so.. whats in a Naim ?

[mpw]

continuing with the football trend - there has been a substitution !

The Philips CD960 has taken the field inplace of the Philips CD750 which will be on the bench and resting....well played CD750 !

for those of you who want to know what the Philips CD960 looks like and is supposed to feel like here is an article..

http://www.audiophile.no/en/articles-tests-reviews/item/1821-philips-cd960

I quote - “But the simple fact is a lot of what is old isn’t out of date. And a lot of what is new will soon go out of date.”

 

[mpw]

am contemplating some cryo treated power cords for the amp and CD player..

The phono too will get the treatment if things work out for me..

thats a few weeks away though..

 

[mpw]

here is the cryo treated power cord for my CD Player Philips CD 960



tried it out yesterday for an hour..

I find i need a good heavy extension board as the weight of the plug is not able to be taken by the wall sockets.

am using a normal belkin extension board temporarily - or maybe permanent if can find a way to make the extension board sit properly - face up

regards

 

[mpw]

for comparison - this is the original one..

 

[mpw]

what have i lost ?
what have i gained ?

i will know
only if i feel something's not right
or is something so right ??

that i have been a fool all along ???

 

[mpw]

The power cable is 10 Gauge - a supposed sweet spot.

Let me attempt to describe what i have gained :-

the volume levels - now 9 o clock volume level - i get very good o/p
At 10 o clock - there is strong reason to turn down the volume control
the lower frequencies are highlighted
so i am hearing more on the same CD's - cliche ???
but i dont think - at the cost of midrange or highs ( maybe a better pair of ears can judge)
the subwoofer is OFF and disconnected - surprise surprise !!
I feel the speakers are happy - sometimes too happy - they sing like nobody's watching !

my room is

untreated - save for the sofas etc.. - but thats at a 14 ft distance from the speakers.
only luxury is a carpet in front of the speakers - sometimes
right speaker side is open - no wall

I wonder :-

a. I am discovering new things with audio that makes my previous level of happiness pale

b. I am discovering that the basics if done right - can lead to a very very satisfying experience. But for this to happen - there is a certain level of product excellence to be reached.

c. The source - the data on the CD and the CD player itself - have a bearing on the dB levels of final o/p
( a simple change of power cord of the CD player does so much ?? )

d. The SN2 cryo power cord ( also 10 gauge ) will reach me next month or so..I wonder what awaits me then..

regards

 

[Mi_10]

The power cable is 10 Gauge - a supposed sweet spot.

Let me attempt to describe what i have gained :-

the volume levels - now 9 o clock volume level - i get very good o/p
At 10 o clock - there is strong reason to turn down the volume control
the lower frequencies are highlighted
so i am hearing more on the same CD's - cliche ???
but i dont think - at the cost of midrange or highs ( maybe a better pair of ears can judge)
the subwoofer is OFF and disconnected - surprise surprise !!
I feel the speakers are happy - sometimes too happy - they sing like nobody's watching !

my room is

untreated - save for the sofas etc.. - but thats at a 14 ft distance from the speakers.
only luxury is a carpet in front of the speakers - sometimes
right speaker side is open - no wall

I wonder :-

a. I am discovering new things with audio that makes my previous level of happiness pale

b. I am discovering that the basics if done right - can lead to a very very satisfying experience. But for this to happen - there is a certain level of product excellence to be reached.

c. The source - the data on the CD and the CD player itself - have a bearing on the dB levels of final o/p
( a simple change of power cord of the CD player does so much ?? )

d. The SN2 cryo power cord ( also 10 gauge ) will reach me next month or so..I wonder what awaits me then..

regards

Quite interesting. Definitely every chain in audio matters so you scale up higher levels !

Are you also planning to get the Cryo Power cord for the Amplifiers ? will that make a difference ?

 

[mpw]

yes - my past point mentions that ( SN2 = Naim Supernait2 )

I am anxious to see what level of improvement can there be further possible ??

or will there be a plateau reached ?

or will it be counter productive ?

 

[Mi_10]

yes - my past point mentions that ( SN2 = Naim Supernait2 )

I am anxious to see what level of improvement can there be further possible ??

or will there be a plateau reached ?

or will it be counter productive ?

Ahh missed the Naim Jargon.

IMHO, it may not bring so much of an upliftment as it brought to your CD player. Simple reason being Philips being Philips and Naim being Naim!

But then that's just my guess, would be interested know the outcome.

I however dont think it will be counter productive, unless this upgrade changes the signature / tonal itself (which is likely not the case)

 

[mpw]

it does appear - the CD player power cord was a "bottleneck"

otherwise there can be no explanation..

the improvement is sound is not subtle - that i know.

