The Luxman system (no idea on the models and I’m sure very expensive!) sounded amazing at Munich 2025. With YG Acoustics speakers.
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You didn’t mess up at all Jaybar.
The " they" word was used by another poster about you.
Don’t worry for a second. It was someone else who used they. I tend to use it too, as I don’t know if someone is male or female or how they identify. They covers everyone and can’t cause any offence. Congratulations on being together for 41 years; it’s a long time. I’ve been with Mrs HH since 1984, so 41 years also, and married for 39 of them.
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Think he meant 1984
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I count 31 years. So 1984 ?
Same sex marriage only became legal in NY in 2011. We met at the gay synagogue in NYC IN 1984. Great you are together so long.
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I had your exact system (333/332/250) for quite some time before adding an NPX300 to the 332. The NPX300 makes a huge difference. Personally, I don’t think the 332 is worth the $11k retail price on it’s own. It’s good, but not special. Once you add the power supply it gets quite special, but then you have a $20k preamp which then questions if another brand can provide more value.
I’m not trying to persuade you to buy an NPX300. I actually think Naim’s power supplies are insanely over priced for what they are and it’s only a matter of time before they’ve fully run their course with potential customers. It’s 2025. Naim is more than capable of designing products a bit larger if necessary and putting the proper power supply in the product from the beginning. Other brands have proven it and Naim has proven it with the realized performance of the NC250 and NC350. If they stay with this business model (seek huge profits from a basic outboard power supply), they’re setting themselves up for failure. At some point, they’ll need to cannibalize themselves to compete.
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Add the headphone amp as working!
Does the headphone amp on the 332 require break in? The headphones and headphone cable are well broken in.
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Agreed, I’d never buy one for my system out of principle alone, there’s no justification for the pricing.
I had a similar system to you a year ago (ndx2/XPSDR, SN3, HCDR, Spendor A7)
I upgraded via the OC route (252/300 see profile) rather than NC, and while I’m happy with the result I feel like I did it too fast.
If I could offer any advice it would be to just slow down and listen. Listen to lots of music and stay engaged with this forum. You don’t always have to be looking for the next best thing, sometimes you already have it!
Once everything is settled in your new system you might have a stronger feeling for what (if anything) is lacking. This also spreads the upgrade fun out!
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Always interesting to read @Jaybar posts.
I had my Linn Klimax DS3 Organik feeding a 332/300/250 so I know how wonderful the 300 NC is. I also know that every little bit of tweaking of cables and internet/routers makes a small difference until suddenly the last piece in the system suddenly makes it sing… I went full Vertere Redline and it was great. Didn’t see much from AQ Vodka internet cables until I finally put an EE8 and Farad PS just before the streamer.. that was a massive upgrade.
So my understanding is this.
- Cables are not simple wires with electrons flowing, they are dielectric conductors where the signal flows via an electromagnetic field.
- As such changes in tension in the cable, nearby interfering EMF from other cables and equipment and physical vibrations (that affect cable properties) make perceptible differences in sound.
- A hi fi system does the job of modulating a clean signal from the mains to create music. A DAC converts digital bits to analogue, but is just as susceptible to EMF as any other component, and DACs have signatures like cartridges and styli on a TT
- You only optimise your system when you close out the last sources of non signal EMF, it’s like insulating a home. It will always be cold until you seal the last draught.
- Add to that the massive impact of speaker-room interaction and it’s easy to see why the forum divides into believers and non-believers on various system tweaks.
- Music is also a psychoacoustic phenomenon and affected by taste, mood, fatigue, hearing etc, as well as justification bias around one’s own system and price points.
- It’s also very difficult to get sensible science into the discussion without the kind of ridiculous nonsense of the ASR crowd.
- Bottom line - keep and open mind and don’t dismiss something until you have really optimised everything.
To the OP, glad you’re enjoying your new system, you will see benefit in cable tweaks etc, but you need to look across the whole system to get benefit fully, and give yourself time to get used to how it sounds at each point - months…
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@BrendanD Have you got a Utopik on your KDS?
Not yet… one day.
In the Linn world of pricing, it’s relatively cheap, but it’s very, very good. Adds gravitas and authority.
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Go for it. Whilst not as dramatic an upgrade as Katalyst to Organik, it does make a big difference.
Roger
…this is becoming a debate of its own.
For me, it’s a simple matter of: get the boxes right first, and only then start thinking about cables. To try to ‘repair’ the sound by buying better interconnects implies extrapolation to: get some interconnects and then some boxes. Start with ludicrously expensive interconnects, it will save you money in the long run.
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Hi,
Actually you may end up the same place no matter how you do it.
Of course there should be limitations to the madness but the same can be said for buying boxes.
Many people will start out favoring boxes, but when you hear what power cables can do you may at least revise that feeling.
…always need to keep an open mind…but it does seem a little counter intuitive, what with all of those miles/Kms back to the power station and the last 1m making all that difference. On the other hand, I have never tried, so it would not be rational of me to say ‘no’.
Can we please not go down this road?
This is about Jaybars system and progress…not the neverending cable debates.
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