My current status of testing shows that Ultimate give the best balanced performance on my 555PSDR + NDS. I believe that is where you @frenchrooster placed your Sarum T too?
Will get back to full loom Powerline on naim boxes this weekend and see where I end up. I will at least keep one Ultimate between wall and Puritan 156. Powerlines do add some low end warmth/omph which often is less so with other cables IME. PL however is not as transparent as some other power cables. PL is bit like Lavender and NACA5 to me if you compare to say Superlumina, higher end Chord cables and such.
As always it’s a balance act and try to find out what you prefer the most and not only short term but more important long term. It’s easy to get tricked by the first impression which is not always the best choice longterm.
It all started with a conversation with my Linn dealer where i already bought a few Sondeks in the early '90s, showing a possible interest again for a new one in the future. Then he showed mesome plinths and i approved the one you see, so he started building one for me. When i changed my idea, it was not a nice move to tell him, i’m sorry, i joked and wanna give up now. So it’s now out for sale, the Rega P3 is more than enough for me. Possibly i’d get rid of the best part of my vinyl
It certainly is an extraordinary player. Actually i had already sort of set my mind on the Rega Isis, but my dealer insisted i have a good listen to the Viking before deciding. It only took a couple of hours listening to it at home on my own system and the decision was made. At nearly half the price of the Isis it really was a no brainer. In many ways i prefer the Viking to the Isis. It wasn’t until i had actually paid for the Viking my dealer told me that he preferred it to the Isis as well and he sells both
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I am determined to avoid expensive cables for three reasons. The first is that while accepting that there is a difference, with high end (very expensive) cables their performance ‘changes’ are not worth the money.
The second is that their performance will be different and not necessarily better and as I am not a tweaker, I don’t care about what difference they make!
The third reason is that I do not believe that my ageing ears are really worth that effort and I really want to just listen to good music and not obsess over my HiFi.
Controversial comments obviously but I try to work within my limitations. I generally like to improve on the supplied cables (except the lavender din and XLR for 332 to 350) and like a bit of standardisation particularly with my mains. I have the Puritan PSM156 conditioner and Puritan Classic plus cables throughout which for me is far enough.
I do however enjoy reading about other people’s experiences like yours for example with the Ultimate.
That’s a very healthy approach Used Powerlines I would say is the best bang for the buck if you own Naim gear. No money to loose on such a purchase either since they hold their price on the used market year after year.
And I do agree that it’s sometimes challenging to understand if it’s better or just different. That’s my struggle in this current test with Ultimate on other places than wall → 156.
There are some things I’ve never struggled with. NAP500, 552, NDS and Superlumina DIN DIN. Love at first notes leaving the speaker cones and they continuously amaze me.
Yes it is good to hear that you have some definite keepers in your system, particularly the super-lumina din.
For me I feel sorted with my 300 series and mains set up. The super lumina is too expensive for me but I am curious about the lavender din to din and if it can be bettered by XLR. Naim seem to still recommend din although the 332 and 333 have balanced XLR capability. If XLR May be the way forward then I would probably look at the chord epic simply because I have the epic rca interconnect from my Blu ray to 332 and use chord epic speaker cable. I seem to have a bias towards standardisation and perceived synergy!
Your first two points are personal and valid.
The third, I will not argue, but just give my experiences. About 2009, I was 59, wearing hearing aids for mild/moderate hearing loss (dearly beloved a bit younger but also with aids), our employer decided to turn our office into a contact centre. Eight hours a day, crap headphones clamped to your ears, micro-managed, to the extent that the IT system put up a red flag if your toilet break exceeded 2 minutes 17 seconds. We stopped going to cinema, concerts, restaurants, watched TV only with subtitles, the stereo was never switched on. Fast forward to 2013, following extended time off work due to a family tragedy, we ventured to the Bristol Show where we got talking to the wonderful Nigel Finn of Chord Company. We voiced those same concerns and explained why. At that time they were demonstrating the effect of interconnects between a music source and headphone amplifier (I know, headphones = ironic), moving through four RCA cables from their range. We were not wearing aids due to the general hubbub and could both easily hear the improvements/changes. We came away with a pair of interconnects and Nigel discussed changes and options by email. One persons empathy, enthusiasm has given us ten years of musical fun.
So possibly, set a cash limit, see if you can borrow some cables within that budget, perhaps a bit more enjoyment?
2 new tweeters for my 20 year old ATC SCM12s. Purchased from Willy’s Hifi on the advice of Ben Lilly at ATC. A remarkable difference from first switch on, surely only to get better as they run in. Easy to fit too.
Picked up a Rega alignment protractor for my P8.
For years I’ve been using a Dr Feickert mk1 to set up the cart. The Rega has had me move the cart further back in the headshell, has anyone else noticed that?
Not sure which one Rega use but if you compare say Baerwald to Stevenson the difference in how the cart ends up is pretty different. I preferred Baerwald when I had a turntable.
My first new thing in absolutely ages. I bought it new on eBay for under £120, compared to the new price of £270; a bargain too good to resist. It’s certainly very red.
Bought another (used) Farad 3 for my Lindemann Bridge II replacing Sbooster Have one Farad 3 on my EE8 already. Great product. And so is Sbooster but my trigger happy finger slipped. I blame the
Thank you for sharing your personal experiences. While I said my ears are ageing, I do not have to wear aids yet (touch wood) and really enjoy my music. Obviously, a HiFi system only gives a version of what is actually going on so there is always scope for improvement. However, there is an ever increasing financial cost in chasing this SQ Nirvana. My comments were meant to convey that I may not be able to determine/appreciate small differences so why waste my money?
This obviously applies to high end or esoteric cables. As you point out, I may try some more ‘affordable’ XLRs (£600 or thereabouts) on a sale or return basis.
Used Powerlines I would say is the best bang for the buck if you own Naim gear. No money to loose on such a purchase either since they hold their price on the used market year after year.
