My options are....

[FuriousD]

Currently have Nait 2, CD3.5/Hicap and really like the sound, however i love the ease of audio from my mac and using my iphone as a remote, i have tried the airport express and like the idea of it but the sound has not been up to what i am used to.

So options......

1. Get a Caiman and run it through AE
2. get a Caiman and run it direct from imac
3. Get a Lavry DA10 and run it through AE
4. Get a Lavry and run it direct from mac

If i get the Lavry i would be selling the CD3.5 and hicap, and will probably use the PS3 as a transport for CD's or get a cheap Meridian.

I have heard the Lavry and it sounds great, but i am yet to hear it on my system, i will be before buying.

I want to get as close as i can to the quality of the CD3.5 and hicap as i can, or even beyond that, i am lead to believe that the Lavry can do this however i know that Technobear no longer has a Lavry and now uses a Caiman. Comments welcome, what would you do and why?
Cheers
D

[Ashmore]

Did you get any joy with listening to a caiman yet?

[FuriousD]

Did you get any joy with listening to a caiman yet?

No :(

[The Vinyl Adventure]

I reckon you would be suprised how good it is

[Themis]

Currently have Nait 2, CD3.5/Hicap and really like the sound, however i love the ease of audio from my mac and using my iphone as a remote, i have tried the airport express and like the idea of it but the sound has not been up to what i am used to.

So options......

1. Get a Caiman and run it through AE
2. get a Caiman and run it direct from imac
3. Get a Lavry DA10 and run it through AE
4. Get a Lavry and run it direct from mac

If i get the Lavry i would be selling the CD3.5 and hicap, and will probably use the PS3 as a transport for CD's or get a cheap Meridian.

I have heard the Lavry and it sounds great, but i am yet to hear it on my system, i will be before buying.

I want to get as close as i can to the quality of the CD3.5 and hicap as i can, or even beyond that, i am lead to believe that the Lavry can do this however i know that Technobear no longer has a Lavry and now uses a Caiman. Comments welcome, what would you do and why?
Cheers
D
Hi Damien,

The Lavry is a great dac. I advice you to have a look on a Sonos (www.sonos.com) or a Squeezebox Touch (http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/speakers_audio/wireless_music_systems/devices/5745). Both of them can be controlled with an iPhone. ;)
The embedded dac in the Touch is excellent, also. Perhaps it would save you an external dac. ;)

[FuriousD]

I like the Sonos and the Touch, however discounted the Touch some time back as i will eventually hardwire a MacBook directly into the external dac. I thought the Sonos was an excellent peice of kit especially different music in different rooms but we only have amplification in the front room.

The Lavry is available to me at a very good price but where does the law of diminishing returns start when looking at a Caiman or Lavry.
D

[FuriousD]

After reading a lot on the web today, the internal dac on the touch does appear to get excellent reviews. Might have to re-consider

[DSJR]

I think the nait 2 should get the heave-ho at some point very soon, as it clips all the time and has little in the way of real power or finesse when push comes to shove..

Sorry, but 30W in most transistor amps is the sonic equivalent of 5W in valve terms. I don't know why, and in this case it isn't *just* the clipping behaviour, but a more powerful amp wouldn't go amiss with a modern digital or vinyl source - IMO...

[FuriousD]

I do not want to give the Nait the 'heave-ho' as it was a present from my father and therefore has sentimental meaning.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Ignor ddave he doesn't like naim unless it was made in 1926 or summat like that ;)

You will def beat the cd3.5 with a dac and mac I recon...
In fact by selling the 3.5 and hicap you would have enough money for a caiman and a power amp that would be better than the nait... Then use the nait in a second system... That way you get to keep the sentimental value and please dave :)

[FuriousD]

Thanks Hamish, i think Dave mentioned getting ride of it one my introducing myself post :)
Cheers
D

[Alex_UK]

Thanks Hamish, i think Dave mentioned getting ride of it one my introducing myself post :)
Cheers
D

He's desperate to get people to sell all this stuff to him cheap I reckon - I think he is planning his next system - a Marantz CD63 KI Signature into your Naim, with a pair of Ditton 15XR's - wired up with QED Silver Anniversary, of course! :lol:

[Batty]

I think it was Dave that suggested I ditch my CD63KI Sig :)

[roob]

I would go with option 4 on your list with a decent glass optical cable. If you are planning on running iTunes try the 2 week trial download of the Pure Music player which runs alongside it in a similar fashion to Amarra but at a much, much lower cost.

[purite audio]

Amarra Junior is $79.

[roob]

Amarra Junior is $79.
Isn't it very limited in what it does though Keith.

[purite audio]

'Junior' will only play up to and including 44.1. so just cd's.
Keith.

[roob]

Hence my recommendation for Pure Music.

[FuriousD]

I think the ultimate would be pure music and a hiface.

Thanks all, hopefully demoing the Lavry in the next few weeks. Likely to be via airport express for the moment though.

D

[Ashmore]

Furious

I am expecting my Caimen back from Jimmy at Tirna in a few days. If you're still undecided and want a listen I could pop over one evening and give you a demo sometime during the w/c 12 July (I live in Canterbury).

