Hello from Watford

[davidismynaim]

Hi all
just joined as I am at a fork in the road on my HiFi journey. Over the year have built up a Naim rig (all second hand, I am not made of money ;-))

Now seriously questioning if I should start over!

As of now have :- Michell Gyrodec/Naim CD2/SlimDevices Transporter/Audiolab M-DAC front end feeding Naim NAC102/Hi-Cap into SNAXO 2-4/HiCap into 2x 250 into SBL

Naim systems become a mouthful!

Think of selling all but the TT/Transporter/M-DAC and buying a beefly SS power amp + new speakers that can do something special! So any ideas?

Regards
Davidismynaim - maybe have to get a new handle!

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi David, & welcome to the forum :) No need to change your naim yet as it appears you still have quite a bit :eyebrows:

A good friend of mine insists on a Naim transport/player, but feeds the output through a Krell HR pre amp & KSA250 power amp. It certainly sounds ok to my ears, pity he doesn't crank it a tad when I'm about :rolleyes:

I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice on here, just trust your own ears at the end of the day is the advice that I'd give you! :)

[DSJR]

Welcome :)

I rather like active SBL's (with the treble turned down a touch), but before you spend serious money, or flog what you have, it would be good to hear a few things as alternatives first. The bigger dealers that used to be near you have re-located now (Radlett Audio and Acoustic Arts), but Deco in Aylesbury aren't difficult to get to and they do some interesting gear. Otherwise it's the West End for KJ (Ab Sounds gear) and Walrus (Croft etc...), in addition to my mate HiFi dave (Radlett Audio) who's now near Saffron Walden (loads of nice stuff ;)).

The one bottleneck in your system is the 102 preamp, which for whatever reason, sounds strangled compared to the 82 for example (done the comparison dozens of times and got the same results with different samples of each). Second hand 82's may be worth a look on the used market and I promise you, there'll be more depth and reproduction of reverb than the 102 and stock predecessors such as the 72 and 32.5 can achieve - in my experience with these units.

[StanleyB]

Hi David, welcome. Watford is just 10 minutes away from me. I even do my shopping in your local Costco.

[davidismynaim]

interesting, i maybe getting itchy just for the sake of a change!

I know the 102 is the weak-link. now i have the m-dac was considering removing the pre completely, would leave the TT as a problem, but then i only listen to vinyl occasional now, and could do something crazy like an ADC into the MDAC, have heard of others who swear by this approach - does seem bonkers! anyone tried it? the unit i was thinking about is the Behringer ULTRAMATCH PRO SRC2496, would have to get a little phono pre but there are plenty of those units around. Crazy?



Welcome :)

I rather like active SBL's (with the treble turned down a touch), but before you spend serious money, or flog what you have, it would be good to hear a few things as alternatives first. The bigger dealers that used to be near you have re-located now (Radlett Audio and Acoustic Arts), but Deco in Aylesbury aren't difficult to get to and they do some interesting gear. Otherwise it's the West End for KJ (Ab Sounds gear) and Walrus (Croft etc...), in addition to my mate HiFi dave (Radlett Audio) who's now near Saffron Walden (loads of nice stuff ;)).

The one bottleneck in your system is the 102 preamp, which for whatever reason, sounds strangled compared to the 82 for example (done the comparison dozens of times and got the same results with different samples of each). Second hand 82's may be worth a look on the used market and I promise you, there'll be more depth and reproduction of reverb than the 102 and stock predecessors such as the 72 and 32.5 can achieve - in my experience with these units.

[davidismynaim]

very near me!! I am about 1 mile from Costco! should have had a listen to your DAC before rushing into the M-DAC me thinks! would be fun to try then side by side some day.



Hi David, welcome. Watford is just 10 minutes away from me. I even do my shopping in your local Costco.

[StanleyB]

Pop round and borrow one for a weekend one day.