Demo of NAP500 vs NAP500DR

On the review of the 250DR on "the ear" website, Steve Sells, Statement designer has been directly quoted as saying the the DR amps do not require NACA5 or SL cables, they are cable tolerant.

On the review of the 250DR on "the ear" website, Steve Sells, Statement designer has been directly quoted as saying the the DR amps do not require NACA5 or SL cables, they are cable tolerant.

This applies to the 250.2/300/500 amps also. BUT not the olive or CB amps.

It would be nice of Steve Sells to confirm if this 100 % accurate.

I'm sure they till tolerate a lot of cables - I certainly didn't mean to give the impression that the DR 500 would instantly blow-up if you connected it up with NAC A5.

It was more to the point of what really works well with it. Naim developed the SL cables to allow the Statement range to perform at its best, so putting Statement technology into the DR 500 takes it in that direction too.

DB.

Somehow, I can't see Steve Sells doing that now! 

This makes alot of sense Ken, and chimes with DB's view on the synergy of both upgrades. I will hopefully have a dem of both in the New Year but am also very much hoping the DR alone will be a pleasing enough upgrade for the time being, as not only do I need a bigger piggy bank for both, but also a construction crew as most of my current NACA5 is under the floor and in the wall. That is a tough one to get past the Mrs unnoticed. The DR upgrade is childs play.

I suppose the choice between SL speaker cable vs. 500 DR upgrade will be a difficult one to pin down without a home dem of both for comparison. The cost of each is roughly the same, dependant of course on cable length required. So if one didn't exactly have £3.5 - £4.5K burning a hole in their pocket and could only go for one upgrade for the foreseeable future, which would it be?

Not having heard either (other than the SL cable as part of an S series pre/power dem - so not much to draw from really) my heart says the 500 DR. I suspect opinion may be divided, and based on individual systems, rooms, preference etc. Or is their a clear winner.

I have always maintained its best to get the black boxes sorted first, the rest is down to personal taste.

My intentions will be to get the 500 DR'd before considering any cable change.

... I mean where/when is it all going to end...? 

I don't expect that people will believe these things until they hear them for themselves, so it is just information to help those that do. 

It is not that the old 500 was forgiving - I never actually said that, as run Active they need a lot of care to sing right I have found. Nothing 'special', just dressing the cables right and the usual stuff - my Dealer did tell me they had to re-configure their rig to allow for better cable-dressing for this demo, as when they had the S1Pre crammed into a neat-looking collection of boxes it sounded awful. Information which people can choose to ignore if they have their own views of how it should be, but I wanted to describe the set-up criteria, that is all.

But the overall Passive system level was raised by the inclusion of the 500DR to a level where it now has more of the revealing attributes I associate with non-DR 500 Active is what I tried to communicate, but perhaps I shouldn't really try.

And throwing NAC A5 into it instead of SL speaker leads would throw-away most of the upgrade IMO - but I'm sure you would still get something through. NAC A5 buggers-up the low bass and the 500DR gives you better articulation in the low bass, so it works into the weakness of the NAC A5 - but I agree we all hear it differently and some may like the bloated effect which I didn't.

DB.

I'd stop short of "insane"............

Oh, I don't know though.

The thing about being bonkers is that you don't know you are. And it's awfully enjoyable. So that's all right then.

If we ever won the lottery we promised ourselves we would retire with a CDS3, 252 and 300.

This was always going to be tricky since we don't play the lottery. Other than that, well, we nearly hit the target!

If I were to win the lottery jackpot, a primary desire would be a new house with a purpose-designe listening room (as near to an open garden as achievable indoors!). Only then would I consider whether spending more on kit is worthwhile, as otherwise the room is forever the limiting factor.

I think the SL and DR technology were developed together in the making of the Statement. The NA009 transistor certainly was.

Allant93, any reason for the large spacing of your post. A bit waste full really.

I'm sure they till tolerate a lot of cables - I certainly didn't mean to give the impression that the DR 500 would instantly blow-up if you connected it up with NAC A5.