Clearaudio Nano has landed in Australia!

[davidro]

Placement matters, big time

G'day all. Long time no post here.

Just a very little update on my life with Clearaudio Nano.

If there were any issues I had with the Nano, it's always been the hum level especially when there's an MC-cartridge.
I've sort of given up on this for a while, thinking it's inevitable with MC cartridge playbacks.
But as my listening sessions with latest audiophile CDs on a high volume have increased I've come to find it really annoying.

This evening, what I did, I simply took the Nano as far away as possible from the other gears, namely onto the ground.
It's been sitting on my CD player (which is on top of my amp) until then.
And what it does, the hum level has almost disappeared, somewhat even less than CD player (OK, that could've been a placebo effect).

Although I can no longer see its cute face on top of my gears, I'm very satisfied with the result.

Been sitting on the CD player next to heaps of CDs etc

Now it's been exiled to the bottom of everything.

I am listening to Schubert Piano Sonatas. When played by S Richter, the blank between each note becomes an integral part of the music.

Any hum noise can be really distracting. With the exiled Nano and the Yamaha GT-750, I get to hear what's recorded on the groove and (almost) nothing else. Sweet.

 

[davidro]

My nano came in today. WOW what a difference! The nano was definately the missing link in my vinyl set up. The marantz I thought had a very nice sounding phono section but the nano is better in every single way. I used to use the tone controls on the preamp and a litte help also from a dynamic expander. I have no need for these tweaks now and I've had to turn back the bass just a bit on my sub. I've only played a couple of albums and still have a little tweaking to do. It does seem to be more precise but I still have the vintage warmth of the marantz. Win win situation for sure.

Aw you seem to have caught the 'audiophile bug' here

It sure does make a big change for the better. My nano preamp made a far greater change for the better than when I upgraded tt's a while back. I went from a full auto pioneer pl560 with a shure mx97e cart to a clearaudio emotion, satisfy arm, beta woodbody cart. That was a substantial upgrade no doubt but soundwise the nano is far more noticable. I'm still amazed at how good that tiny little box of electronics really is.

Now that I placed mine further away from the rest of the crew the performance is even more impressive.

Just a few things that I've noticed about my nano having lived with it for a bit now. The soundstage had increased in width but at the expense of the pinpoint imaging of the singer in the center. This morning I played around with swapping the phase of wall wart power supply.
The nano's instructions said "you will notice a difference." Sure enough I had the power supply out of phase and now all is well. Huge soundstage is still there but the pinpoint imaging has returned now.
I've also found that less gain on the nano (like around the half way mark) seems to work better on records that are well recorded. 3/4 gain seems to work well on vinyl that the engineer had a bad day on. It's quite nice to have that option to help out on those less than stellar recordings.
I'm still impressed with how much better that little nano is over my inboard phono section. Now I'm wondering how much better would the next step up be.:scratch2:

Agreed. Sometimes I go even lower with the gain. I'll have to crank up the volume but sometimes I just have to do that especially with great records. But my usual is 3/4 as well. Your next step would be a jump to an MC cartridge (you might have done so already)

Hey everyone,

I posted earlier in this thread and continued following it...and lo and behold, the holidays have brought a Nano into my system. I am excited to set it up this morning.

One question to the Nano crowd: do all of you use the subsonic filter? Any thoughts?

Thanks!

I think I've left it off. I haven't experimented with it much so far. Perhaps next time when I get bored!

 

[Mr. Lin]

Thanks for the update.

If there were any issues I had with the Nano, it's always been the hum level especially when there's an MC-cartridge.
I've sort of given up on this for a while, thinking it's inevitable with MC cartridge playbacks.
But as my listening sessions with latest audiophile CDs on a high volume have increased I've come to find it really annoying.

Believe me man, I've been there too. It can be very frustrating, but the way I look at it now, if you're spending this kind of money, you shouldn't have to put up with any hum. As you've discovered, there are ways to fix it.

I recall cables came up in here when this thread was new. Not suggesting you need to spend a lot of money, but what finally eliminated most of the hum for me was a pair of cables that were apparently just better shielded than the others I'd tried - and all the others were supposedly well-shielded too. You just have to find what works.

But if it's at an acceptable level for you now, it's time to listen to music, period.

 

[catman]

G'day all, that's rather interesting David because I presume that the Nano is housed in a metal enclosure and is properly earthed.

