Although some forum members are particularly noisy, it is pleasant to interact with the vast majority. In that sense it is a very friendly forum.
Here is a summary of where I am.
I sold my entire Naim system. I only have a few cables left.
My new system is composed of :
Taiko Etreme (not yet received)
Soulution 760 DAC (arrived-installed)
Soulution 711 amplifier (arrived-installed)
Magico M2 (not yet received)
Nordost Valhalla 2 cables, the complete set (I will receive them next week)
I have a second set of cables : Vovox Textura Fortis. Some are prototypes. I won’t use them anymore but I keep them as reference because they were developed in collaboration with Soulution.
I have started the setup of the listening room. I brought in a technician and an electrician.
I ordered 15-16 cubic meters of Caruso Iso Bond from Germany, an alternative to rock wool. Much more expensive but with no health hazards.
I ordered 55 square meters of Camira Lucia acoustic fabric from the UK.
And finally, the whole electrical part will be new: the cables in the walls (GigaWatt), the circuit breakers (GigaWatt and Doepke), the sockets (Furutech); one electrical line one circuit breaker and one wall outlet per device.
In short, everything from the circuit breakers to the speakers has been thought for audio.
Just installed them myself
Had Chord Shawline before ( good for the money) , my first impression was that there was not one definable area (from the Phantoms) where there was distinct improvement- rather there was a warmer and more musical sound , in other words I couldn’t point to a specific area or part where there was an improvement , but the sum of the parts had clearly improved
I have a Nova and ain’t going back to multiple boxes, by adding a Powerline and the Phantoms , I feel I am maximising the sound that can be got out of the Nova - and I am very, very pleased
If you’re like me with vinyl in a different room and just need something to hold say 6 albums - try this ludicrously simple solution. Arrives flat-pack 3 pieces in an A5 envelope - just click together. £12 - £15 depending on finish.
Mrs B had put out this recipe book holder to go to a local charity shop. I requisitioned it to hold the next three selected albums in the listening que.
My previous speakers were Sonus Faber stand mounts and since I moved to floorstanding Vivid speakers I have yet another excess meter of NACA5 on each side to struggle with. I love them but d*mn it’s difficult to tuck them away and/or route them neatly in a visually acceptable way.
Based on all the positive posts here, curiosity got the better of me and I Just ordered a set of WH Phantoms. 4-ish weeks waiting just started.
In the process of installing the second system in the living room. A Uniti Atom and a pair of KEF LS50 Metas (the Atom is on the bottom shelf of the lamp table). Just waiting for a pair of Chord Rumour X cables to arrive ahead of a weekend’s tweaking and listening.
I have a pair coming this weekend, eventually destined for the Home theatre but for the next year or so they get the main gig with the Naim gear. I am moving out a pair of EPOS M12s that I am very fond of so the KEFs will have a challenge on their hands!
