Presentation of 250.2 DR

it is called 250 DR (not 250.2 DR)

the presentation of 250DR is not closer to 200 or 250.2, it is something else altogether that combines the best qualities of both amps, and has it's own qualities not heard before in previous generation Naim amps 

it is fast like the 200, has superb bass (please see the reviews of the 250DR online), has very low noise floor (notes flow out of a inky black silent background). I am not a fan of lots of bass, but the 250DR won me over in that area, combining this with amazing speed, clarity, PRAT, and musicality. My speakers which are Dynaudio X32, now sound like much more expensive speakers by Dynaudio, indeed one recent visit by a Naimophile, told me that I could not better these speakers if I spent 5 times the amount on them (they are 1600 GBP speaker), but it was really the 250 DR that made them sound like that.

I haven't tried my 202 or DAC V1 preamp out with my 250 DR yet, but plan to do this soon and will comment on this.

I expect both 202 and DAC V1 preamp out to work very well with the 250DR as this is not a slow amplifier at all

Analogmusic, thank you for your detailed comments.

Good to hear that the 250 DR is satisfied for you!

I'm also satisfied on my current system, the point I want to improve is sometimes I feel that on some tracks the 200 was little bit laid of bass and polite, just little bit.

Could be the tracks.

Don't be hasty to blame the messenger.

The 250DR is in my opinion much more like the the old 300 (which is a good thing) than the old 250.2 (which I was not very keen on). 

But, the 250.2 was not a good match with the 202, and I do not see why the much better 250DR would be a good match either. If you like the sound of your system and seek the things you mention in your post, the way to get them is from a 282, not a 250DR. If you upgrade the preamp, it's like getting a free power amp upgrade at the same time. 

As HH say, the 202 is a poor match with the 250.2, producing a dull leaden ponderous sound. Use a 282 or 252 on the 250.2 for a agile, lively full bandwidth dynamic sound, due to the regulation in the amp preventing power dips because of speaker load with frequency.

many comments about poor 202 250.2 matching over the years on the forum, the 250.2 needs to be fed by a more performant fuller bandwidth preamp for it to not sound unbalanced.

Simon

Best-jerry the NAP 200 is a fantastic amp, and not bass light and not polite, it is a dynamic and rhythmic amplifier. could be the tracks.

I will be trying out my DAC V1 and NAC 202 with the 250DR soon and will post here

The 250DR is quite a different sounding amp than 250.2 and could possibly work out with these 2 preamps. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

The 250DR is in my opinion much more like the the old 300 (which is a good thing) than the old 250.2 (which I was not very keen on). 

But, the 250.2 was not a good match with the 202, and I do not see why the much better 250DR would be a good match either. If you like the sound of your system and seek the things you mention in your post, the way to get them is from a 282, not a 250DR. If you upgrade the preamp, it's like getting a free power amp upgrade at the same time. 

HH, I well knew 202 should not match with 250.2,

but after seeing your comments about the new 250 DR is more closer to 200/300 so just ask about this strange question.

Anyhow, if you have 202, please try to match with 250 DR then share your comments.

Thanks a lot

The 250DR certainly matches well with a 272. That's the only one I've heard it with. Anyway, I'd still go with a 282 in your position. With a CDS3 and a 250DR, the 202 will only ever be a bottleneck. 

It's interesting how certain opinions get established as fact on the forum (250.2 is 'fat/slow/bassy') when there are many who hold quite different opinions, as Simon in Suffolk above. I have used my 250.2 with a 282 and 252 with SuperCap DR and the fat/slow/bassy description is way off the mark. Having said that, I do plan a DR upgrade on mine.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

As HH say, the 202 is a poor match with the 250.2, producing a dull leaden ponderous sound. Use a 282 or 252 on the 250.2 for a agile, lively full bandwidth dynamic sound, due to the regulation in the amp preventing power dips because of speaker load with frequency.

many comments about poor 202 250.2 matching over the years on the forum, the 250.2 needs to be fed by a more performant fuller bandwidth preamp for it to not sound unbalanced.

Simon

Hi Simon, I did use 202, 282 and 552 but finally downgraded to 202 due to the size of my living room limited the hi-end system, "enough" is already good for me, at that time I decided I will not upgrade the preamp anymore as I already enjoyed the top preamp of naim, unless I changed a bigger house.

Actually i don't really like the "forward" presentation of 282 although it's more 3D and detailed, would more prefer the "laid back" of 202/252.

I knew 202/250.2 is a unbalance system, however if 250 DR is more like 200/300 then that is a consideration. 

Andrew Everard has used SN2 as preamp with 250DR and found that to be a good combination

I don't see why 202 wouldn't work either but I'll try it soon and post it here

I listen more near field and like to have more scale , bass sounds coming above the plain of the woofers and not rumbling along the floor - more like energising air rather than floor. When I tried 282, HC and 250.2 together this was excellent in this case.