As such, if that is done correctly that sort of hum pick up simply shouldn't happen. This is worth further technical investigation I think. Regards, Felix aka catman.

 

[davidro]

Believe me man, I've been there too. It can be very frustrating, but the way I look at it now, if you're spending this kind of money, you shouldn't have to put up with any hum. As you've discovered, there are ways to fix it.

I recall cables came up in here when this thread was new. Not suggesting you need to spend a lot of money, but what finally eliminated most of the hum for me was a pair of cables that were apparently just better shielded than the others I'd tried - and all the others were supposedly well-shielded too. You just have to find what works.

But if it's at an acceptable level for you now, it's time to listen to music, period.

It is acceptable for time being. If I get even fussier I might consider a purchase in future as you suggested.

G'day all, that's rather interesting David because I presume that the Nano is housed in a metal enclosure and is properly earthed.

As such, if that is done correctly that sort of hum pick up simply shouldn't happen. This is worth further technical investigation I think. Regards, Felix aka catman.

With MM cartridges no problem. With MC cartridges there's been some hum on a high volume (from say 11 o'clock). It may be the phono cable attached to the tonearm, being rather old and all. But now the Nano's away from the rest of the crew it's all sweet.

 

[Mr. Lin]

With MM cartridges no problem. With MC cartridges there's been some hum on a high volume (from say 11 o'clock). It may be the phono cable attached to the tonearm, being rather old and all. But now the Nano's away from the rest of the crew it's all sweet.

The problem is that you have to turn up the volume more - ie. use more gain - with LOMC cartridges, and that means if there's any noise that was previously inaudible at lower settings, you're going to hear it. I never had the issue (except with Grado cartridges) until I got my "medium output" Benz, which is .8mV. Then I had to deal with hum.

 

[davidro]

The problem is that you have to turn up the volume more - ie. use more gain - with LOMC cartridges, and that means if there's any noise that was previously inaudible at lower settings, you're going to hear it. I never had the issue (except with Grado cartridges) until I got my "medium output" Benz, which is .8mV. Then I had to deal with hum.

Exactly. An LOMC is such a delicate little girl.
You just gotta treat her with extreme care and respect.

That's why the gain control with the Nano is really helpful with LOMCs.

 

[motorstereo]

Hmmm; I never noticed any hum with my nano but it is mounted away from everything much in the same way yours is. Just plain dumb luck on my part that it happened that way.
The imaging problem that I spoke about in an earlier post it turns out wasn't the nano's fault. In the process of swapping some gear around I had some wires crisscrossed. Now I've got precise imaging and a huge soundstage. I've also found that I like the setting a little bit lower on the nano as well. Right around 1/4 on most lps. It's so nice to have that option though to help out on some recordings that need all the help they can get.

 

[davidro]

Hmmm; I never noticed any hum with my nano but it is mounted away from everything much in the same way yours is. Just plain dumb luck on my part that it happened that way.
The imaging problem that I spoke about in an earlier post it turns out wasn't the nano's fault. In the process of swapping some gear around I had some wires crisscrossed. Now I've got precise imaging and a huge soundstage. I've also found that I like the setting a little bit lower on the nano as well. Right around 1/4 on most lps. It's so nice to have that option though to help out on some recordings that need all the help they can get.

Good point. I'll actually have to sort out my wires placement too.

I like the 1/4 setup for about a few weeks then I come back to the 3/4 and life goes on that way

 

[motorstereo]

Good point. I'll actually have to sort out my wires placement too.

I like the 1/4 setup for about a few weeks then I come back to the 3/4 and life goes on that way

It's so nice to have that option isn't it:yes:. Lately I've been using the lights on my rg expander as a quick visual reference point. I adjust the nano's volume knob so it's in the sweet spot on the rg and that seems to be correct for that particular record. I use the rg's display as an indicator only and don't normally engage the unit through the tape loop.

 

[BrocLuno]

Regarding the "boxy" sound (or other less than desirable "sounds"), I have found that it is one of the joys of having a switch selectable loading phono stage. I'm using one built into a Pioneer SA-8800. It has both resistive loading and capacitive loading. It was completely gone through by Fred Longworth a few back and is a joy. There are so many times when an LP does not sound quite right. Hey, just a tweak away and they sound much better.

