I tried it and it is like a magic. This is an example to an idea that improves sound without demanding money payments.

Maybe other members here have such ideas that they can share with us ?

Arie

Well, I do have some tips (not my own ideas though) that cost very little money.

1. Replacing the cheap (gold)plated jumper-plates
at the back of biwire-speakers with short peaces
of quality cable. (naca5 or anything else)

2. a weird one, but it works...
My Naim-dealer once had a modification on a old
nait-2. He melted some paraffine (yep, candlewax)
and he got it all over the the board at the inside
of the amp, untill ya could hardly see the electronic parts. (sorry, if my English is not correct) When the candlewax was cooled down and
hard again the results were stunning!
More detailed, and a much more relaxed soundstage.
(I do find it a bit spooky to do it myself though)

Well, that about it right now,

C U all,

Greetings,
Alco.

Speakers

Ensure stands are bolted together tightly (if not one piece).

Ensure stands and speaker are rigid (unless designed not to be e.g. Intro / Credo)

Ensure plugs / sockets are clean.

Check driver screws are tight.

Equipment stands

Ensure shelves only touch stand where designed (e.g. on my Target rack it's possible for the shelves to contact the rack if not centered within the space available, 'short circuiting' the spikes / rubber feet)

Mains - DISCONNECT FIRST!!

Polish mains plugs with wadding metal polish.

Clean / tighten in-plug fuse holder and terminals.

Occasionally (yearly?) strip back cables to new, clean wire and remake all mains plug connections.

If suitably qualified / confident(!) tighten connections to back of mains sockets but ISOLATE MAINS AT FUSEBOX FIRST

Most Electronics

Unplug and reconnect all interconnects but turn off system first, to prevent damage.

LP12's

Remove outer platter and belt, clean belt with isopropyl alcohol.

Clean inner platter where belt runs, using ispopropyl alcohol, take care not to exert a large sideways force on the main bearing.

Clean inner platter where it mates with outer platter.

Clean motor pulley, as above.

If belt is not stretchy, and seems to have hardened, buy a new one, else clean with isopropyl.

Refit belt, new belts no longer have a smooth or rough side, so you'll need to experiment by trying it each way round for best sound (4 combinations!)

Clean outer platter where it mates with inner platter - refit.

Try mat both ways up.

Make sure TT is level.

Unplug and reconnect cartridge connections (but be careful).

That lot should keep you busy, Arie.

Andy

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

quote:

---

Polish mains plugs with wadding metal polish.

---

i seem to recall that naim do not recommend we use ANY "substance" to clean plugs -- suggesting instead that pulling the plug in and out (with the system off of course) has a more effective cleaning effect. i think i heard this during the Kontak cleaning fluid craze... naim claims that cleaning substances leave a residues which do more harm that good. i am sure naim will jump in to correct me if i am talking rubbish here...

a lot of your other suggestions i agree with, especially remaking the mains plug connections -- the effect can be very, very pronounced. the advantage with a hydra type power arrangement is that you only redo one plug.

you could of course go to the extreme and just solder the power cable directly to the mains cables into the socket -- obviating the need for the plug -- at which point you are really playing with fire... its against safety regulations, and you remove a layer of protection for your equipment. some time ago in the uk, round plugs were quite popular as they were deemed to make better electrical contact with the corresponding round hole socket. quite some time ago...

enjoy...

ken

Lance

Also, it cannot be overemphasized just how important attention to mains are. While not everybody is in the position to have a 200 A dedicated circuit line with a to-the-center-of-the-earth groundwire, everybody should at least try to power their sundry black boxes from a single AC outlet via an approved power stip. After living here for almost 2 years and powering my many, many boxes from a dedicated cicuit box with 10 duplexes, each with their own 20A fuse, all derived from a common 60A line this weekend I finally used a Wiremould strip, which my dealer had shipped to me last week. Even though this is not as 'he-man' as plugging into many dedicated circuits in parallel, the results are certainly more musical..... crisper, clearer, louder, more extended and even more effortless (less efforty??) than before.
I also need not point out that the speaker/stand/floor interface is crucial. I won't go into the spikes on floor/coins/screws tangent- each speaker/stand/floor combination has a preferred way, but for those of us like me with 'low riding' frame-type stands, it is paramount that only the spikes, and not the frame of the stands impact the carpet. I had noticed that the sound was being pulled to one side on my speakers.... after looking around a bit, I found that the spikes were too low on one side, and a goodly part of the weight was being supported by the frame resting on the carpet, not on the spikes. Raising the spikes to the proper height reversed this and made for a tighter sound too.
One thing is for sure.... a modest well set up system will GREATLY outperform a poorly installed one of far greater degree of sophistication. In fact I have heard a 3.5/Flatcap/92/90/Intro system that have put many, many other installations to shame. Never substitute proper setup with component upgrades- one of the advantages of technically having the dealer install each system and its upgrades is that they will pay attention to not just if the assemblage is working, but how it works. But even the best dealer does not have the time or intimate knowledge of every possible thing that could be less than perfectly optimized in a given installation.

Ron
Dum spiro audio
Dum audio vivo

quote:

---

some time ago in the uk, round plugs were quite popular as they were deemed to make better electrical contact with the corresponding round hole socket. quite some time ago...

---

Ken;

I use a home-made (1984) distibution board with 5 sockets, two of which (TT & HiCap) are the 15a round pin type (MK with matching plugs). The best thing about these is the mirror finish on the the plug pins, making them very easy and quick to polish (Duraglit wadding). Originally recommended in the pages of "The Flat Response" "quite some time ago" ), they do seem to have a larger contact area, and no fuses. Obtainable here.

