So there I was, driving past the hi-fi store, so I "popped" in just to see what they had. Here, take a listen to this pair of Gershman's...
Wouldn't you know it! - just 10 seconds later and there was my amp sitting on the stand playing music (OK - so I had to go home to get it, but that was one fast drive - yes they actually sounded THAT GOOD!!! - errr - honey guess what I heard today?

The

Tags: Speaker, Reviews

What a cracking little amp the Nait 5i has turned out to be. I've had it for a couple of years now and it just keeps getting better.

If you are not thirsting for bags of power, but are a details kind of person, then this is the amp for you.

This is an incredibly "articulate" and "dynamic" integrated unit, which is conservatively rated at 50 watts - but those are Naim-Watts
It is really quite small and only has a volume control and 4 input switches - what more do you want?
- oh yes - it comes with a remote control

The "pre" section is passive (i.e. no amplification) and that is one of the reasons this amp is so good.

It has an incredible depth to it's bass, superbly smooth middle and a very accurate top end that is neither too bright or harsh.

AND - it accomplishes this without getting any warmer than room temperature - i.e. cool to the touch - REALLY!!!
When I first got it i kept walking over to feel the temperature. Now I leave it on 24/365 and in it's dormant state it only uses 10 watts!!!

It’s a Naim - so like the rest of their amps it does not like high capacitance speaker cables, but it is a little more tolerant than some of the others in their line-up. The Naim cables are of course the best match, but the cables that I have listed in this blog are an extremely good match also.

Driving the Gershman Acoustic Sonogram speakers is accomplished with amazing ease. The Sonograms have a sensitivity 89 dB @ 1w/1m, an Impedance of 6 ohms, frequency response 28Hz-20kHz, with recommended Power 40-250 watts. and the Naim has no problem exercising these speakers across their entire frequency range.

Perhaps the most stunning music to listen to on this system is organ music with it's full spectrum sound - the superbly controlled bass can easily rattle the crockery - so bolt them down.

But it is equally at home bringing a delicate voice front and centre into your listening room, with amazingly life like performances.

To get this level of performance you will need at least a 10 gauge high quality power cord.

Thanks Naim

Tags: Reviews

• • There are granite tiles under each component with drawer liner underneath to eliminate all induced vibrations in the shelf.

• a solid silver signal conductor is placed in a teflon tube
• around the tube is a wire wound in a helix spiral
• The KLE Innovations Absolute harmony RCA Plugs attached
• See DIY Interconnect Cables - The "Helix Mark VIII"

• 12 gauge Duelund conductor
• 10 gauge Silver Plated Mil-spec copper conductor wound around the signal conductor
• Banana plugs are from KLE Innovations
• See DIY Speaker Cables - The HELIX Speaker

• My own DIY custom built 12 gauge helix power cables
• see DIY Power Cables - The "POWER HELIX"
• Sonar Quest Silver Plated on copper connectors on all cables

The room is 15’ 6" wide, 40’ long with an 7.5’ ceiling
- The speakers have 8ft behind them
- There’s another 20ft of open section behind the 2 chairs

The two large screens behind the speakers either side of the system are acoustic baffles that eliminate echo at this end of the room

They also double as "mood lighting" - High on the WAF scale

Tags: Me

• Pass and Seymour - MRI grade outlet
• PS Audio - Dectet Power Center - not cheap but very good
• Vanguard - Gold Plated Copper Connectors (for the budget conscious)
• SONAR QUEST CRYO Ag Audio Grade Silver plated Connectors if you want performance - these are the best I’ve tried to date

• Van den Hul - NAME Interconnect - superb as a digital interconnect

• DH Labs - Toslink Optical Cable - best performer to date
• DH Labs - USB Cable - great performer

• Keith Louis Eichmann Innovations - state of the art RCA connectors and interconnects with a radical new cable architecture

• SRM/TECH Deluxe Acrylic Platter
• Cardas monolithic rewire kit
• Michell Technoweight
• ISOsub GT 2 S UPGRADE SUB PLATTER
• Rega II Motor Upgrade kit
• Denon DL-103 Phono MC Cartridge
• Audiomods Classic Tonearm

• Gershman Acoustics - Sonogram Speaker
• Van Den Hul - D352 Hybrid Speaker Cables - for full range speakers
• Van Den Hul - CS - 122 Hybrid - for mid size speakers
• Van Den Hul - CLEARWATER - for bookshelf or satellite speakers
• Furez TSTSB40Ag Silver Plated Copper Banana Plug Connectors - an excellent line of connectors and cable
• Keith Louis Eichmann Innovations - state of the art RCA connectors and interconnects with a radical new cable architecture