So besides being able to swap cartridges, I can change the loading to suite the LP at hand. There are just so many used LPs that seem to be well balanced coming off the line. The rest leave a bit to be desired in one aspect of another. So much easier to load them as needed so that a RIP or TAPE session comes out the way you want.

Adding down stream tone controls is OK for the speakers, but it does nothing to clean up a source. Changing the loading does both and often brings out detail and balance that can't be achieved any other way

 

[davidro]

Regarding the "boxy" sound (or other less than desirable "sounds"), I have found that it is one of the joys of having a switch selectable loading phono stage. I'm using one built into a Pioneer SA-8800. It has both resistive loading and capacitive loading. It was completely gone through by Fred Longworth a few back and is a joy. There are so many times when an LP does not sound quite right. Hey, just a tweak away and they sound much better.

So besides being able to swap cartridges, I can change the loading to suite the LP at hand. There are just so many used LPs that seem to be well balanced coming off the line. The rest leave a bit to be desired in one aspect of another. So much easier to load them as needed so that a RIP or TAPE session comes out the way you want.

Adding down stream tone controls is OK for the speakers, but it does nothing to clean up a source. Changing the loading does both and often brings out detail and balance that can't be achieved any other way

Actually that's pretty cool. Whilst the Nano has the same option tweaking the loading isn't as easy as turning a knob.

 

[Mr. Lin]

There are so many times when an LP does not sound quite right. Hey, just a tweak away and they sound much better.

Qft

Like the time catman informed me I should consider using a lower impedance setting for my Grado cartridge - which I would never have thought to do - and wow did that make a noticeable difference.

That whole thing is much more critical with MC cartridges though, especially the low-output ones.

 

[catman]

G'day all, yes both MM's and MC's are both rather 'affected' by loading but for very different technical reasons.

Regardless of the technical reasons, getting the loading right and optimised for the particular cartridge often does make a large audible difference (the 'standard' Shure M97xE, for example). :yes: Regards, Felix aka catman.

 

[davidro]

Looks like my MM cartridges like the Nano close to the team

I've recently been using MM cartridges a lot. Shure M97xE and V-15. Both give noticeable hum after 9 O'clock volume. I wrestled with the issue and got defeated last night.

This morning, forgetting I have work to go to, I wrestled with it again. Instead of the Nano this time I plugged the phono cable to the in-built MM phono stage of my Marantz. Zilch hum. WTF. Does that mean the Nano is worse than the Marantz in-built when it comes to MM?

Then I realised I could try placing the Nano near the other gears. In fact I placed it between the amp and the turntable. The hum is gone!

 

[Echoes Myron]

Hey David,

I had a hum problem develop at one point in late winter with my Nano as well. Strangely enough, I unplugged the turntable's grounding wire from the back of the Nano and the hum went away. It's still like that. I should say, though, that our house is old and most outlets are not isolated from each other on the circuit.

All in all, I can't be happier with the Denon 103R and the Nano combination (at 400 ohms).

Hope your problems have subsided. Ah, the pleasures of analog.

 

[davidro]

Good stuff. You're so right. There are so many variables in analogue that just require a lot of experiments. When you get it right the sense of achievement is rather addictive.

You know when I changed my cartridge from an LOMC to an MM the other day the sound was so boxed in that I thought it was so strange. No wonder - I forgot to change loading from 1000 ohms to 47k!

Glad the Denon works out with your Nano so well. I'm awaiting the 301 mkii to be dispatched too. Will report how it goes with my Nano when I get it. Cheers!

 

[Mr. Lin]

Does that mean the Nano is worse than the Marantz in-built when it comes to MM?

I would be shocked if that were the case.

I see you've already fixed the problem, but what Echoes Myron just said about unplugging the ground between Nano and turntable suggests a possible ground loop problem. Have you tried that yet?

 

[davidro]

I think I have and it made the hum worse in my case. You really need to consider everything - your electricity outlet, other gears, how they're connected etc. But no matter - I've fixed it completely!

 

[Mr. Lin]

I think I have and it made the hum worse in my case. You really need to consider everything - your electricity outlet, other gears, how they're connected etc. But no matter - I've fixed it completely!

Lol, well that supports your point here. It's good that you've solved this though. IMO, when you've payed this kind of money for your audio equipment, you should not have to put up with hum. But I've been there before, believe me, and with more expensive gear, unfortunately.