I think I am barking the wrong humor , more probably.
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Adding an XPS2 to my then CDX2. I wasnāt expecting much, but the XPS2 brought the CDX2 to a new level, a complete transformation. The same XPS2 is now powering my CDS3, thatās 15 years of dedicated service. Guess I should get it serviced at some point.
Claude
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Chris, I reckon your answer pretty much nailed it, so not a lot more for anyone to add!
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Just how good an old Pioneer A400 amp can sound when connected to a pair of Credos. Set back my plans to upgrade to SN3 etc, etc by months whilst I enjoyed what Iād missed for 30 years 
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Thanks. It doesnāt seem that long ago that an SBL set up thread could potentially generate pages and pages. All I did today was pass on the help that Naim support gave me when I owned my first pair 
Now back to the threadā¦
The influence of ethernet environment (cables, switches, servers etc.) on streamers, or more specifically Naim streamers in my system, room.
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A dedicated switch. I couldnāt understand it first, when bought the Nds.
Why a switch? I have already ethernet ports on my router.
Then finally bought a cheap netgear switch and was astonished by the upgrade for less than 30 euros.
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Adding a HiCap to a SN2 - Iād read about using dedicated PSUs of course, but really didnāt expect the improvement to be as big as it was. Also how difficult it is to choose speakers in a dealers - if / when I next do that, home auditioning will be mandatory.
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When I took my 552 out for servicing and replaced it with a loaner 72 - 20+ years old, probably unserviced - I was bracing myself for disappointment. Instead, I was so surprised by what I heard that I ended up buying it. I always had a soft spot for the 72, but this convinced me that itās one of the best amps Naim ever produced.
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Accidentally, I placed my stand mount speakers upside down on their low, angled stand. I have found the sound so much better: softer, more subtle but at the same time more detailed and the bass that Iāve come to appreciate . Iāve kept them like that ever since. I keep the grills on so no one notices and questions me on my stupidity - āTheir upside downā¦duh!ā
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the sound of a cornwall IV in a small room
so many years I was happy with my harbeth
the sound of the Cornwall is so ellegantā¦
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As in Klipsch?
After attending quite a few Hi Fi shows, the amount of large and expensive music systems that sounded bad to awful. Most of the small stuff was decent if not better.
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Years ago, I didnāt understand the fundamentals of avoiding the use of power conditioning/surge suppressing devices with Naim amps. I was using my Nait XS (mk 1) plugged into a PS Audio UPC-200 for a couple of years b/c I was afraid of lightning strikes and it sounded ok, but not until reading the wisdom of this fine forum did I remove the UPC-200, plugging the XS straight into the wall and it was such a revelation, all the dynamics came back, it was like the music was being suppressed all these years and I was kicking myself for not removing it sooner. I sold the UPC-200 the next day. Now looking to have a dedicated mains installed.
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Firing up an old pair of Rogers LS1ās that were going to be binned and been blown away by a midrange that surpasses my Spendor A7ās. Once you readjust to the smaller scale and lack of bottom end (rated at 75hz) theyāre a seriously compelling listen, I now have a mini monitor itch that needs scratching, Spendor 4/5ās perhaps.
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That sounds like a good result. All the more so as you are no longer under the illusion that you have any sort of protection against lightning strikes. A surge protector cannot provide protection against the huge currents of a lightning strike. You need to unplug mains cables and copper network connectors to have any chance of that.
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Iād say mine is threefold, with two coming recently:
ā¢ My first foray into so-called Hi-Fi coming from a simple Yamaha and carousel-type CD player: a Rotel RA-1070 Integrated and 1072 CD player. Iāll simply never forget what that experience was likeācompletely transformative in how I looked at and heard music reproduction. It made me truly realize what potential there was in the daily music ritual of listening.
ā¢ The acquisition of a Chord Qutest DAC. Iāve always wondered what the big deal was, but thought my Benchmark or internal CD player/streamer DAC was good enough. Iāve tried a few along the way and was always pretty ho-hum about the results. It took a Rega Saturn-R DAC to make me realize thereās something to this; that it can make an exceptional difference. I read too much online. The Chord curiosity got the best of me and I bought oneā¦and boy am I glad. Iām certain thereās ābetterā out there or the higher up one goes in the Chord hierarchy, but Iāve never heard my digital sound this incredible. Never.
ā¢ Spendor D7 speakers. Simply remarkable transducers in nearly every sense. Iāve typically stuck to ProAcs and Harbeths with a few straddlers in-between, along with plenty of demos, and have beamed many a year about how the many models Iāve owned or heard can reproduce music to my particular taste, but something was always lacking in one respect or another. Until these, really. The D7 does so many things right and very little wrong in my estimation. I have yet to stop a session and think something was missing; or worse: during listening get bored or drift off in thought, making me cut the track and leave the room. Itās early, and we all have our days with our equipment, but so far every day these two diminutive two-and-a-half way beauties seem to pull something off new in recordings I thought I knew front-to-back, and sometimes startle me in how they project a venue or a holographic trick I wasnāt expecting in albums I hadnāt heard yet. Itās really fun. It makes me child-like happy when I listen. Very rare in this hobby. If not rare, then fleeting I suppose. I had never before experienced how a speaker can be so consistently expressive. I mean, an inanimate object that can make you chuckle or give you a chill; a tear in your eye or a shake of the head when a recording ends.
Each of these surprising? Iād say so.
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most unexpected surprise -
First Naim system (CD5x/112x/150x/flacap), dealer set-up (after demo of CD5x) sounding significantly less than stellar.
I suppose I wouldnāt still be here now if I hadnāt noticed the speakers were set up out of phase.
.sjb
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Linn Karousel. Best $550 (with trade of Cirkus) Iāve ever spent.
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