines.
Are there any?
We have signal interconnects, power lines, burndy’s, speaker cables and in my setup I certainly can’t keep everything from everything else.
Is there advice that says definitely do/don’t do this, this doesn’t really matter etc?
Would appreciate some clear advice on this.
For info I have NDS/555DR, superlumina to SN2 with HiCap DR, superlumina speaker cables and power lines throughout.
Digital source is Melco with Vodka network cable.
I kept it simple and used short lengths of lagging to create a distance between cables that would otherwise make contact with each other when hanging down behind the rack, and to lift cables clear of the wooden floor. It looks a bit neater too.
Adding a sbooster to my melco N100, by far the biggest improvement i have experienced in my naim hifi adventures over 30 years. Goes to show how crap the standard melco power adaptor is, or designed to be to hold the newer design N100 back, so not to upset the more expensive old models???
Isotek Optimum powerchords for my SN2, ND5 XS and nDac.
Melco N1 replacing Synology Server.
Absorber Panels in my living / listening room.
Using absorber feets (Bfly Audio “Pure”) under all Naim components and also the Melco - the equipment is placed on a hutter rack.
If it’s a tweak rather than upgrade purchase, then I can’t split it between my purpose made mains block connected directly to the 10mm t&e from the cu and the concrete pillars I built to support my speakers and hifi racks to eliminate a suspended floor.
No I did not try PowerLines, and I followed a recommendation of my local dealer, but not without testing them at home Also, I use an Isotek Aquarius unit since a longer time so I thought it would be more consistent to use Isotek cables.
Best tweak?
Replacing the stock PSU supplied with Rega RP6 with newer NEO PSU. The result was amazing.
Not bad for about £200. At the time, thought this was a really good value tweak (upgrade).
For what it’s worth - having conducted A/B listening with same on the Planar 6, concluded the NEO offered majority of the difference to the newer model.
Great system, I’ve almost the same (but NDX2/XPS DR) and the full loom S/L puts it on an entirely different level. I have challenges with cable dressing to due to a living room setup. I’ve tried to cover the basics: S/L I/C free and not touching other cables, furniture etc, same with the Burndy. Speaker cables and source cables clear of power cables. I apply an 80% of perfectionism principle
Mike. Thanks, yes once stabilised the SL chain gives a big improvement (for me). Are the interconnects and Burndys the main bits to focus on? Due to space I can optimise those but the power cables and speaker cables tend to be close.
Apparently, I’ve managed to have them clear of anything else.
I think close but not touching is the idea, and crossing at 90 degrees if they cross. I use foam cutouts from packaging to keep one speaker cable clear of an adjacent power cable. I use a power strip and run the power cables under the TV cabinet where I can, which helps. But it’s very much a “do the best you can” for my system as it’s in our lounge and has to fit in with family living.
Have to be honest, this is not what I was expecting to be reading.
Changing a component or a cable isn’t a tweak it’s an upgrade (or a sidestep). Tweaks are cost free or very close to it. Dressing cables, putting coins under spikes or screws into floorboards for spikes to sit in, using those green pens on a CD; they’re tweaks. One guy I know covered the perspex lid on his CDS3 with a piece of felt and swore it sounded better.
I’ve also received some tweaking tips at hifi shows. I was once told to put 3 twists per metre into my speaker cable. On another occasion, before my entry into Naim, I was advised to ditch my bi-wire speaker cable and replace it with a combo of mains cable to the bass drivers and lighting cable to the tweeters. One suggestion came from a gentleman in an anorak, the other from the representative of a loudspeaker manufacturer. I’ll leave you to decide which was which.
Regards,
Steve O.
A GOOD INSTALLATION of the music-system
Also, I use an Isotek Aquarius unit since a longer time so I thought it would be more consistent to use Isotek cables.