After making changes to our Hi-Fi system, as below, we decided to do some listening tests.
The following tracks were chosen for the listening tests;
The present system set up is;
Many thanks to Cymbiosis for setting up the system and for loaning me the English Electric 8 Switch for the test. The Naim PowerLine was picked up on eBay for the test at a good price. (If it didn’t work, we could re-sell on eBay and get the money back).
However, for the test, the Focal Elears were initially used to cut out any background noise.
The first session was with;
The second session was with;
The third session was with;
The fourth session was with;
The fifth session was with;
The results were;
Did some further investigation into the fifth track and found that when played on the second system, as below, the track also appeared to be harsh, so must just be the original recoding.
Overall conclusion
We played the tracks again set up as Session Three, but this time through the speakers and have to say that we are enjoying the system. It was just as enjoyable listening again to the same tracks, but even more so, with the speakers as there was greater depth, detail and sound stage. The bass was very much controlled but you could really hear the deep base from Yello, without any distortion.
Consequently, we have decided to keep the English Electric 8Switch and the Naim PowerLine to the Naim SuperCap.
It was great fun undertaking this listening test and Mrs DG and myself enjoyed the various sessions. It is appreciated that the tests are subjective and non-scientific based. It is also appreciated that there are two camps with regard to believing cables / switches make a difference. However, we are not trying to convince anyone to change their opinions or thoughts, but rather just report what we have found with our simple test.
Finally, the conclusions are based on our personal opinion on the listening sessions and we have tried to be as objective as possible in the reporting of these.

- Selling the Linn Sondek LP12 deck
- Oak plinth
- Keel
- Karousel
- Tiger Paw Tranquility
- Ekos SE
- Krystal
- Urika
- Chord Shawline RCA to DIN Phono Lead
- Tangerine Audio Khan Top Plate
- Radikal (Akurate case)
- Selling the Naim CD5 XS
- Buying a Linn Klimax DS3/Katalyst Streamer
The following tracks were chosen for the listening tests;
- Women In Blue; Motherless Brooklyn; Various
- Cantaloupe Island; Empyrean Isles; Herbie Hancock
- Birdland; Heavy Weather; Weather Report
- A Love Supreme Pt. 1; A Love Supreme; John Coltrane
- Everybody Wants To Rule The World; Elevate; Lettuce
- The Road To Hell Pt. 1; The Road To Hell; Chris Rea
- Joys Of Christmas; Dancing With Strangers; Chris Rea
- Telegraph Road; Love Over Gold; Dire Straits
- Kalimba; Recycling The Blues & Other Related Stuff; Taj Mahal
- Ca’Purange(Jungle Soul); Bad! Bossa Nova; Gene Ammons
- Hey Laura; Liquid Spirit; Gregory Porter
- Unsquare Dance; Classics; Dave Brubeck
- Limbo; Toy; Yello
The present system set up is;
- Linn Klimax DS3/ Katalyst
- Chord Co; Signature Tuned Array RCA to DIN Interconnect
- Naim NAC 282
- Naim SuperCap
- Naim NAPSC
- Standard Naim Cables
- Naim NAP 250 x 2
- Naim SNAXO 242
- Naim FlatCap XS
- Standard Naim Cables
- Naim Headline
- Naim NAPSC
- Standard Naim Cables
- FOCAL Elear
- CustomCans Headphone Cable
- Naim NAPSC
- Kudos Titan 606
- Naim NAC A5
- All mains cables were Naim PowerLine Lites
- Simon Price SimRack
- The Network is Fibre to the house with an LAN (Ethernet) speed of around 230mbs and a Wi-Fi speed of around 200mbs.
Many thanks to Cymbiosis for setting up the system and for loaning me the English Electric 8 Switch for the test. The Naim PowerLine was picked up on eBay for the test at a good price. (If it didn’t work, we could re-sell on eBay and get the money back).
However, for the test, the Focal Elears were initially used to cut out any background noise.
The first session was with;
- TP Link Switch (original Network Switch)
The second session was with;
- EE8 Switch
- Chord Co; C-Stream Ethernet Cable
The third session was with;
- EE8 Switch
- Chord Co; C-Stream Ethernet Cable
- Naim PowerLine to the SuperCap
The fourth session was with;
- TP Link Switch (as Session One)
- Naim PowerLine to the SuperCap
The fifth session was with;
- TP Link Switch (as Session One)
The results were;
- Set as the base, reference value. The fifth track appeared harsh
- Improvement in detail and instruments seemed to be more defined. Appeared to be more calm. Soundstage had increased However, still some harshness on the fifth track
- Built on the improvements from Session Two. Appeared to be even more laid back (not rushed) and detailed, could hear more background information and more subtle sounds. (These appeared to be more subdued on the first two sessions). Bass was more controlled and louder, but not boomy, particularly with the Yello track. Overall, tracks were very clear and well defined. Comparable with the old Linn Sondek LP12. Still some harshness on the fifth track.
- Some of the detail and definition was lost. Was better than Session One, but not better than Session Three. Hard to tell difference from Session Two. Still some harshness on the fifth track.
- Sounded far less detailed then Sessions Two, Three and Four. A bit like someone had put some wet ex-army blankets over the speakers. Still some harshness on the fifth track.
Did some further investigation into the fifth track and found that when played on the second system, as below, the track also appeared to be harsh, so must just be the original recoding.
- Icon Audio Stereo 25 Mk II Integrated Valve Amplifier
- Q Acoustics 2020i Speakers
- QED Performance XT25 Speaker Cable
- QED Performance Interconnect
- Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100 Digital To Analogue Converter
- iPad Pro
- Qobuz
- Amazon Prime Music
Overall conclusion
- For our ears, the Linn Klimax DS3/Katalyst sounded better with the English Electric 8Switch and the Naim PowerLine connected to the Naim SuperCap. The preferred results were;
- Session Three
- Sessions Two / Four
- Sessions One / Five
We played the tracks again set up as Session Three, but this time through the speakers and have to say that we are enjoying the system. It was just as enjoyable listening again to the same tracks, but even more so, with the speakers as there was greater depth, detail and sound stage. The bass was very much controlled but you could really hear the deep base from Yello, without any distortion.
Consequently, we have decided to keep the English Electric 8Switch and the Naim PowerLine to the Naim SuperCap.
It was great fun undertaking this listening test and Mrs DG and myself enjoyed the various sessions. It is appreciated that the tests are subjective and non-scientific based. It is also appreciated that there are two camps with regard to believing cables / switches make a difference. However, we are not trying to convince anyone to change their opinions or thoughts, but rather just report what we have found with our simple test.
Finally, the conclusions are based on our personal opinion on the listening sessions and we have tried to be as objective as possible in the reporting of these.

Last edited: