While I wait for Dunc to send an XLR to this side of the pond for testing between the Rossini and my 500DR you have now proposed a new solution allowing my LP 12 to bypass the 552.
I never upgraded to Urika2 as it was unusable with the 552. Obviously you guys are onto something as these days Linn (no longer making preamps) advocates digitizing EVERYTHING via exact - even the analog signal out of the old fruit box.
Interesting suggestion.
Best
Gregg
*of course this little experiment requires a certain conviction on my part - I would have to ask Mr. Swain to make a little trip over on a puddle hopper to facilitate thingsš
Yup - thatās me to a tee - mad, bad and dangerous to knowā¦
(ā¦but you and I go back to my previous ālifeā donāt we? Same as with Dunc if I remember correctly.)
Iāve just done another set of these cables here for one of my other Naim NAPās - Ā£14 for a set of RCA to XLR cables and five minutes with a soldering iron to rewire the XLR end for the Naim pinouts.
(Iām a firm believer in proving things through with a cheap test solution before looking at spending real moneyā¦)
I currently use a Urika 1 (since inception when it replaced a SuperLine/SuperCap). I never upgraded as there was no way to digitize the output of the Urika2. My Linn Klimax DS Katalyst (now Organik) was kicked out of the big system back in 2020 with the arrival of a Rossini. It now resides full time in my headphone system.
If the KDS had stayed in the big system I think it could have taken the Urika2 signal via Exact. My KDS is not the KDSM variety however it does have a set of Exact on the back (which I think(?) could have taken in the Urika signal).
Now that you are happily running a Rossini direct into a 300, and your cheap test solution is complete, what kind of āfancyā cables are you using between the two? Something homemade or perhaps a custom Chord Cable solution?
Just something home made ā¦ Neutrik XLRs and RCAs and some Mogami quad-star cable.
I could borrow more esoteric cables from the office Iām sure but Iām getting a bit old to go down that rabbit-hole again and to be quite to the point I like what my system does enough not to feel the desire to play cables and just enjoy listening to it.
The Urika 1 has good old standard unbalanced RCA (and balanced XLR) outputs so you could just put that through an ADC (up to you how much you spend on that but you could do it as a cheap āproof of conceptā for less than the cost of a takeaway for one and if you donāt go that route in the end youāve not wasted anything significant)ā¦
Ah yes however that requires me to take out the LP12 jig and open things up. Sorry however my pay grade is only that of an observer when it comes to all things LP12. While I have watched Mr. Swain do it on many an occasion when he has been over here at the house (he likes visiting this side of the pond) I am not quite sure a klutz like moi would not mess things up.
Best to wait for the good doctor when he comes over the next time.
Donāt worry you will have the cables soon, as they are already on the way to chris, and you are next.
For me i donāt really want to turn my analogue turntable into digital and then back again, as i have spent rather too much on my turntable, and phono stage for that to even begin to look like a way to go, but i guess itās an option for some.
Well quite honestly that was the early debate when Linn first released the Urika 2. Many, myself included (and also with a significant amount invested in a Klimax level LP12), felt the same - why digitize an analogue signal. On the flip side, while I have not personally heard the Urika 2, I think it has been an absolute home run as many are stating it definitely sounds better - digitization and all.
I have finally just managed to hook up Duncās extremely generously loaned RCA to single ended XLRās to connect LINA to my NAP300DR in the expectation of some glitch or gremlin or at the very least, some sort of detriment to not having the 552 in the signal path. LINA just gets the job doneā¦ How does one box so comprehensively crush any challenge???
I tentatively started with 0.2mV output, but have quickly realised that the full 6V is perfect for the 300, and the scaleability and immediacy of volume control is perfect. And no more channel imbalance at super-quiet volume either! But wait, what if the iPhone wonāt pair quickly to LINA to change the volume the instant you need to? No problem! A big dB output record on the screen, and buttons to adjust, just as if it were a pre-amplifier all along. Mosaic is so slick itās simply as intuitive for everything as anything I have ever used on an iPhone too.
And the sound quality? Its amazingā¦ Seriously, what is the 552 adding here? Itās clear as a bell and hugely dynamic. Tried Clerical Perversions by Unconscious (not dodgyā¦, a chest crushing electronic track) itās never sounded so good and Agnes Obel simply sublime tooā¦ Itās going to take some time to finally work out what to do as I do have a record player too (although this hasnāt turned a wheel ever since LINA came home from the Dealerā¦) so this is an issue I need to reconcileā¦
Massive thanks Dunc, now off to the other side of the pond for Gregg to try!
I told you, and gregg you are next to realise just what the 552 does, and it not going to be good news for it.
Well atleast like me you can sell it, and get some cash back whilst they are still worth something. Lol
I can see the hate for me going up even more, once the naim guys find out. Lol
I dare you chris to update your findings on your recent dCS thread, as you know want too. I will give till tomorrow evening before Richard comes up with an excuse to delete it.
That makes me think again to sell my Nagra Pre and Rossini & clock and jump on a Vivaldi instead with direct connection to my ampā¦I have no other source!
I have seen many pictures of others running dCS into a preamp, e.g. DāAgostino.
I have never seen a pic of dCS running its own gear into a preamp. Thatās not how they demo at shows. Itās not how the factory listening system is set up. (As far as I can tell from the pictures and Iām happy to be wrong if someone has evidence to the contrary).
Separately, MSB is also quite proud of its āpre-ampā module and also recommends running direct.
Of couse I am aware that others feel very differentlyā¦ I also only have one source.
I said the same about the vivaldi, it canāt be that much better, then i heard them both on a very good system at my hifi dealers shop, and it only took about 20 seconds to know i wanted the vivaldi.
As i have said a few times know, if you only have the dCS, then i would definitely go direct.
Obviously the amp you use will matter, i went from the naim 500dr to class A vitus, and the difference was surprisingly much better, so good pairing is still required.
Iām dreading the comparison of going direct from Rossini Apex to darTZeel NHB-108 Model Two vs. via the NHB-18NS.
I love love love touching that preamp. It makes me genuinely happy every time I touch its little power nose or twiddle the volume knob. Itās even a shame I donāt have another source, because that knob is even lovelier
Anywayā¦searches for Naim relevance to threadā¦I used to have a Uniti. But I donāt any more. I am therefore still on topic. Ha!
Obviously you can still use a pre amp, and many do even with just one source.
But if you do use a pre amp you might just want to try running direct, just to see how much difference there is. You many find there isnāt any, or very little, or you may find a very big difference like i found over my naim 552dr, and now someone else has all found the same with the naim 552dr.
It could just be that the naim pre amps are just so bad in being transparent by design to work with naims kit, but whatever it is once you put a decent source into it, it certainly shows up itās short comings.
I just wouldnāt have believed naims Ā£25000 pre amp could have preformed so badly.
Yep. So looking forward to Greggās feedback when he has your cables. Spoke to him today and heās managed to find various other things to plug/unplug in the meantime. So good that we can help keep each other busy
I find the dCS edge out the Linn quite a fair bit so far. More testing to be done!
I love the volume knob of the Linn. Got a nice resistant to it which I like. For dCS the volume knob is too easy to turn and feel not that substantial.
Want to ask, those who have the dCS remote, is the volume knob on it the same feeling as on the unit (i.e. very smooth and fast to turn)?