 

[Hari Iyer]

For my tube power amp, I had DIY my power cords using two pai r of 18 SWG enamled solid pure copper wire with additional fiber glass insulated sleeve with one wire on line and other on earth, the second pair had one wire on neutral and the other on earth. All wires were twisted. It made a huge difference to my sound stage.

 

[spirovious]

Thicker and pure copper power cables presented bigger soundstage than thinner whenever l compared in same setup.

 

[mpw]

These are from another forum..
============================================================
The C7 plug can be inserted either way round. It has been noted that you can get a big difference in the sound by reversing the C7 plug.

Try it and see - does your new cable sound even better, or worse ? Try with the original cable - that should also be different one way or the other. It may equal your new cable when the “best “ way up.
=============================================================================

Even with the original skinny cable - they ask me to try reverse polarity - and try the sound. They say the original cable should perform better than it was doing if not match up to the new cable.

scary isnt it ??

but i wont do any of this - simply because all this freaks me out...

maybe you can try in your setups and see..

regards

 

[jls001]

( a simple change of power cord of the CD player does so much ?? )

Yes, it does.

If you have the inclination to experiment further, you'll also find that a particular gauge of wire can be more suited for a particular device (typically thicker for more power hungry devices, and vice versa). Another recent finding (at least for me) is not all our gears benefit equally from better power cables --- some gears show greater improvement when swapping the same power cable across different gears (power cable being the only variable). I feel the gear with the weakest power supply unit benefits most.

Regarding polarity, it must not be taken lightly I feel. I've never had an audio gear go bad on me due to reversed polarity but my washing machine's control board blew thrice and each time the cost of repairing was 2500-3000. On the fourth occasion the technician who came to check discovered that the wall socket which powers the machine had live and neutral reversed. He corrected it and the washing machine has been working well ever since (3 years now).

If using American power cables please check the polarity of the power at the IEC end of the power cable, especially if you're using an universal type power outlet to power an American power cable because the live and neutral of Indian/UK power sockets are the reverse of American.

Assuming you're looking at the IEC socket of your device (male), the three blades form a triangle. Assume that the base is below and the head is up (it could also be aligned opposite of this, or even sideways). With base down and head up, the left blade on the base must be live. Plug in your American power cord into a power outlet and use a tester to check that this particular blade is the one that glows. If not, swap the live and neutral in the power cable or at the outlet. Hope I've not confused anyone

 

[Mi_10]

Yes, it does.

If you have the inclination to experiment further, you'll also find that a particular gauge of wire can be more suited for a particular device (typically thicker for more power hungry devices, and vice versa). Another recent finding (at least for me) is not all our gears benefit equally from better power cables --- some gears show greater improvement when swapping the same power cable across different gears (power cable being the only variable). I feel the gear with the weakest power supply unit benefits most.

Assuming that some of the weakest link in many setups is the Power Supply unit, dont you think an upgrade via external power supply (18 - 24v ) will make a lot of sense. For the equipments seen in this thread itself, wont something like a Flatcap XS, add more value ?

 

[jls001]

Assuming that some of the weakest link in many setups is the Power Supply unit, dont you think an upgrade via external power supply (18 - 24v ) will make a lot of sense. For the equipments seen in this thread itself, wont something like a Flatcap XS, add more value ?

PSU upgrades are always helpful.

Regarding Flatcap XS, I'm not aware of the Naim ecosystem. The OP @mpw would be able to comment.

 

[mpw]

Naim has power supply upgrades for almost everything in their classic range. The belief ( scientific ) is that power supply improvement is the best way to experience better sound from the same system and according to their philosophy the customer can choose to buy upgraded power supplies when financially convenient.

Ofcourse - these are many who do not like this policy but thats the way it goes...

In case of the Supernait2 - The HiCap DR is the recommended power supply updrade and its very costly.

Besides i want to keep my box count down so i will not opt for it at this stage.

 

[Hari Iyer]

Cool, I am in the process of upgrading my input power to all my gears using a Balanced isolation transformer. Hope my gamble pays well.

 

[mpw]

wanted to use the DIN connection on the Naim Supernait 2 so i have this - an RCA to DIN interconnect..

it looks pretty simple and is not too costly ( audio is .... relatively speaking ofcourse )

its on the amp since yesterday..



replaced belden 8402 rca rca interconnects

 

[mpw]

This new RCA to DIN cable has a different - more earthy sound to it.

The Belden 8402 had a touch of shimmer at the top and an ounce of oomph down below.

ofcourse these are my opinions based on my hearing - my ear drums complain these days due to too much travel and many flights...

i will try couple of more i/c that i have now that the power cord has introduced a more meatier sound overall..

in fact i will wait till i get the cryo power cord for the Naim Supernait 2 as well and them make any more observations..

i may have to reset my opinions then..

i hope to have more stability in these things and come to a conclusion of what works for me and hope to focus on the music only..