gidders
hifi enthusiast, golfer & photographer
My starting point is when my system was Linn Akurate System Hub / Linn Akurate Exaktbox with Katalyst DAC & digital crossover into a pair of Naim Olive 250s driving Naim SBLs with exakt filters created by Neil Hallworth of speakerfilter.com. I have to say that it sounded really good, & much better than when I’d been using the analogue Naim SNAOX crossover powered by a supercap. If you are running an aktiv setup with a SNAXO, you owe it to yourself to hear what Linn’s exakt technology can do - amazing.
Then about two years ago, I swapped out the standard Naim amplifier boards in my pair Olive 250s for Avondale NCC220 boards. This brought improvements all round in the areas you’d expect. Better grip on the bass lines, more detail, more separation etc while retaining all the characteristics that Naim amps are renowned for.
Fast forward & I changed the SBLs for a pair of SL2s. I described the upgrade as if SBLs are like your young mate who is larger than life & great fun to be around, the SL2s are the person they've matured into. Something a more rounded, not quite so in your face, having bags of authority & still great fun to hang out with.
Then I had the opportunity to compare Avondale boards to the Witch Hat Phoenix boards (see above). To be able to do a fair comparison and switch between the two, I fitted the Phoenix boards in one of my 250s, and put my system back to passive, using the Exaktbox in pass-through mode. To burn in the new boards, I left the system on 24/7 playing the radio for about a week before doing any serious listening comparison.
I started off with the amp with the Avondale boards so I could get a feel for how the system sounded passive & then switched to the Phoenix equipped amp. The improvement was immediately apparent. It just felt as though the music had come to life and made the NCC220s, which I’d though a good improvement over the Naim standards, seem a bit pedestrian & lacklustre by comparison. Bass lines were tauter, hi-hats & cymbals shimmered & sparkled, female vocals like Eva Cassidy took on a more breathy naturalness while male vocals like Pete Alderton & John Campbell sounded more gravelly. There was greater separation between individual instruments & performers, but they still sounded like they were performing together, rather than the hifi like dissection you get with some amps. The Phoenix boards are a stunning upgrade while leaving your amps still sounding like Naim amps… only much better. Needless to say, I immediately converted my second 250 over & restored my system to Aktiv Exakt operation… OMG!
If you’ve got standard Naim boards, or Avondale boards, you owe it to yourself to try the Witch Hat Phoenix boards – you will not be disappointed.
Then about two years ago, I swapped out the standard Naim amplifier boards in my pair Olive 250s for Avondale NCC220 boards. This brought improvements all round in the areas you’d expect. Better grip on the bass lines, more detail, more separation etc while retaining all the characteristics that Naim amps are renowned for.
Fast forward & I changed the SBLs for a pair of SL2s. I described the upgrade as if SBLs are like your young mate who is larger than life & great fun to be around, the SL2s are the person they've matured into. Something a more rounded, not quite so in your face, having bags of authority & still great fun to hang out with.
Then I had the opportunity to compare Avondale boards to the Witch Hat Phoenix boards (see above). To be able to do a fair comparison and switch between the two, I fitted the Phoenix boards in one of my 250s, and put my system back to passive, using the Exaktbox in pass-through mode. To burn in the new boards, I left the system on 24/7 playing the radio for about a week before doing any serious listening comparison.
I started off with the amp with the Avondale boards so I could get a feel for how the system sounded passive & then switched to the Phoenix equipped amp. The improvement was immediately apparent. It just felt as though the music had come to life and made the NCC220s, which I’d though a good improvement over the Naim standards, seem a bit pedestrian & lacklustre by comparison. Bass lines were tauter, hi-hats & cymbals shimmered & sparkled, female vocals like Eva Cassidy took on a more breathy naturalness while male vocals like Pete Alderton & John Campbell sounded more gravelly. There was greater separation between individual instruments & performers, but they still sounded like they were performing together, rather than the hifi like dissection you get with some amps. The Phoenix boards are a stunning upgrade while leaving your amps still sounding like Naim amps… only much better. Needless to say, I immediately converted my second 250 over & restored my system to Aktiv Exakt operation… OMG!
If you’ve got standard Naim boards, or Avondale boards, you owe it to yourself to try the Witch Hat Phoenix boards – you will not be disappointed.