New system

[htm_1968]

Just out of intrest can you buy those ARO arm rest?

The Aro arm rest comes as part of the package with the arm. As the arm is discontinued (sadly) I suspect the arm rest is no longer available. It might be worth your while to give Naim a ring and ask them though. I needed a set of grilles for my SL2s, which are supposedly unavailable now. My dealer made a call to Naim and a new set was found. They are hidden away until after we move house, after which the current, rather tatty set of grilles will be retired.

[MartinT]

Very nice and neat system, Olan. Looks great!

[jason]

Stunning system Olan always loved the classy look of top of the range naim gear.

Very nice mate.

Jason

[htm_1968]

Thanks to Martin and Jason for their kind words.

[htm_1968]

Some shots taken at Easter time after a bit of a tidy-up
Shot from the door, including fraction of the cameraman's mitt (oops)

This is the main rig. The other stack is simply TV and DVD and is separate from the main system. I am strictly two channel! The TV is there for emergencies only

I need to clean my new LPs, the impact of the static is clear here:

And from above:


Since my last posting I've swapped out a bunch of Fraim Lite for Fraim and generally tidied up. Other than that, I've spent my pocket money on vinyl and ......

[htm_1968]

It is a long while since I have posted here. I've updated some kit since last year. Here is the obligatory system snap:


So, the changes are fairly serious. I swapped out my beloved 52/Supercap which I've had for years for a 252/Supercap DR. There were a couple of reasons for the change, aside from the fact the 252/SC DR sounds great, I got a very generous deal on the new kit, coupled with a great deal for my old gear. I also swapped out my XPS2 for a 555PS DR. The net effect of all these changes has been to more or less render my nSub redundant as the new kit develops better bass in terms of quantity, quality and musicality. We also replaced the last of the Fraimlite with Fraim.

We also added a very nice Stax headphone rig. Here is the energiser:

The headphone stand was a Xmas present from my kids


We are moving house next week. So the main reason I'm posting this is almost to document the state of play prior to the move. I also will get to rescue my records from storage as I only have about 1/3 of my records currently. The remaining 2/3 of the collection have been in a storage locker for the last two years while we have been renting. Here is the bit of the vinyl I have access to:

There are no CDs to display as all of them are ripped to a NAS now and are stored in the loft. The new house has a dedicated listening room (purely coincidental and in no way important in the choice of new house ). I'm still using my SL2s but am beginning to feel the inclination for a change of speaker (and maybe even preamp) as I have an ATC and Modwright itch I need to scratch.

[chris@panteg]

Nice system, love stax phones.

[htm_1968]

Righto, since the last shots I have moved house. To be brutally frank I could not be bothered to pack up all the Naim kit only to have it destroyed by the removal firm (and I fancied a change). So last summer I began to sell it all off, keeping only the LP12 setup. This is where we are now:



The amp is a Gato DIA250 integrated amp which is a beautiful beast to use. It does 250W into 8 Ohm and has a built in 24/192 capable DAC. It has the musicality of the Naim amps I used for years without the transformer hum and hiss from the speakers. It is probably not the last word in amplifiers, but it is bloody good. The Mana is a leftover from my youth....(it was in the garage/cellar/shed/attic for 13 years. I also have a wallshelf ). The LP12 rig is as before. I will probably never part with it as it suits my tastes musically, is very nice to look at and has great sentimental value.



I was motivated to replace my Naim SL2s, active crossovers, power supplies, power amplifiers and rats nest of cables with a pair of Art Alnico 8s in Walnut:



These are (IMHO) the best speakers I have ever owned by some distance. Here is an alternative view:



In the new house I am very lucky to have a listening room/study all of my own. Currently it is a bit of a fortress of solitude as I only have a single chair (borrowed from the family room) so am on the look out for a new sofa



So far, I have unpacked about half my vinyl, mainly the rock and electronic music. The bloody removal firm put the all the rest of my vinyl upstairs so I can't be bothered/have not found the time to carry the jazz and classical LPs down again. There are about another 1500 LPs to unpack and shelve. I wouldn't mind but they left the 2800 cds downstairs and they have all been ripped to a Vortexbox..... The cds all need shifting (they are in the black baskets and in various other shelves/drawers/boxes) before the rest of the vinyl can be brought down.

The Moon renderer is excellent. The app is excellent and the unit produces excellent results through the DAC in the Gato. There is no DAC in the Moon itself. As digital is a distant second choice here it is a wonderful compromise.

All in all, I am very pleased with the outcome of such a radical change of direction. I can't say I will stick with this rig, but the simplicity is very refreshing. Musically, at least with vinyl it trounces my old rig, but some of that is down to the new room. The photos don't do justice to the sheer size of the Arts. While I was waiting for the Arts to be built I slummed it with some bookshelf speakers. Compare the two:



Those curtains have to go at some stage too......

[struth]

The Gato amp is a nice unit, and comes highly regarded by many. Class D and very nice, and handy having the dac.

Nice shelving too.

[htm_1968]

The Gato amp is a nice unit, and comes highly regarded by many. Class D and very nice, and handy having the dac.

Nice shelving too.

Cheers Grant. The Gato is a thing of joy to use and is no fuss whatsoever. Runs sweetly from switch on, no thumps, hums, hiss etc. It just plays the music truthfully. The volume pot is great meaning that you can get the sound pressure level just right, unlike my old Naim pre-amps which were a bit all or nothing in terms of the volume pot. Musically it is phenomenal and a great match to the Arts. I had expected it to be a stop gap until I bought either a pair of shiny french pizza boxes or something full of tubes. At present I shall do neither and simply enjoy the Gato.