karlsushi
Active Member
Hi folks. Some technical assistance required to get me out of a hole!
After hearing the benefits of Dirac Live on my system, I have convinced a friend of mine to purchase a NAD C658 Preamp in exchange for his existing NAC202. The idea was to simply connect it to his existing Naim Nap 200 power amp.
I've been in this hobby a while and have swapped out any number of preamps with multiple power amps, but have never owned Naim gear. Apparently with Naim it is not so simple!!
The input on the Naim Nap 200 is a 4 pin din, but it seems that this connection not only served as the stereo input from the NAC preamp, but also a power supply connection (since the NAC202 does not have its own power supply).
So, to cut a long story short, what I thought should be a simple connection from the NAD C658 pre-outs (using a cable with twin phono connections at one end) to the Naim Nap power amp input (using a 4 pin din connection at the other end of the cable), is not so simple after all. When connected he is getting hissing out of one of the speakers and the sound is clearly not right.
The cable is a half-decent one which was custom-purchased from here: Custom Lynx – Professional custom made audio cables just as a "twin phono to 4 pin din cable". I have good experience with this company in the past, so doubt it is a problem with the cable, but we will be trying another one just in case.
I am struggling to find much information on the web about connecting non-naim preamps to Naim power amps, but the more I read, the more it seems that this might not be a good idea. Perhaps why people who own Naim, tend to stick with Naim!
Would be really grateful if someone has any knowledge/experience of whether this can be done and if so, whether there is some special kind of cable required to do this (possibly a 3 pin din which ignores the power supply pin connection)? As you can tell, I'm not an electrical engineer!!
Currently, my friend is sitting on a £1700 preamp which he is currently unable to use in the way that was intended and I am feeling more than a little responsible.
Advice on a solution would be greatly received.
After hearing the benefits of Dirac Live on my system, I have convinced a friend of mine to purchase a NAD C658 Preamp in exchange for his existing NAC202. The idea was to simply connect it to his existing Naim Nap 200 power amp.
I've been in this hobby a while and have swapped out any number of preamps with multiple power amps, but have never owned Naim gear. Apparently with Naim it is not so simple!!
The input on the Naim Nap 200 is a 4 pin din, but it seems that this connection not only served as the stereo input from the NAC preamp, but also a power supply connection (since the NAC202 does not have its own power supply).
So, to cut a long story short, what I thought should be a simple connection from the NAD C658 pre-outs (using a cable with twin phono connections at one end) to the Naim Nap power amp input (using a 4 pin din connection at the other end of the cable), is not so simple after all. When connected he is getting hissing out of one of the speakers and the sound is clearly not right.
The cable is a half-decent one which was custom-purchased from here: Custom Lynx – Professional custom made audio cables just as a "twin phono to 4 pin din cable". I have good experience with this company in the past, so doubt it is a problem with the cable, but we will be trying another one just in case.
I am struggling to find much information on the web about connecting non-naim preamps to Naim power amps, but the more I read, the more it seems that this might not be a good idea. Perhaps why people who own Naim, tend to stick with Naim!
Would be really grateful if someone has any knowledge/experience of whether this can be done and if so, whether there is some special kind of cable required to do this (possibly a 3 pin din which ignores the power supply pin connection)? As you can tell, I'm not an electrical engineer!!
Currently, my friend is sitting on a £1700 preamp which he is currently unable to use in the way that was intended and I am feeling more than a little responsible.
Advice on a solution would be greatly received.
