So, I decided on a NAIM 500 system. 500 DR amp (and power supply) with 552 Preamp (and power supply) and 555 DAC/Streamer (and power supply). Also going with three NAIM SuperLine Phonostages (two for the Avid with two tone arms and one for the Kronos). Two of those SuperLine’s get a SuperCAP DR power supply and the third gets it’s power from the 552. Likely the mono cart will go on the last configuration.
I also have the new NAIM Solstice turntable and phonostage (with power supply coming), a full NAIM FRAIM rack (Cherry with black legs and tinted glass). Cabling will be all NAIM SuperLumina, DIN, Burndy, Power and speaker, except for two XLR to DIN Chord Cables (for NAIM) to run my Studer R2R and Trinov SSP to the 552. The Studer is also getting a new custom made stand from Europe with two shelves (for the Doshi and it’s PSU).
Had to order a custom made glass shelf for one of the NAIM FRAIMs for the AVID TT to fit properly. There is no way to fit the Kronos, so it will go on a separate Quadrasphire rack. App to control the NAIM 555 DR will be the NAIM app, but will experiment with an Aurender going into one of the NAIM’s inputs. I tried this in the store and it was fabulous. Have not decided on power conditioning yet. The NAIM UK folks are so adamant that everything gets plugged into the wall. If I do that, I will definitely be using Shunyata Defenders with all the lightning strikes here in Florida.
Speakers: FOR NOW, Harbeth 40.3XD. I went with Skylan stands filled with white rice, rather than brown rice as the brown is a little too dark sounding (that’s a joke!). Skylan is from Canada and since they have a flat top, I will use four ISOAcoustic Orea Bordeaux’s between the bottom of the speaker and top of the stand. Will also experiment with four GAIA II’s instead of the spikes on the stands.
Long term I will be going with a Kharma speaker, but first want to evaluate a few more. I already have Vivid G3 S2’s with NAIM in my family room, but I did consider a pair of G2 S2’s. Also wanted to live with the Harbeth 40.3XD for a while since Paul Yoo (the audiophile formerly known as “Blue McIntosh”) has been so insistent I do so.
With supply chain issues, I may have everything up and running by Christmas. [emoji6]