coltrane
electrobaroCKjazzer
as above, owning a specimen of the later 160 with separate windings/rectifiers/earth wiring/cap pairs for each channel, having read and done the Mr. Tibbs mod for the Hi-Cap (amazing, many thanks Mr. Tibbs) this power amp just laid itself for a similar tweak, though this time much simpler.
that is, all earth wires are soldered on a wire bar between the 0 (or 'negative') speaker output connectors. dunno why Naim chose to do so as this later 160 is almost a perfect dual-mono amp (for which only the signal earths should be separated), so I decided to take a punt and see, err, hear, what comes out of it.
the 'mod' itself is pretty straightforward and easy: you only need to cut the wire bar in the middle leaving 3-3 earth wires on both remaining sides of it, and you're done. no soldering, no rewiring, nothing extra needed to be done - provided Naim employees built these later 160s all the same. that is, in my amp the 3-3 earth wires were spaced 'properly', so on both sides of the wire bar the 3 earth wires go to the same channel - it should be checked, though, before deciding all's done and switching the amp on.
also, when cutting the wire bar use a sharp pinchers, and although the soldered bar looks to be impenetrable to it, it's not so, the solder Naim used is very soft, so you can do it. moreover, if you feel like the operating space for the pinchers isn't enough feel free and bend that wire bar gently, it's flexible.
to add, when finished make sure that the earth wirings for the two channels don't touch.
and the result? much more music with smoother, more natural, transparent and detailed sonics, quicker attack (PRaT if you like), and deeper, more airy and better-defined soundstaging. not a heaven-and-earth difference, though, but an easily discernible one that's pretty much worth doing. good luck, lads
that is, all earth wires are soldered on a wire bar between the 0 (or 'negative') speaker output connectors. dunno why Naim chose to do so as this later 160 is almost a perfect dual-mono amp (for which only the signal earths should be separated), so I decided to take a punt and see, err, hear, what comes out of it.
the 'mod' itself is pretty straightforward and easy: you only need to cut the wire bar in the middle leaving 3-3 earth wires on both remaining sides of it, and you're done. no soldering, no rewiring, nothing extra needed to be done - provided Naim employees built these later 160s all the same. that is, in my amp the 3-3 earth wires were spaced 'properly', so on both sides of the wire bar the 3 earth wires go to the same channel - it should be checked, though, before deciding all's done and switching the amp on.
also, when cutting the wire bar use a sharp pinchers, and although the soldered bar looks to be impenetrable to it, it's not so, the solder Naim used is very soft, so you can do it. moreover, if you feel like the operating space for the pinchers isn't enough feel free and bend that wire bar gently, it's flexible.
to add, when finished make sure that the earth wirings for the two channels don't touch.
and the result? much more music with smoother, more natural, transparent and detailed sonics, quicker attack (PRaT if you like), and deeper, more airy and better-defined soundstaging. not a heaven-and-earth difference, though, but an easily discernible one that's pretty much worth doing. good luck, lads
