I see that the 202 doesn't have a balance control on the facia. Is it possible to tweak the balance from the remote?

Thanks

Harry

Yup, same with the 112.

Regards,

JonR

Do you not have an owner's manual Harry?

If not; they're available on the Naim web-site.

Thank you both.

Cheers

Harry

So you are giving up that lovely tube amp...

quote:

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Originally posted by bjorne:
So you are giving up that lovely tube amp...

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He knows he wants to!

quote:

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Originally posted by JonR:
He knows he _wants_ to!

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I'm not so sure about that. It's an absolutely lovely amp, easy to tweak and cheap to change the tubes. It was imo well ahead of most solid state amps of it's time, even those costing a lot more. To better it will cost a lot I think.

Well it’s like this Bjorne. Three days ago the sound balance started to gently shift towards the left channel. Out with the Hi Fi Choice test disk and sure enough, centre was well off. The AI500 has a balance control (which I’ve never used) and I needed to crank it about 2/3 round to the right to get the centre back. But this messes up the timing and does funny things to the bass. Speakers and leads were swapped over, L/R interconnects were swapped (which made some music sound very different!) and just about everything that could be tried was tried. The result is that I’m 100% certain that either the amp is losing it in one channel or the speakers are much more sensitive than they used to be to boundary effects – the left channel being closer to a corner than the right.. If the latter sounds like clutching at straws you could be right! However, when I Hi Capped my CD5 the speakers had to be moved a lot, mainly because of the increase in bass. So it’s possible that the big, wide stage being thrown out by the CDX2 means the speakers need humping about again. They are VERY sensitive to positioning.

There was an improvement for sure when repositioning the speakers, and it seems that even a couple of millimetres makes a difference. The speakers are now nowhere near where they were a couple of days ago, and after some further fine tuning this morning all seems well. But I’ll be going back later and I wouldn’t be surprised if centre has drifted off to the left again.

So a number things could now possibly happen:

1. The balance will remain steady throughout today now that I’ve got the speakers in the correct position.

2. Balance will drift off again but new valves will cure it.

3. The balance will continue to wander about, meaning that the amp will need to be taken back to Boarder Patrol for another gutting.

If 3 above, then it’s time for some hard decisions. Thus my enquiry about the 202. I may get the amp fixed (again) but maybe it’s time to pension off my dear friend of 18 years. It’s not like it didn’t have a good innings. So if I’m facing a repair or replace option it makes sense to listen to what’s about at £3-4k, and put off the XPS2 trial for a few months. To that end I’m mentally considering the 200/202/Hi, Pathos Logos, and Graaf GM50. They’d all need to come home for at least a long week end. My Naim dealer can get them all and we’ve discussed it already.

However, right now I’m at stage 1. My gut tells me this won’t be the end of it and stage 2 is in motion (valves are in the post). I’ll see where I go from there. I’d love to carry on with the AI500 but I have to be realistic about where put further money .

Well, you did ask!



Cheers

Harry

Harry,

Sorry to read about your misfortunes so early after buying CDX2. As they say S&%t happens....

I started with CDX2,202,200 driving my B&W 705s. I must admit I was reasonably happy apart from two things. Annoying reflections screwing up the sound clarity and an over powering bass. This was all caused by the room layout and very poor quality HiFi stand.

The room layout changes (speaker and listening positions) removed the reflections and the bass boom is mostly gone by turning the room around and placing the listener position 3/4 along the length of the room. The new stands brought a new kind of spaciousness into the music.

Now the CDX2/202/200 with the added HiCap and XPS2 sounds wonderful.

Regards
Mark

To anybody who hears unbalanced level from left right, before trying mess up the room or the system, I strongly suggest to try to listen by turning the back to the system.
Once I had such a problem and it was because of a cold that influenced the hearing of my left ear. It took me time and some nerves with the cables and speakers until I realized that the problem is with my ear.

Arye

Woiuldn't be surprised if I end up with a system not disimilar to yours Mark. Thanks for that tip Arye I'm gonna try that for sure.

Image is better tonight but I can still hear a slight drift to the left. Amp's now off and cooling. I'll see what it does from a coldish start in a couple of hours.

Cheers

Harry

quote:

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Originally posted by Arye_Gur:
It took me time and some nerves with the cables and speakers until I realized that the problem is with my ear.

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Was that the ear you used to listen to our arguments about the Middle East, Arye?