BUT it won't be a stock Caimen - I've gone for all the bling: murata whatnots, elna thingamyjigs and ruby somethingorothers etc... blah blah.

PM me if you're interested.

Simon

[Jason P]

Furious - or should that be Mr D -

There's a Caiman for sale on the 'wam - might be of interest to you. You'd lose nowt, relatively speaking, if you didn't like it.

HTH

Jason

[FuriousD]

Furious

I am expecting my Caimen back from Jimmy at Tirna in a few days. If you're still undecided and want a listen I could pop over one evening and give you a demo sometime during the w/c 12 July (I live in Canterbury).

BUT it won't be a stock Caimen - I've gone for all the bling: murata whatnots, elna thingamyjigs and ruby somethingorothers etc... blah blah.

PM me if you're interested.

Simon

Thanks Simon, you have PM.
D


Furious - or should that be Mr D -

There's a Caiman for sale on the 'wam - might be of interest to you. You'd lose nowt, relatively speaking, if you didn't like it.

HTH

Jason



Cheers Jason, will pop over and have a look.
D

[FuriousD]

Well i had the demo on Saturday morning.

iMac/airport express/Lavry/Nait 2 -
It was much better than the AE on its own (analogue), however it did not float my boat in terms of i did not feel that it was worth the cost of the Lavry

MacBook/optical connection/Lavry/Nait2 -
This was better, warmer and smoother than the CD3.5/Hicap, not better IMHO just different, i think i have become a fan of the brightness of Naim after these years. Also i would have to buy a Macbook for the hardwire connection

MacBook/Hifac/Lavry/Nait 2
This was the best option of all and sounded very good, however cost was a big factor, £1,000 on MacBook, £100 on Hiface, £XXX on Lavry. I could not justify it. If i had the MacBook already then i would have done it

On the face of it the Lavry was good when used in the best situation but i felt i would miss my CD3.5/hicap in other situations. The next option is to look at options costing considerable less.

Sonos ZP90 or Squeezbox Touch and i already have an iPhone.
SQ is important and ease of use.

Unless someone has another idea.

Cheers
D

[webby]

I would go with option 4 on your list with a decent glass optical cable. If you are planning on running iTunes try the 2 week trial download of the Pure Music player which runs alongside it in a similar fashion to Amarra but at a much, much lower cost.

What is this Pure Music Player of which you speak?

Is there a thread about it?

[FuriousD]

There is a bit on Headfi http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/477315/better-sound-for-mac-users-pure-music-player
I know people that use it and really like it.
D

[DSJR]

Well i had the demo on Saturday morning.

iMac/airport express/Lavry/Nait 2 -
It was much better than the AE on its own (analogue), however it did not float my boat in terms of i did not feel that it was worth the cost of the Lavry

MacBook/optical connection/Lavry/Nait2 -
This was better, warmer and smoother than the CD3.5/Hicap, not better IMHO just different, i think i have become a fan of the brightness of Naim after these years. Also i would have to buy a Macbook for the hardwire connection

MacBook/Hifac/Lavry/Nait 2
This was the best option of all and sounded very good, however cost was a big factor, £1,000 on MacBook, £100 on Hiface, £XXX on Lavry. I could not justify it. If i had the MacBook already then i would have done it

On the face of it the Lavry was good when used in the best situation but i felt i would miss my CD3.5/hicap in other situations. The next option is to look at options costing considerable less.

Sonos ZP90 or Squeezbox Touch and i already have an iPhone.
SQ is important and ease of use.

Unless someone has another idea.

Cheers
D

You have one HUGE bottleneck in all the above - the soft-clipper which is the Nait 2, which really isn't powerful enough for modern digital sources.. had you used a more powerful modern amp (valve or ss, it doesn't matter), the results may have been better. Just a thought..

[DSJR]

P.S. get a Caiman and do the direct mod, sell the nait 2 while it's still fetching silly money and buy a better amp, used or not...

[purite audio]

Damien Hi, presumably you have a PC/Mac simply use that, make sure you are getting a bit perfect output, perhaps download Foobar and it's kernel streaming app ( or wasapi depends on your OS ) I can send you a hiface to experiment with, that's it 24/192 from your PC .
Keith.

[FuriousD]

Thanks guys, the Nait is not going yet, so that is not an option. I would go the hiface route if i had the MacBook, i have an iMac and it is not in the same room as the rest of the kit.

When demoing the MacBook, Hiface direct to lavry was great but this would have ended up being big bucks.

I actually demoed a Naim Uniti the other day which was also very nice, but £2100 is a lot of money.

Other stuff i have look at are, Sonos ZP90, SqueezeBox Touch and the Airport express with a DacMagic. All of these can be had for under £300.

I like the sound of the Sonos and the flexibility it gives. The Touch is mean to have a good internal DAC and the AE with DacMagic has the versatility of a DAC that can be used for something else, but which gives the best sound.
I have an iPhone so can use this as a remote for all three options.
But which will sound best?

PS: Other than the mentioned three options, Dave what amps would you recommend to replace the Nait, purely from a curiosity point of view ;)

Cheers
D