I currently have:

NAC282 (with hi-cap and npsc)
NAP250.2
Marantz SA7
B&W805

NAP250.2 has broken down (still just within 1 year warranty). There was some burning smell around the hi-fi stand for a few days before NAP250.2 stopped working completely - it couldn't be turned on. I will contact my dealer today.

If I took this opportunity to upgrade (unlikely but just in case), what would be considered a better upgrade between pre-amp and power amp? I will certainly change the speakers in time to something bigger.

keilic,

How long have you had the *burning smell*?
And how loud were you listening?

Were you using NACA5 with the speakers?

Altho, it's a popular pairing, 205 is a bit out of depth to drive the 805 properly.

Kuma,

The burning smell was there for 2 days. It came and went and so we couldn't identify where it came from. By coincidence (perhaps), the TV cable box and telephone and internet also stopped working (cable company identified some wiring problem outside apartment). Pre amp, CD player and everything else ok.

Volume was not very loud (dial not more than 90 degrees which is already very loud in our apartment).

Yes using NACA5.

Sounds like you might possibly have a claim against your cable/electric company??

Best wishes getting your system working again anyway!

I'd probably go for a Supercap2 if I was you. It mates well with 282, sometimes procreating a 252 head unit

Enjoy your music,

Engelbert

keilic,

Sounds like the outlet might have had a power surge/spike.

Did you check your house insurance to see if it covers the damage?

Kuma,

I have an audio-grade outlet plus a surge protector so doubt if this caused it. Plus other components are fine. The cable box stopped working due to signal transmission failure rather than power related. Cannot rule it out of course. Is this uncommon? What type of quality do you see in Naim products in general? Build quality seems tremendous, on the surface. Don't know how it is inside...

Called the dealer.

He told me to check the fuse.

There are 2 fuses at the back (beside the power cord input). The one on the outside is spare and inside is in use. The one in use was blown! So swapped them. Now power amp back on! Will check if it produces sound...

Yes back up and running again!

Was worried for a bit. Glad there is a spare fuse at the back! Dealer told me to go in and get some spare ones from his shop. I asked him to prepare supercap and the new power cable for me to test. Supercap is very expensive...

Keilic,

That's a great news.

So, it looks like the burning smell was from the fuse not the circuit board.

You might want to have your dealer check internal circuit boards, just in case.

I haven't had any failure on my Naim amps.
I haven't even blown any fuses yet either.

Just about only time I was alarmed was when I used a 250.2 loud at the party for a prolonged time, the chassis got really hot but it did not go into the melt down.

Thanks Kuma.

I'll see how it goes. The thing weighs a ton and it would good effort to take it in. Seems to work fine now - but then again it worked fine during the past 2 days of on-off smell.

You've done well with your gear and keep the fingers crossed!

Do you have any experience with supercap? Engelbert suggested that as upgrade instead of nap300 or nac252. This is the wonder of naim's multi upgrade paths. They all seem to bring improvement from messages here, but which is the "best"? And why so expensive just for power supply? (Don't really expect an answer here - rhetorical question.)

it's quite hard to blow a naim amp they are built very well on the inside. I would 2nd the supercap

keilic,

A Supercap is just super on anything you partner with. I've used it from a little NAHA, Nait 3R, 282, 252, Stageline and Superline!

Have fun at the audition.

quote:

Do you have any experience with supercap? Engelbert suggested that as upgrade instead of nap300 or nac252.

I run a 250.2 with b&w 804s, and I think they work fine. If I were you, I'd probably just hang on to the 250.2 until you figure out what your speaker upgrade is going to be.

A 252 only works with a supercap, so unless you're thinking of going straight to a 552, you need to buy a supercap anyway.

So the most cost effective upgrade (and a nice way to ease into a 252 rather than spend it all at once on a 252 + s'cap) is to just buy the s'cap for your 282, which from all accounts is a massive upgrade in and by itself.

FWIW, I have a CDX2/XPS/202/hicap/napsc/250.2/B&W 804s setup. My current thinking on my amps upgrade is to swap my hicap for a supercap, and then eventually my 202 for a 252.

When I eventually figure out what speakers I'd like when I grow up, I'll make my power amp decision based on that (ie, stick with the 250.2, or if I need more grunt, move up to the 300).