• great prices on bulk cables, outlets and connectors
• extensive product lineup (large McIntosh selection)
• A/V consultants/specialists
• willing to audition

• large current vinyl selection
• some very nice 'vinyl centric" products on display
• very willing to audition

• very helpful with respect to discussing product choices
• good/current vinyl selection (good prices)
• some very nice high-end product on display
• large selection of "previously enjoyed" items on display
• very willing to audition

• a vast wall-to-wall selection of new and "previously enjoyed" vinyl and CD's - it's cram-packed!!!
• great prices
• most "good quality" used albums are in very good condition and clean (i.e. those not the $1.00 box)
• new inner and outer sleeves are provided on the better albums
• a turntable + headphones are available to listen to used albums before you buy

Tags: Parts And Suppliers, Links

• Toslink has the advantage of not suffering from RF interference - so it is the better solution from that perspective
• I started with my favourite cable maker Van Den Hul (aka VDH)
• their OPTOCOUPLER II is a killer cable that "Guarantees" 250Mbps
• I looked back at the DH Labs cable which states 150Mbps - Hmmm - not bad at all since it is less than half the price!
• I then went looking at other manufacturers - e.g. my existing Chord toslink is 50Mbps
• most of them didn't even publish their numbers

• A different kettle of fish altogether...
• The problem of RF pollution comes back into the equation, so I looked for cables with adequate shielding
• Once again I went to VDH and found their Digicoupler - a triple screened cable with a performance of 3 Ghz
• Once again - right there was DH Labs with their Silver Sonic D-75 and D110 with a performance of "beyond 2 Ghz"
• and then there was the rest - not telling me the information I needed to know
• The best performance in a brand name SPDIF cable I’ve found to date is from KLE Innovations - their gZero2D and gZero3D, which are extremely adept a transferring a digital signal
• But the very best SPDIF I have used to date is my DIY Interconnect Cables - The "Helix Mark V" which seems to eclipse the the gZero3D by a smidgeon in clarity and imaging

• Well, this can be an exceptional interface, but comes with caveats
• The computers USB power is often used to power a DAC’s internal USB circuits - this can be quite unstable and impacts performance.
• The USB cable itself contains both signal and power conductors which can cause noise and hence jitter - use a dual cable like this one
• Also use a separate power adapter like this one
• With the above additions, the USB interface will operate to the level of S/PDIF

Tags: Interconnects, Discussion

• the voltage within the circuit will fluctuate ever so slightly.
• the fluctuations can result in distortions being introduced into the amplified signal.
• also, remember there are two amplifiers operating in a stereo system, so the fluctuations will not be exactly the same.
• this can result is subtle changes to the phase of the two signals of the LR channels.
• changes in phase tend to alter the stereo image such that the image becomes "smeared" or "unfocused”.
• In exotic amp designs the power transformers tend to be very large, are made from great quality copper and have lots of "headroom" — that's why the sound better:

• • "headroom" is the excess capacity available to address the peaks in power demand
• • the transformers are also designed to be very efficient,
• • Therefore peaks in current demand are accommodated by their ability to supply the required current from the power supply directly and when that is exhausted, from the main supply.

• If there is a tiny little power cord attached to the amp then the “effective supply, i.e. as seen by the power supply of the amp, is unable provide the required current in time.
• The amp will not perform up to it's “fullest potential" and
• The stereo image and dynamic response will not be as good as what is actually achievable.

• However, their internal circuitry and components are often very capable of a significantly higher level of performance if only the power supply were more “capable”

• Ensure that the outlet into which the equipment is plugged into is at least a hospital grade outlet — but you don't need to go nuts...

• • I have a 20 amp hospital grade MRI outlet from Take Five Audio - it has much stronger clamping abilities.
• • Even a 15 amp hospital grade outlet will be better than a standard outlet.

• Ensure that all mains leads are of sufficient gauge and made from high quality copper.

• • 10 gauge minimum for amps.
• • Even larger for those very big mono-block amps or very high powered amps (say, 1000 watts and up).
• • 12-15 gauge minimum for source components .

• Ensure that all plugs are of a reasonable quality — again you don't have to go nuts.

• • SONAR QUEST CRYO Ag Audio Grade Silver plated connectors are very good and reasonably priced.

