250.2 DR Upgrade

Much, much more involving and captivating music from your system.  Lower levels of background noise, a faster, more fleet of foot bass line, a smoother, more enjoyable presentation.

So really quite an improvement.

+1. Couldn't have put it better myself FT.

Deepinsight, you have got a real treat when your 250DR comes back. I bought mine exdem (my autocorrect turns exdem into exhumed by the way ) so I am not sure what kind of burn in you might have to endure. But be patient it will (eventually) sound gorgeous.

"This is easily the best sounding Naim I have reviewed, and one of the best power amps I've reviewed period". 

I've yet to hear a bad word said about the DR upgrade to the 250. Damn, getting 2 upgraded is gijng to be painful. ��

Marksnaim posted:

I've yet to hear a bad word said about the DR upgrade to the 250. Damn, getting 2 upgraded is gijng to be painful. ��

I'm pretty sure I read someone here saying that they preferred the extra heft of the non-DR model, ie they weren't so keen on what FT calls fleetness of foot in the bass. Given how near unanimous the praise is, though, yep, brace yourself

Marksnaim posted:

I've yet to hear a bad word said about the DR upgrade to the 250. Damn, getting 2 upgraded is gijng to be painful. ��

Would a used 252 and SC [DR] give you better vfm?

C.

nigelb posted:

........... my autocorrect turns exdem into exhumed by the way

It may be to do with the lack of transformer hum on the DR

Extra heft on non Dr?

DR sounds more powerful to me, and it is, it has now been tested at 92 W at 8 ohms !

Christopher_M posted:

Marksnaim posted:

I've yet to hear a bad word said about the DR upgrade to the 250. Damn, getting 2 upgraded is gijng to be painful. ��

Would a used 252 and SC [DR] give you better vfm?

C.

Whoa! Nothing like spending someone elses money Chris surely that would come in far more than the £2k+ of two DR upgrades? Also although I've not heard the 252 judging from many comments on here it's not a foregone conclusion that it's a great VFM move from 282/HCDR. I know my dealer shares that view.

best regards

Mark

you can expect a much better amp than the 250.2

252/SCDR cannot give the same effect that 250DR will give you.

Marksnaim posted:

Whoa! Nothing like spending someone elses money Chris surely that would come in far more than the £2k+ of two DR upgrades? Also although I've not heard the 252 judging from many comments on here it's not a foregone conclusion that it's a great VFM move from 282/HCDR. I know my dealer shares that view.

Sorry Mark. I don't have a great grasp of secondhand prices and, anyway, was unaware of the apparent strength of feeling against the 252/ SC. Won't stop me trying them infront of my Nap200 at some point  :-)))

Cheers, Chris

Christopher_M posted:

Marksnaim posted:

I've yet to hear a bad word said about the DR upgrade to the 250. Damn, getting 2 upgraded is gijng to be painful. ��

Would a used 252 and SC [DR] give you better vfm?

C.

Depends on the cost of the used 252DR .. Over the years I have found the heart of a Naim system is the NAC followed by the NAP. So as always one needs to audition but I suspect the 252DR will give more a seismic quality lift.. Your amp can then take advantage of the better pre.

i find amp/speaker couplings are dependent on performance, but the NAC stands up on its two feet.

The 252DR is phenominal in the right system..the 250.2 in its various guises is very good as well. Yet to make up my mind (by auditioning) on the 250DR over 250.2 with my ATC speakers. There have been some negative 250DR comments on the forum, but not many. As always audition and best not get swept up in the marketing wave,

Simon

it isn't a marketing wave though. I bought mine without audition.

when I tried a 250.2 with my 282 compared to 200, the 250.2 didn't really impress me that much (yes it needed a service as it was more than 6 years old), but the 250DR impressed me in the first few seconds.

I agree with Analogue from the first moment I heard the 250DR both on dem and in my system - wow.

analogmusic posted:

Extra heft on non Dr?

DR sounds more powerful to me, and it is, it has now been tested at 92 W at 8 ohms !

 

Hey analogmusic, I see you are quoting the specs from the December Hi-Fi News and Record Reviews review of the 250-2 DR, just as an FYI the older non DR also had the same output.

In the same review the new 250DR  dynamic power is rated as 93W/ 163W/ 265W/ into 8, 4, and 2ohm loads. Not a real powerhouse of an amp!

To put this in perspective a review by the same magazine using the same methods for a Cyrus 8A rated at 70 Watts per channel  is quoted as 86 W into 8 ohms, dynamic power is rated at 106W/ 198W/ 325W! So you can see that the Cyrus integrated actually puts out more watts into dynamic conditions than the 250-2 DR. Just an FYI.

I noticed a big difference between the 250 I had on home dem and the 250DR I then purchased. Both are great but the DR sounds deeper and more controlled in my set up.

I have just finished running in my 2 new 250DR amps for my active system (the previous olive 250 amps could not be DR'd) and they sound fabulous! The whole soundstage/image/detail etc is totally beyond comparison with the old. They still partner the 252 pre amp along with supercap DR and 555 DR power supply with the HDX as digital source and Rega RP8 as vynal source . You will be blown away with your upgraded amps best wishes to you for many happy hours of DR utopia!

Our 250.2 went to Salisbury On Thursday too DeepInsight. Dealer says Naim said 15  working days turnaround, which is quicker than the thirty plus days tag heuer take to replace a watch battery!

Very kind dealer has lent me their own, currently unused chrome bumper 250, which sounds sweet.

I am a tad ambivalent regarding the upgrade, mainly from a cost perspective, having bought the 250 new in August 2014. However hoping for good things given reviews. 

Happy listening all......

Badlands there is an excellent review of the 300 DR on the audiobeat.com , may I request you read it, as it talks about the very issue you are pointing out.

the 250 is back today, and is now a 250DR.

Sounds excellent already, as to A to B comparison my aural memory is unable to access that level of remembering.

Arvo Part - Triodion & The Deer Cry, Patty Griffin Living with Ghosts, Depeche Mode Ultra, GU James Lavelle Romainia sound harmonius and enaging, with a melodius clarity across the differing genres. Out this evening and looking forward to listen to Keith Jarret the Kohn Concert later.

BW

I would be interested to hear your views on how (if?) Keith Jarret's piano (and his performance) has changed from 250.2 to 250DR on the Koln Concert album. I have made this very comparison on this very album. I won't colour your opinion with mine just yet. The SL speaker cables were also added at the same time as the 250DR arrived in my system so our comparisons might be a little different however - the 250DR being synergistic with the SL cables IMO.

I have found piano is one of the most challenging instruments for any system to reproduce with any degree of realism - a true test of an amp.

Try Warp, by Jon Balke. It's piano and electronics, and sounds wonderful, at least it does in the 24 bit version.