I started putting this system together back in 1991, first the Naim Nate 2 with a pair of Celestion 3's. I finally purchased the Spendor's last year hoping that would be the end. Any suggestions on how I can ameliorate the top end which can at times be slightly overbearing. This is noticeable with cd,and the tuner on occasion. Perhaps its time to upgrade the cd or amp, but find it difficult to part with the Naim and Pioneer. They have served me well these last ten years.
pend a 160.00 on a ART DIO dac, spend another $100.00 to have Don Smith mod it 401-463-3099. After you do this and listen, you can send me a bottle of wine, I like Blancs :) Seriously though , I don't want to belabor the point, but for $260.00 its not even a risk, and trust me it is the finest dac out there at any and I mean ANY price (once moded of course). Even before I moded mine it smoked my Sony SCD-1 (I miss that 60lb block of aluminum (only for aesthetics, not the sound)). Happy Holidays, Mike
It's the source. Either dump the Pioneer or do the DAC. I own the Hermes, it will now cost you $2500 entry fee as it recently went way up with the 'newest' version. The powercable upgrade is also quite valid. I do love the Spendors, great little monitor. The rest of the system works well too. Bravo!
The naim speaker cable is very good and required with naim products. Musical Design is another company that upgrades the pd-65. There are some very good buys on niat-3's and even 5's now.
Yup, I had similar problems before. My cd was almost unlistenable, but my turntable always sounded good. Then I upgraded my powerchords with aftermarket ones, and my digital front end is not better sounding than my modest Luxman turntable. My experience with the PD-65 is, the legato link dac sucks. I wouldn't say its bright, but I can imagine it being bright in certain systems. The legato link sounds very veiled. For a quick fix, get a power chord. Then audition some dacs. If you don't want the hassel, get a new cd player. Also, I am not too familiar with Naim cables, but I heard they are not very high quality. Maybe you want to audition some cables too.
The Pioneer 65 is a very good transport - mate it with the tube DAC by Kora - the Hermes available from JC Audio for 1500 - use to sell for 4k - it really makes things so natural sounding.
Here's another voice in favor of a new cd player. The rest of your stuff is super classic gear. I bet you'd be pleasantly surprised by a Njoe Tjoob or an Arcam 72 or a used Rotel or Adcom. If you want to spend a grand and you don't mind used gear, there are unbelievable improvements to be had.
I disagree with the above. Keep the Pioneer - but I would sure have it modified. A number of folks do wonderful mods, Dan Wright, John Hillig, etc. I've got a maxed out PD-65 that is very very good.
I used to feel like you, but have now replaced my CD players and am MUCH happier. Digital has really come a long way in recent years. Depending on budget, you should look at ARCAM Rega and Cambridge Audio. If the Pioneer has a digital out, you might think about just getting a DAC, there are now really fine ones to be had for under $1k.