The standard Naim Audio 13a plugs for the UK (Crabtree) seem to be very consistent, and do not lend themselves to cleaning by other methods than the unplug/replug routine. This certainly makes life simpler, and they are also used in the MusicWorks cables/blocks. Using a Crabtree wall socket (easily obtainable at any electrical supply shop) therefore also makes a great deal of sense.

Best;

Mark

quote:

---

I seem to recall that Naim do not recommend we use ANY "substance" to clean plugs

---

Normally this is true, owing to the self cleaning action inherent in Naim's choice of connectors.

This doesn't work for mains plugs though, and many mains plugs though come with some kind of protective coating that collects dirt with age (take a look at some of your older mains plugs!).

Cleaning this off with 'Duraglit' or similar works wonders, but the contacts will now oxidise more quickly. Once you start to clean, you have to continue to do it regularly (monthly)

I often use some isopropyl alcohol to ensure all traces of the metal polish are removed after cleaning - it depends on how fussy I'm feeling.

Use of 15A round pin type plugs and sockets, as commented on by Mark is also worthwhile, although it is my belief the primary benefit comes from the absence of a fuse.

The MK 15A sockets I use are easy to dismantle, allowing me to polish the contacts within the socket (!), but the contact area is probably no better on the live and neutral pins than a 13A plug, indeed it could be worse, since the pin is round, yet the contacts within the plug are flat!

They DO sound better though.

Please remember - DISCONNECT FROM MAINS BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY OF THE ABOVE.

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

Another big benefit of the move to a NAC112 was remote control - now I could finally remove the speakers from the TV, without inconvenience.

It's a big benefit but the usual caution applies!

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

quote:

---

some time ago in the uk, round plugs were quite popular as they were deemed to make better electrical contact with the corresponding round hole socket. quite some time ago..

---

Decades ago I was lent a 32/160 by a fellow-student friend of mine. It came with round-pin mains plug at a time when everything else in the UK, including the wall receptacle was quadrilateral.I wonder if that was deliberatly done for 'sound' purposes, although in those days nobody paid a hoot to types and qualities of mains plugs. I fortunately had a very cheesy 4-in-1 adaptor that had one set of round pin outlets in it, which I used. If I didnt have one of those around my first naim experience would have been stillborn.

Ron
Dum spiro audio
Dum audio vivo

http://homepages.go.com/~rontoolsie/index1.html

What did you have before, how is it different, was it a good move, and what do you run it with?

(apologies for topic drift)

Best;

Mark

(an imperfect
forum environment is
better than none)

I do intend to start a thread on the new 5 series kit (I've just bought CD5 / NAC112 / Flatcap 2 / NAP150 & Prefix for my LP12).

I've had it for two weeks now, and the short answer is it's totally bloody fantastic (usual symptoms - lack of sleep etc.). Only another 700 or so LP's and a couple of hundred CD's before the rediscovery comes to an end?

You'll have to wait for the full details though .

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

How is the Prefix ? I concidering buying one to my lp12 ittok.

Arie

if you have the funds, and you are at the "thinking-about-it-stage" stage, stop thinking, go and buy it.

if you can also get the armageddon at the same time, all the better.

enjoy...

ken

many thanks all for further insights into mains issues. you know i have always been curious to know if the stuff that a certain duncan(? i believe) has published in hifi news and elsewhere actually works -- i means hs everyone ever tried it?

it should be quite easy for me to change my single double socket (at end of a 30amp spur), but somehoe, i dont really feel like doing it right now -- what i will consider is a better earth -- spike into the garden and all that. anyone done this?? where do you get the special drills to make the hole??

andrew ..the 5 series interest me ... a lot. so look fwd to reading your experiences in a little more detail.

i miss my system sorely now...

enjoy...

ken

I'm going to upgrade the flat to HI (with my 72)
and want to use the flat for a prefix.

The one to do it for me is Naim dealer,
properly ? If he has smoe troubles he will fix it with a piece of paper ...

Arie

The Prefix is a big upgrade to the LP12, although I cannot completely seperate it's benefits from the system upgrade as a whole.

It brings the best bits of the best of CD (lower noise floor / stop-start timing etc.) whilst keeping the things I like about analogue (rythmic flow / ease of listening / superb low-level detail retrieval).

FYI I also use an Ittok (LP12, Valhalla, Ittok, Klyde). Usually the arm or PSU is the most logical upgrade, but I needed a phono stage for the NAC112, and didn't want another box (+ the Prefix sounds much better than a Stageline).

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

Did you compare the 112/150 to 72/140 ?

Arie

Did you compare the 112/150 to 72/140 ?

Arie

quote:

---

The 'Mousepad Mod'...
Tweeters are notorious for having a ringing mounting plate .....this can be scotched by taking a mousepad, cutting it in half, and with an exacto knife cutting a circle that is just a tiny bit wider than the tweeter with a 45degree bevel outwards (i.e. the circle on the side facing the listener is just a tad wider than the side facing the driver. Affix this to the tweeter plate by something like silicone goo and hear how much cleaner, precise and graceful your speakers become.

---

If you don't trust yourself with an exacto knife, you can buy something like this for Cdn$10. Check out http://www.audio-ideas.com/tweaks.html. However, be warned. Your FEPs may be compromised as this tweak is marketed as an "Imager"!

Cheers,

John Schmidt
"90% of everything is crud" - Theodore Sturgeon