Current long(very long!)-term goal is cds3/555ps/252/scap/300/B&W802d.

Obviously this is all subject to change, especially given that Naim seems to be in the midst of upgrading it's entire range. IMO all the more reason to just buy a power supply right now, rather than a new head unit that may or may not become obsolete soon after you buy it!

Thanks Kuma/Kartik for your view. Supercap audition it is then! I'll compare it with 252 if possible just for fun.

I didn't know Naim was upgrading its entire line up. Good and bad I guess. Would you know how long we have to wait before a release?

They are not upgrading there whole range.
Stu

Sorry should have been more accurate -- right now only the "x" range is being changed (to the new "XS" range -- see the paul stephenson's post explaining what's changed).

Additionally, there is a new DAC and the cdx2 has also been updated (now with digital out and perhaps some other changes too). Also, of course, a whole new range of speakers, starting with the Ovator S-600 for now.

No more hard news on any other changes/updates/etc, but I personally feel that unless there is any definite need to get new head units (CDPs or pre-amps), it makes to wait for a bit until all the new kit comes into the market to see how it all stacks up (ie, is a cd5xs + DAC better than a cds3??) and also incase there is any more news on changes higher up the range (ie, upgraded cds3, a reference cd transport to use with the DAC, a streamer, a pre-amp with a supernait level DAC built in, etc etc).

In the meantime, I believe that upgrades should just focus on the PS route until there is a bit more clarity on what's going to happen in the next year or so. This is especially relevant for me living in a country like India where PXing stuff isn't easy at all, and you end losing a lot of time/money/etc in the process.

This is, of course, personal conjecture / viewpoint... Apologies for any confusion.

Interesting...

I dropped by to see the dealer while in the area today. I asked him about upgrading to supercap. He suggested that was a good idea but he said it would make more sense to get the power cable and hook it up with hi-cap. He said that could even make more difference than upgrading to supercap!

Now the options are:

1. Upgrade power cable (costs around $HK5,000)
2. Upgrade power supply (supercap costs around HK$40,000)
3. Upgrade pre-amp (NAC252 costs around the same as supercap i think)

I will test the above options out, but probably next month when a friend will drop by in HK for a week. He may consider cdx2 (but seems like it's best to wait).

It would be phenomenal if option 1 even comes close to 2 and 3, let alone beat them in absolute gain.

quote:

Originally posted by keilic:
It would be phenomenal if option 1 even comes close to 2 and 3, let alone beat them in absolute gain.

It won't.

But the Powerline is the best bang for the buck option.

Why not repair your 250.2 an continue playing music

It is of great inportance that ALL components plugged into your naim system are powered from the same spur.
If coax from TV or FM radio are used, an antenna transformer (galvanic split) should be used, at least in the power grid system in my country.

When it comes to an upgrade, my 2 p goes to SC2.

Regards Steinar

Dear Steinar,

The electricity in the sockets [and light circuits] in Norwegian houses, is not always from the same phase [and the main supply is in Norway, as in UK, based on three phases], which might affect the issue of plugging all the components of Hifi to the same spur [and therefore the same phase].

In UK the electricity in any individual house is almost always from one phase alone, and so the issue is not quite the same.

The farm house I lived in between 1969 and 1980 was highly unusual in having two former dwellings with independant power supplies running on different phases in the same effective house - though no single room had supples from different phases. It was really a curious mix as one side of the house was wired earlier, with no earth trip circuit breaker, and the other side had an earth trip, but on a farm it is a fairly rare but not un-heard-of occurance to loose a main phase fuse, when some big motor started up.

It cut the electric in one half the house only according to which main phase fuse had blown.

I also remember one Mid-summers night in Norway when my grandparents and myself went to a party of a cousin of my grandfather's, and whem we finally returned to my grandparents' house [near Moss on Jeloy] the downstairs lights were incredibly dim because one of the main p[hases had blown.

Some of the sockets in the house werre still at correct voltage but some - including the one with the freezer on - were at a completely low voltage, which by then had already dstroyed the freezer motor - it was suffiecient power to burn it out, because it was too low to allow it to actually turn.

Thus I made the strange [to me as an Engliushman] discovery of a fundamantal difference between Norwegian and British Electrical installations.

ATB from George