I need help.

Hold me down. I feel serious upgraditis grabbing me. Having sold my CDP I've caught myself wondering about speakers and amps. I know that my kit sounds fabulous, I know I'm happy with the way it makes music, but I have this urge to scrap the lot and start again. I need help (or lots of money)

 

Tom,
Perhaps before parting with any hard erned sir, a llisten to a few system owned by a some of the forum memebers on here and other boards may help to come to a more 'comftable decision' sir. Tone

 

Tom,

Dont do it! Concentrate on getting a decent DAC first (a dac comparison report coming up soon I feel) and live with the new setup for a while first.

Alternatively, ditch the Naim gear and get a valve based system with some sensitive speakers

 

It's basic math...

speakers + amps + active == ATC

Look for a used pair of active 50's and an ATC CA2 pre-amp..

[If you've got the space, you need to try Quad ESL's].

A DAC change won't make a damn bit of difference compared to a speaker swap...

 

tom,
my advice is to search for a decent dac that you like, live with that for a few months and then do 'the tour' and see if there is anything else you like out there.
looking at your kit i'd ditch the sbl's and get some speakers with at least a 10 inch bass driver you are missing so much of the music.
if you want a challenge and serious bang for your buck go for some diy speakers like the ipl's i now use.
cheers


julian

 

Tom

To be frank, I do not think you know what you want and selling off the CDS2 indicates you are looking to start from scratch.

The best advice is forget dealers listening rooms.

Blag a listen in a few local forum members homes, hopefully with different systems. Try listening to a valve system, that is different and may appeal to you. Make sure you get in 6 visits if at all possible.

You got all the time so don't rush in.

I am running a good second system (32.5+Hicap / 250) and that sounds really good, so there is plenty of good options out there.

If you got your asking price for the CDS3, you have more than enough money to build a good system. But you need to know what you want before anything else.

Regards

Mick

 

Fortunately, I have no income other than from the sale of the CDP so in some ways I'm really restricted. Don't believe anyone who tells you it's easy to get state benefit, it bloody isn't. I sort of know the speakers I would like. Either Steve M's Nonsuch, Totem Winds or PMC MB2s driven actively.

As I say I like what my kit does and don't need to change. I guess it's some kind of primitive urge to collect and change.

The difficulty is that I've run myself into a cul-de-sac. I can't really change the Pre unless I change the power, and the speakers are active which means getting something better passive (or without a crossover) so basically it'll probably need to go all at once. I'll need to win the lottery.

 

why did you sell the cdp?

 

For gods sale Tom, go on a furious walk or something, because all this will land up eating you.

I don't know why you don't post on naim any more (at least I haven't seen any posts) but I would hate to think your whole shebang surrounds anything to do with f**king forums.

How did you feel about your kit and music before broadband lol?

I always had you down as someone who enjoyed naim equipment, and we both know there is not a lot out there which sounds similar, so are you gonna be one of these 'pink phishers' who says you were 'sucked in' etc etc. (The assumption being that you were unable to make a cognitive and intelligent decision based on what you heard.)

I sincerely hope you don't land up regretting all this, but as you are keen to point out, you don't appear to be in work right now, and cabin fever may be setting in.

 

Gary. I chose not to participate on the Naim forum. Rashly I told Salisbury of my disattisfaction and as a result I had my posting rights removed and can't post even if I wanted to.

Strangely one of the last threads I started was one pointing out that hifi fora encourage people to upgrade by instilling a sense of inadequacy about their existing kit. Unfortunately very few people got the point. Again with this thread, it was meant to be tongue in cheek but my joke seems to have backfired.

I am very happy with my kit and I love the old olive sound. I would need a very good reason to want to change any of it, not to mention a sizeable income. Yes, there may be cheaper kit out there, there may even be cheaper and better kit but why fix what's not broken?

No, I was just ruminating on the futility of it all. Because I've just sold my CDS2 and I'm currently looking for a DAC, I've been exposed to magazines, others opinions, different brands, all of which have me speculating on the "what if" scenarios. None of it serious, just itchy feet, and that'll soon pass.

 

Because I bought a squeezebox. The performance is considerably better than I dared hope. As a result I reckon it is a fair chance that by investing the money from the sale of the CDS2/XPS in a decent DAC I will better the performance at no extra cost. Even in the unlikely event that the DAC doesn't raise the bar sufficiently I should have the same level of performance with considerably more convenience and it won't have cost me a penny.

 

tom,
i know it probably goes againt the grain but you may want to look into the use of smilies - or to give them their correct name emoticons. this way we'll understand that posts and comments are toungue in cheek. for example a fell placed , , or goes a long way to expessing some primitive form of emotion / body language when a post could possibly be ambiguous in it;s intent.
cheers


julian

 

Tom

My honest advice is buy another good used CDS2 because selling yours was a mistake. You acted impetuously.

Once you have bought the CDS2, pull the plug on the forums. You are spending too much time on the things and you are letting them get to you and it is becoming a case of the tail wagging the dog. You allow yourself to get wound up by the things and that does not make sense at all.

Regards

Mick

 

Tom - you have a PM

Michael.

 

Tom, you've got a damn good system. At least I assume it is because I heard it in Tunbridge wells and I know it sounds better in your new room. Your 'ears' are also a darn sight better than most.

In my opinion, you're suffering from an existential angst. The cure is to stop listening to your system for 12 days - switch it off, you'll enjoy the warm up period. During these 12 days spend as much time as possible listening to other people's systems. Develop a feel once more for what other people think is good hi-fi. That should fix you.

PS: "Totem Winds or PMC MB2s" ?

 

Not sure if I could offer any advise since I seem to have also developed the early sign of recurrence of the serious and incurable Upgraditis disease. That NAD S250 power amp looks seriously tempting. Where is that article where they say all amplifiers sound the same if they were compared using blind testing? It used to be a good antidote so it might work again.

 

Steve - Thanks for your kind words. Yes it does sound even better than it did it T Wells. I live in an audio desert and there don't seem to be many round here who value good hi-fi. There is a new shop opening a couple of streets away so I'll pop in there.

Michael - you have a PM

Mick - The CDS2 is a brilliant player but the Squeezebox is giving me performance equal to a CDX. WIth the DAC added I should equal CDS3 performance. Staying away from fora is good advice. I've cut myself off from Naim, I rarely post on PFM so if I can wean myself off ZG I might regain my sanity.

Julian - Sorry not to use emoticons. I must confess I don't like them and I prefer the ambiguity words can provide. I suppose part of the "humour" is seeing how people react.

 

yes - there is that.
cheers

julian

 

Tom

My advice would be to slow down, not everything has to be done at once. I know I nearly bought an Arcam AVR300 the other day as I could replace at least 4 boxes with it in my living room, but rather than impulse purchase I decided to slow down, take stock and move forwards slowly.

Pleased you're getting on well with the Squeezebox, they really are good and I can see a couple more popping up in my house.

Mr Perceptive

 

Maybe amplifiers do all sound the same, but I can assure you that the NAD Silverline kit sounds the same with style.