All quite interesting. What was the NDX 2 feeding into in your demo? The NSC222 or the NAC 332?
I ask as I had originally thought I’d go NC 222/250 instead of NDX 2/SN3, although I was concerned that the NDX 2 would be a better streamer, but the 333/332 appears to big a big step up over both, without the need to add an NPX 300. Of course it cost more, but from various views I’ve read on this forum the step up seems to be worth it. So I have decided I need to demo the 300 series against the 200 as you have to try to make up my mind if it’s worth it.
The NDX 2 was paired with the NCS 222 to get a fair comparison. I think the NDX 2 outperform the NCS 222. With that said I don’t want to say that NCS 222 is bad. I’m definitely not a hifi guru just a big musiclover.
I forgot to take a pic of my previous round of DIY power cord components, so I grabbed a pic of the assembled parts. Purchased some DPS-4.1 cable, S022N cable & another FI-50 NCF (R) plug. The assembled DPS-4.1/FI-50 NCF (R) seems to be fully run in & I would say its an outstanding sounding PC. I have an assembled S022N/FI50M NCF (R)/15+(G) running on my streamer with the intention of trying on my DAC & phono stage.
My last purchase included another FI-50M NCF (R), a couple FI-28 (G) & 4M of the S55N to make 2 more cords. My plan is to see if the S022N or S55N is a better match to my DAC & phono, FI-50M NCF (R) will be on the plug end, going to try the FI-28 (G) on the IEC end to start, if gold is a good match, probably swap to the FI-46 NCF, if too much warmth/lack of transparency, will try the FI-50 NCF (R) on that end as well.
I would like to know of the results of your experimentation, if you would care to share. I am considering different plugs & IEC connectors on my Sean Jacobs power block and the Furutech items you mention are what I have in mind.
Thanks for sharing. Yes, I would also be interested in your further experiences. The approach with Furutech Power Cords including NCF is not so common in the forum so far. Therefore, it is a new perspective with Naim.
Is this to go between the wall & power block? Are you interested in the DPS cable or just the AN series? I’m curious to hear what the AN does, seems to be very well regarded & performs far above what OFC copper should, the nano gold/silver appears to bring the performance of this wire up substantially. My previous PC were made from Neotech 3200 (9awg solid core OCC copper, multiple smaller awg wires to make up the size, teflon insulation) & Neotech 3001 (believe 10awg, stranded OCC). One of the DIY suppliers in the US believes that the DPS is the best, with the 3200 & N55S tied for second, followed up by the 3001. So its rather impressive that just a average insulation, stranded OFC copper can perform at the level with what should be a far superior construction of OCC solid core copper/teflon insulation & perform better then other OCC copper. The AN series should be warmer sounding vs the DPS, but the DPS will be more transparent. With my acoustically treated, dedicated supply listening room, I could see using DPS cable throughout but my concern is I believe my current speakers are just on the cooler side of neutral & don’t want to remove too much warmth. That’s why the thought of the AN series on the DAC & phono would be a good match. At a certain quality of wire, the ends likely have more impact on sound vs the wire itself. The FI-50 NCF, while expensive are exceptional, so if you can get a warmer cable with these ends (that are very neutral/don’t add any warmth but are very transparent & remove harshness at the same time), seems like the best route.
This is largely in agreement with my experience of the differences, only I have found that Furutech cables have not worked for me so well on source equipment (I have not however tried the DPS 4.1). Even with other OCC cables with good Furutech connectors I’ve ended up using them mostly for amplifiers and for wall connection ensuring quality current supply and less so much noise modulation and transparency (if that’s a word for mains). Equally, good quality cables from Shunyata and Wireworld have not been so convincing with amps but excellent with sources.
So I am now using them in this way for my setups and you can see a solid core OCC and the Neotech 3001 which I use for higher current and to the wall (most benefit in bass and articulation), which my NC250 seems to like (especially the solid core?) very much. For the NSC222 I am still deciding between the WW Silver Electra and Shunyata Delta NR.
Just bought preloved CDPS555DR, looking forward to connecting this up to my CD555 alongside my existing CDPS555DR to squeeze every bit of detail out of my CD’s. This really will need to be it on upgrades for the foreseeable, if only I was confident of this!
I’m curious on your experiences & what all you’ve tried. Seems as though there’s some interest on here about Furutech components, maybe I’ll start another thread if people are interested, to prevent clutter in this one.
Unless you have identical systems in identical rooms, with identical sound preferences, you can never say specifically what will work for someone else, but I find if there is some good discussion & people have tried multiple items, its a good reference for someone to find a starting point on what may work well in their setup, especially since you typically won’t be able to listen to DIY parts before the purchase.
Time to crawl around the attic. I just got two 100’ lengths of Belden Cat6 CMR-rated ethernet cable, to connect the 2nd floor music room (NDX2) and bedroom (LG TV, AppleTV, Naim Mu-so2) from the 2nd floor office switch. I have a Cisco Catalyst 2960G in both office and music room, but think I will eliminate the one in the music room and move it to first floor where the Fiber modem/router (1 Gb service) are. The NDX2 will connect via the 100’ cable to the office switch. I don’t really need a switch in the music room anymore. The Roon server was moved to the first floor where the router is.
So the topography will be: 1 Gb fiber → provider router (IP passthrough → tp-link Deco 6E mesh router → 1st Floor Cisco 2960G —> 2nd Floor Cisco 2960G → NDX2. The Intel NUC running Roon ROCK/Qobuz will be on the 1st Floor Cisco 2960G. The two Deco 6E mesh nodes have ethernet backhaul.
Your post triggered something that I have been thinking about. In the many posts I have seen about network cables, I have seen very little discussion around length of run. I am running a long length to a POE switch (with no PS), which has the NDS and Core plugged into it. I have been wondering if this configuration would be better than having a long length to a streamer. Now that I have written this, I’ll need to test it out myself, but has anyone else done any listening to compare a streamer with a long ethernet cable to a long run/switch/short run?
I was originally thinking that you should try it before making the effort to run the cable, but then realized that the worst case if there is a large sound difference would be to get another switch to terminate it.
Another factor that might play in is the generation of streamer. Older circuitry might be more sensitive, but wanted to throw it out there if any one has any experience with the question. (My NDS has been rock solid and never loses connections, but others have had issues…)
If your cables are in spec you can run Cat6 up to 100 m and they will be fine, especially for the lower bandwidth requirements we need for audio streaming. I’m not even at a third of that. I have Cat6a for the run between 1st and 2nd floor, but everything else is just Cat6. Honestly, it could all be Cat5e and I probably wouldn’t notice a different on anything. Cat6a is stiffer and more pricey, but Cat6 is really not much more costly than 5e, so that’s what I use. Also, the cables I’m using are individually tested to make sure they meet Category spec. A lot of fancy-pants boutique cables don’t even meet that criteria.
