Just by chance I have a Naim Superline with Teddy Pardo Supercap and a Basis Exclusive. Both are GREAT; which is better depends on your system and taste. As it happens I am selling the Naim to my friend Tricon_dave as it is a great match for his Wilson Sasha. Transparency, pace, bass power and definition are exceptional. The ASR is more laid back but yet also has very good bass and transparency. I use Spendor or GamuT speakers and I find that it is a very good match with them. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Actually, which sounds better can depend on which LP you are listening to; when I compared them on my system [it is listed in virtual systems] one would sound better on one disc and the other on the next. If ultimate definition and transparency is your goal I would go with the Naim; if you like a little more relaxed and "musical" sound the ASR. |
I think it depends on which ASR you get. If you grab an older 2006 model I think you are looking at the best of both worlds. I finally got to listen to the gold board vs my blue 2006 and I understand what the distributor means when he says it's more of a vintage sound. I think that you get more of the tactile instrument touching as well as a wonderful rendering of the the room that the music was recorded in. Air and warmth. It's really a wonderful sounding unit. I haven't heard the Naim in my system so comments would be useless. All I know is that a friend who has regular access to about 12 of the top units (a recording industry executive) prefers the ASR to anything until you get up to the Burmeister, Boulder, Constellation stratosphere. I'm surprised you can't find a Naim to demo. Those dealers are usually super accommodating. Nice thing about buying an ASR used at a good price is that you can always re-sell it. |
Avoid the Basis from 2005 (HP review in TAS) and 2008/9
which is without the MM input. I owned both. The best place
to buy any ASR second hand is Germany (www.audio-markt.de).
For transport remove the batteries. One can get those everywhere via internet. |
Mine is a 2006. Only thing is that power supply is HEAVY and the umbilical cord connecting the unit and PS looks like it came off a WW2 battleship. I suppose these things contribute to the sound quality; it is overbuilt to say the least. It looks like it could eat my Metrum Octave dac for a snack. |
Dear Stanwal, I own 4 of those : 2x transformers for the
Emitter II and two battery packs ; one for the Basis,the
other for the 'pre' in the Emitter. All togheter I call
'the German artillery'. In legal terms: real estate. |
I ended with ASR. Two arm option made me buy it. No regrets for a now. Very good sounding phono pre. |
It only get better! I leave mine in the Line position when I'm not playing it and switch to battery when I listen. Distributor agreed that keeping it powered up all the time is good but I hadn't really tested it until power went out at my house for a day and when I turned it back on, took a few days before it sounded as good again. It was really interesting because I was complaining that the power outage hurt something somewhere and my wife came over and listened for a bit. She said "It sounds good, but it doesn't sound special." I was special again in a few days. It's a really nice way to describe the ASR sound. |
Hi Dhcod,
I really wonder which phono cables and interconnect you ever tried with asr, and also i would like to know if you are using xlr phono cable, and what are the difference with rca ones. Also last thing, i like what i am getting now, but i think vocals are coming from a little bit back, is this the character of asr or ? |
Altanpsx, I use the phono cables as provided by Triplanar VII and the Reed (2A). For my SCDA (Sony XA 5400 ES) the 'Silent wire' silver interconnect. From a technician
by ASR I got the advice to use the RCA out when using XLR in. |
FWIW I got the same advice. I went with the Furutech AG12 Balanced XLR Phono Cable from my Moerch arm but I use RCA outs on the Basis. |
Thank's for the advices. I am planning to buy an aq well or wild phono cable. It seems buying a balanced one will be a wiser move. Thanks |
I used a Cardas GR balanced with good results with my Graham 2.2. Now using a Rega 1000 which has captive cables. I also leave mine in the line position when not listening. Once in a while I forget to switch and wonder why the system is not sounding as good as usual. |
I am considering to leave in bat A position. If battery is dried out, it will automaticly charging, and pre works in line mode. |
Dear Stanwal, Never heard about 'captive cables'. Do you mean the ground by Rega which is on the left channel? BTW Rega is easy to rewire both ways: from the collar and
all the way from the headshell till the phono-pre. Then with 'line position' you mean 'current position' . Ie not in the battery position. The 'line A + B' are introduced
in the latest version if I remember well? Anyway there are also 'Auto A' and 'B' (by 2x pre) which switch from current to batteries when the signal is higher then 100 mV. This
means one 'may forget' to switch because as soon as the stylus touch the record the pre switches to batteries. |
The arm leads from the Rega 1000 are hard wired to give a direct signal path from the cartridge clips to the RCAs; that is no intervening DIN plugs etc. I use a 2006 ASR; some have found it better than the new one but I neither know nor care which is better; mine does the job for me. I have sold the Naim to a friend; both worked very well on mine but the Naim was outstanding on his. I am getting a passive to try and it lacks [Horrors!] a remote so I will actually have to walk over to the system to begin so having to turn from current to battery should become automatic (I hope). |
Stanwal, if you are going to a passive, please try the Lightspeed. I have a custom LIghtspeed LDR-type preamp built by someone with Georges blessing. I can't describe the difference between it and the passives I tried, except to say it's just not there. Completely transparent. I compared it straight up most recently to the Dodd Audio Battery Tube Buffer passive and mine killed the Dodd, which still sounded great, but there something about those LDRs. |
I am getting a Townshend Allegri; already ordered. I have used several passives and have a couple of good ones now but I felt that the transformer coupled ones were the way I wanted to go. |
Enjoy! I'm sure it'll sound fantastic! |
I got it yesterday; it sounds great. |
