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Size....
About 2" square by around 14" deep; an odd shape, but means it
fits neatly on a bookshelf near your chair, or alongside other
components.
Connections....
It has two sets of phono sockets on the back, in and out, but they're
in parallel so it doesn't matter. The idea is that the amp's record-out
line is connected to the Headcase then on to the tapedeck's record-in.
The tapedeck's playback-out goes direct to the playback-in of the
amp, as normal.
This, as you may realise, causes problems with Naim preamps, since
all socketry, other than the BNC phono(is that a contradiction in
terms?) input, are all DIN. I got around this by getting the Chord
Co. (a Naim subsidiary, BTW) to make me up a 5-pin DIN/2 phono lead
like you'd use with a tuner, etc., but using the other two pins
inside the DIN plug, so that they connect to the preamp's record-out.
I *could* have made up my own, but I wanted the same quality lead
as my other Naim interconnects; or used a 5-pin DIN/4 phono, but
my tapedeck's leads are terminated in a DIN plug and are captive,
ie soldered, at the tapedeck end - this would have meant two lines
unused, bad news for picking up noise. It depends on your tapedeck,
if you have one, which way you do it; if I want use the Headcase
or tapedeck, I just have to remember to check if I need to swap
over the cables in the tape socket on the preamp, that's all.
Positioning....
Mine lives several shelves down on a Sound Organisation Staktable.
The case is wood, so there would be no screening of hum fields,
etc., so putting it on the same shelf as the preamp is a no-no.
Use....
I only switch it on when I want to use it. It's a 500milliwatt class-A
amplifier, so it gets hot if left on; the output transistors don't have
heat sinks, but I've been assured that the heat emitted during normal
use isn't a problem.
Sound quality is very good; a little bit of class-A
smoothness/sweetness, but that's no bad thing when listening through
headphones. I use Sennheiser HD430's. I find the bass a little heavy,
overblown, with most 'phones, in absolute terms; I have a
hunch that putting it in a bigger case will allow me to use a more
hefty transformer (the standard one seems a very flimsy item), which
should tighten the bass a little. Don't get that out of proportion,
though, I've had the beast a while now and haven't felt the need
to rush off and change the transformer yet.
The preamp needs to be powered on. If listening to a CD player,
you can leave out the preamp altogether, though; use the output
*not* controlled by the CD player's volume control - assuming you
have a choice - as these are usually a bit cheap'n'nasty; the volume
pot in the Headcase is a hi-grade ALPS item.
Basically, I'd recommend it.
Dave
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