• For added safety/security I crimp spade connectors to the conductors.

• • This ensures maximum electrical contact and the wire should remain securely attached.

• All amps are designed to a "price point”.
• the manufacturer knows that if they include a good cord it will up their price compared to the competition.
• they also know that the informed consumer will buy a better cord anyway.
• NAIM did have a slightly better cord included, but it falls very short from the cables that really makes it "shine”.

“How can a 5ft quality built power cable make any difference?”

After all...

• There’s all sorts of noise on transmission lines.
• Add to that the noise in old transformers on hydro poles and all those poor connections.
• The crappy quality wire in the walls of your house/apartment doesn’t help.
• and don’t forget all those noisy household appliances.

• The reality is — the loosely coupled Valence Electrons in the cable, shift in one direction — but only for one half of the cycle
• As the voltage enters the other half of the cycle the Valence Electrons - shifts in the other direction
• So there is no “flow of electrons” as such — they just shuffle back and forth — however, there is a transfer of energy
• This means all that noise in the transmission lines and house wiring never ACTUALLY arrive at your components
• The noise that does get to your components is in the last 5ft of the supply line
• YES! - YOUR power cables!

• when you pass electricity through one wire i.e. the live wire...
• noise is induced into the other wire(s) i.e. the neutral and the ground
• The ground wire is not too much of an issue, since it goes directly to ground and is only really connected to the components chassis as a safety consideration
• BUT - if the noise gets into the Neutral wire — it can impact the actual operation of the components circuit
• if you can interrupt the induction process you can clean up the power in that last 5ft of power cable

• Well, as stated above — the wires have to be adjacent and parallel for induction to take effect.
• You could just separate them by about one inch, but that’s not really a convenient solution.
• But one very simple method is to braid the conductors — the tighter the braid the better they perform.
• In a braid, the wires cross each other at an angle between 30-50 degrees .
• This is enough to reduce the effect of the induction process.
• resulting in a significant reduction in noise.

• This is the most effective approach because the neutral and ground conductors are almost at 90 degrees to the live conductor
• There is virtually no noise induced into the neutral or ground conductors.
• The neutral and ground conductors also interrupt RFI/EMI pollution of the Live conductor.
• The resulting power is virtually clean.
• But, this “winding process” is much more complex to implement.
• And more than doubles the amount of wire required.

• • Probably the main reason why it is seldom used.

• Typically, for a Ft 5 power cord I would use 12-14 Ft of wire for each of the neutral and ground conductors.
• There is one upside — the wire used for the Neutral and Ground wires does not have to be of the same high quality as the wire for the Live Conductor.

• using a stiffer wire allows it to “hold” the helix shape once it has been formed and it does not have to be of the same high quality copper as the Live Conductor.
• You can then insert a high quality, more flexible “live” conductor, like those available from Furutech or DH Labs, into the helix to complete the three conductors required for mains cables.
• The higher purity copper used in the live conductor will provide a much faster response to transient demands, i.e., better dynamic response.

• an easy approach is to wind the conductors around a wooden dowel.
• the resulting helix is like a spring and quite flexible.
• This also reduces the likelihood of the less flexible wires from cracking or breaking
• See DIY Power Cables - The “POWER HELIX"

• Ensure the cable is rated for mains use - I use cable capable of handling >=600v at 200 celsius .
• the gauge you select must be able to carry the power required by the component.
• DO NOT use Romex House Wire for prolonged use — it will crack and fail with use.
• Ensure you get the polarity correct when connecting the MAINS/IEC plugs.

• • Reversing the polarity could result in degraded performance.
• • It can also result in electrical shock.

• Most of my cables are between 4 and Ft 6 long.
• I have one helix cable that is only 3ft long and it works extremely well.

• • But I would not personally make them any shorter than 3ft
• • Longer than Ft 6 becomes a bit unmanageable to build

• YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR COMPETENCE IN CABLE ASSEMBLY PROCEDURES!
• YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR MATERIALS CHOICE!
• YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR INTERPRETATION OF INFORMATION ON THIS BLOG!

Tags: Power Cable, Discussion

To document tweaks that have proven to extract every last ounce of performance from my existing components!!!


That's me in a nutshell - enjoy the blog

Steve...

Steve@image99.net

FOOTNOTE:
I take the promotion of products very seriously.
If a company's product is identified on this blog it is solely based on that products exceptional performance.
I do not receive any payment for products mentioned on this blog

Tags: Me