Yes - and it shows that digital is not the enemy per se as some analogue diehards would have it - just needed the advent of better digital replay, with now far better DACs available than a few years ago - though of course the vinyl character isn’t added, so a negative for people who prefer it (unless, of course, a vinyl album is ripped to digital).
I don’t know what is vinyl character added. For me true analog Lps sound just more real and with more true tone colors.
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I found that even a 72 could easily show each upgrade I made to the Linn. You will have no difficulty hearing the improvements the Karousel brings (one of the biggest upgrades Linn have ever brought out, imo). You’re in for a treat. I’m sure Julian would me more than impressed with the current state of the art at Linn.
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I won’t respond here as discussing the effect on the sound caused by creating and replaying from vinyl is rather way off topic.
I agree
Maybe it’s time for this tec to filter through…
As Naim introduced hdmi in the Uniti range to extend the use beyond dads music room perhaps now is the time to extend the reach of the classic range.
Anyone know why Naim makes source and pre-amp/integrateds that have such mismatched output voltage and input sensitivity within the same manufacturer product range? I understand the modern source levels are somewhat consistent in the industry but it seems really odd that their own products wouldn’t be better matched with each other.
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I think the input sensitivity of 75mv was absolutely consistent from way back. Most sources were low output analogue devices. Lower sensitivity inputs started with Statement and were inherited on the 272 that came after. But thinks like the current analogue NACs simply predate that.
That’s just my guess. It’s not a fact.
The sources are set at the industry Red Book standard for CD/digital output of 2V.
Which makes an input sensitivity of 75mV in the modern day ridiculous… Surely this due some attention from Steve Sells so that people can make better use of the available volume control range!
Thanks, so apparently for quite some time. Do you happen to know why the pres’ volume adjustment was not changed to cope? I have this new 252 and while I love it all around:
- With NDX2 input, the volume poti is unbalanced up to approx 7:45 (above this it is perfectly balanced, below this, the right channel gradually disappears and I have to adjust balance when listening at what I consider night-time levels - the speakers are not overly sensitive with 89 dB at 1W at 1m)
- And too loud for an apartment with NDX2 input when above ca. 9:30.
So a rather small useful part of the travel of the volume poti
Not this again…
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It’s the one really annoying thing with the pres that fits the topic of the thread
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I believe the sensitivity is due to the gain of the pre-amps, which was kept as it was because it sounded best that way, and it also had the fortuitous advantage of ensuring compatibility across the line as well as being backward compatible.
Understandable, but the forwards compatibility is so-so 
Do you happen to know if unbalanced up to 7:45 is acceptable? It seems excessive. I borrowed my dealer’s 252 and it does not have the issue at all, volume centered nearly down to 0. My 252 was sent back to the distributor who said that they would put in a “selected poti, best we have”, and when it came back it was frankly not different at all - or, well, the only difference was that apparently they put the balance knob on a different notch so now the LED is not centered at normal levels. Which obviously did nothing to fix the real problem.
I did try to get a hold of my dealer to discuss this, and I am sure they would be super helpful as always, but it is difficult right now with Christmas looming and a full lockdown starting tomorrow. In any case, it would be helpful to know what Naim considers acceptable.
(and frankly the “work” by the distributor is a bit disappointing - me driving units back and forth, not having new unit at home, etc., and then not only no discernible improvement but making it worse)
Edit a few months later in case anyone comes across this in a search: I was too hard on the distributor as I was being a bit confused by the whole situation. They did NOT recenter the balance knob as far as I can tell. The exchanged volume pot DID make a difference; not huge, but it did make it so that volume is balanced down to 7:30 (not 7:45 as I wrote - maybe this got better over time? I don’t know), when previously it was unbalanced below 8:00. This was actually a useful improvement that fixed the issue in most listening scenarios. I only go lower than 7:30 if it’s after midnight and listening to bass heavy music. So all good. If you encounter the issue (as others have, too), I suggest talking to dealer/Naim.
It’s the Red Book that’s wrong and has been since it was written. Why was the output voltage set so high? To try and give CD a much needed edge over vinyl, things sound more impressive in a comparison if they’re louder. We then get the loudness wars down the line and Chord going for an output of 3V to make matters even worse. It’s the audio equivalent of polyphosphates.
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I am just guessing, but possibly the CD output level arose from the voltage levels already in existence for digital signals pre digital audio, the conversion process to an analogue waveform simply yielding a voltage level in the Volt range, and it seeming a negative step to reduce it to then have to amplify again.
It does seem to me that preamp inputs are unnecessarily sensitive, though I understand it if they are designed for lower level analogue inputs - though an attenuator on the digital inputs would make more sense than using the VC over only 1/10th of its travel.
Better would be a separate preamp section designed for the level of digital source signals, or of course if no analogue sources the higher sensitivity input can be dispensed with completely - or the preamp can be dispensed with completely if either the VC and suitable buffering etc are incorporated in the DAC, or if it is incorporated in a power amp, given that there is not the same need for separation at the voltage levels concerned. Incorporating in the DAC, as for example Chord has done, makes sense because it enables the usual wide choice of pre-existing power amps.
And yet a Chord DAC was a solution to this problem for me. My 282 had a ridiculously limited usable volume range requiring the tiniest nudge to adjust it. Dialling down the variable volume of a Chord DAC (first Hugo, then Dave) was a great way to attenuate the excessive 2.1V output from my NDX.
I believe CD players in the 80s started around 1.5v and have been creeping up ever since. But the mid 90s everything was >2v.
I have a feeling that a new all in one streamer/pre/power will come out soon and a new streamer pre but for me the more interesting question is, where amplification is concerned have Naim been left behind by the competition over that period?
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