Popular Post JFHSQT Posted September 2, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 2, 2020 I just posted a quick early impressions review on the Naim forum but I will repost here as well... I am 48 hours into adding the etherRegen into my system, which is a Uniti Nova… I have the eR switch with my Orbi mesh satellite and Innuos Zen MK III and Apple TV 4K running into the “A” side with the “B” side running into the Nova via a WireWorld Starlight 8 ethernet cable. I am using the stock PSU so no additional upgrades at this time. I definitely noticed an immediate change in the sound with the Nova - I would say the impact was very close to moving from one good DAC to another slightly better DAC; there is audibly more space in the mix, with a slightly larger soundstage and to my surprise a higher soundstage - cymbal hits, percussion effects etc seem to come from a higher sound plane than before. At first it seemed as though it tamed the bass somewhat. I have excellent bass currently from my Nova and Volti Rival speakers… integrating the eR sounded like it reined in the bass somewhat. However it actually just tightened and focused the bass - the depth/range of the bass is still there, when playing lower sub-bass tracks. The biggest shocker was that I had “Billie Jean” in my queue (a DSD file) and I was busy reading my iPad or something… but when that song kicked in with the sudden kick drum/snare intro and then the stereo “ch, ch, ch” effect coming through both speakers it nearly knocked me out of my chair. It was more powerful and larger and hit harder than I had ever heard before. I’m still on the fence about investing in other LPS and external clocks, as those become very expensive tweaks very quickly, and it seems like I’d be better off spending thousands on upgrading the Nova itself rather than all the extra boxes trying to get a cleaner signal into the streamer. I know it has only been about 48 hours so far, so I'm prepared for some more settling in over the next month. At first the sound of the eR did sound a little excited and maybe even a touch more strident. What I love about the Naim sound is not the deep magnifying glass on individual detail but the sound and pacing of the music overall, and it seemed like the eR put a bit of a magnifying glass on some of the details, particularly with regard to reverb and delay effects, etc. However that hasn't been a distraction and it seems like it has been integrating well over the past 2 nights. thyname, Superdad, PYP and 2 others 1 2 2 Link to comment
Popular Post JFHSQT Posted November 16, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 16, 2020 I wanted to share some observations after relocating my system to the opposite side of the room to separate it from HT gear and also eliminate TVs, media consoles, etc. I am using a slightly tweaked Cardas golden ratio arrangement and have located all of my Naim separates on the floor on blocks. Because the etherRegen is so small I didn't have its own little block to use, so I figured with its little isolation feet it would be fine to set on top of my Naim HiCap DR power supply (powering Supernait 3). Over the past week I have been mainly focused with dialing in speaker and subwoofer placement, and only started critical listening on Saturday after much final laser measuring/pointing and subwoofer phase and volume tweaking. What I discovered was that while the system now had pinpoint staging accuracy, perfectly locked phantom center imaging, and a seamless blend between the subwoofers and main speakers, it seemed as though the high bass in the 300-800Hz neighborhood had a bit of a veil over it, almost like a papery texture on bass guitar, kick slap, and male vocals. I was concerned that somehow all the work I did to improve everything else in the system was somehow going to be a trade off. Last night as I sat there trying to solve this puzzle and coming up empty it suddenly dawned on me that the etherRegen didn't seem to be making as much a contribution as it had in the past. I picked it up and rested my hand on the HiCap DR - although my HiCap is completely silent (no audible hum), I could feel very subtle vibration in the chassis. Given that I had placed the etherRegen on top of this vibrating piece of metal, and that the purpose of the etherRegen is to actually "clean up" a digital signal, it dawned on me that this veiling could be a consequence of the etherRegen placement. To wrap up, I ended up giving the eR its own maple block and it took no longer than my walking back to my chair and sitting down to immediately notice that everything had cleaned up - the papery texture was gone, replaced by natural timbre and depth, the bass veil was cleaned up and there was more air and openness to the entire soundstage - much like when I first put the eR into my system over the summer. So it is quite an eye opener in a situation like that to just confirm how much of a difference the eR makes - even though it took a week or so to track down why, I am once again impressed with the impact it can have and wanted to share these additional experiences. Duke40, GryphonGuy, Superdad and 5 others 3 3 1 1 Link to comment
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