I have been using UQ with 250/2 into my new ATC SCM11s and have been v impressed with the combination. Looking forward to DR'ing the 250/2

Cdb posted:

It's interesting how certain opinions get established as fact on the forum (250.2 is 'fat/slow/bassy') when there are many who hold quite different opinions, as Simon in Suffolk above. I have used my 250.2 with a 282 and 252 with SuperCap DR and the fat/slow/bassy description is way off the mark. Having said that, I do plan a DR upgrade on mine.

Hi Cdb perhaps the opinions are more aligned that you think. The 250.2 - in my experience - with a 202 is fat and slow. (I even wrote about this a few years back on the forum) However with a 282 or 252 its completely different - being agile and full bandwidth presenting wonderful depth and timbre - and this has tended to be echoed and agreed with over the years on the forum.

I think its been said here a few times over the years - but you need to consider the NAC and NAP as a single pair for a given performance.

Best-Jerry - I found the 282 with a 200 erring sometimes to more forward and brighter than neutral. However with the 250.2 the 282 sounds more civilised and proportioned - so it might be worth listening to the 282 with 250.2 if you haven't already. Of course the 252 is more refined than the 282 and the audio seem to breath, ebb and flow more easily when required - but it is quite an uplift in price I agree

There was always a view that the old 250 was hard to match up whereas the dr seems to be more flexible.  So if you have demanding speakers then matching with 202 could well be a good solution.  

But if you really want to exploit the dr then it needs CDX2/XPS/282/HC or 272/XPS. 

I have a 202 hi cap dr paired with the nap 250 dr. I like it. You get all the qualities people speak about with the 250dr. I wouldn't say it's a bad pairing at all however I've not heard the 250 dr with a 282 yet. 

Pawson6844 posted:

I have a 202 hi cap dr paired with the nap 250 dr. I like it. You get all the qualities people speak about with the 250dr. I wouldn't say it's a bad pairing at all however I've not heard the 250 dr with a 282 yet. 

Pawson6844, good to hearing you are owning 202/250DR combo, did you compare with both 202/HCDR/200 and 202/HCDR/250DR, if so please share your valid comments to me, thanks,

best_jerry posted:

Pawson6844 posted:

I have a 202 hi cap dr paired with the nap 250 dr. I like it. You get all the qualities people speak about with the 250dr. I wouldn't say it's a bad pairing at all however I've not heard the 250 dr with a 282 yet. 

Pawson6844, good to hearing you are owning 202/250DR combo, did you compare with both 202/HCDR/200 and 202/HCDR/250DR, if so please share your valid comments to me, thanks,

Yes I had an ex dem 200 on home demo, (non dr). I bought the 202 and hi cap dr ex dem, speaking to my dealer and knowing I would eventually get a 282 he advised to get the 250dr now. 

There is no comparison between a non dr 200 and the 250dr. What I heard in my own system was a monumental difference. Bass, clarity, soundstage, separation of the music. I am so happy I paid the extra to get the 250dr.

I can only imagine what it will be like with a 282. If you can afford it go for it without hesitation. 

Getting a 250DR and using it with a 202 as a stopgap before getting a 282 makes some sense, though I'd have gone 282/200 then 282/250, but that doesn't really justify the 202/250 as a long term solution. 

Pawson6844 posted:

best_jerry posted:

Pawson6844 posted:

I have a 202 hi cap dr paired with the nap 250 dr. I like it. You get all the qualities people speak about with the 250dr. I wouldn't say it's a bad pairing at all however I've not heard the 250 dr with a 282 yet. 

Pawson6844, good to hearing you are owning 202/250DR combo, did you compare with both 202/HCDR/200 and 202/HCDR/250DR, if so please share your valid comments to me, thanks,

Yes I had an ex dem 200 on home demo, (non dr). I bought the 202 and hi cap dr ex dem, speaking to my dealer and knowing I would eventually get a 282 he advised to get the 250dr now. 

There is no comparison between a non dr 200 and the 250dr. What I heard in my own system was a monumental difference. Bass, clarity, soundstage, separation of the music. I am so happy I paid the extra to get the 250dr.

I can only imagine what it will be like with a 282. If you can afford it go for it without hesitation. 

Hi Pawson, thanks for your detailed comments and your conclusion "202/250DR is better than 202/200"

In my view and in my living room it's certainly better but as we all know different rooms, speakers etc it may be different for others. 

All I can say is that if I had to live with a 202 hi cap dr and 250dr I'd be happy with it 

analogmusic posted:

I haven't tried my 202 or DAC V1 preamp out with my 250 DR yet, but plan to do this soon and will comment on this.

I will be trying out my DAC V1 and NAC 202 with the 250DR soon and will post here

I don't see why 202 wouldn't work either but I'll try it soon and post it here

 

 

Awaiting this in bathed sweat, don't keep us in the pine bench for any longer, its killing me

B-lund you are a chrome bum*er and Olive guy, we all know that.

so now finally I have tried 202/HCDR/250DR against 282/HCDR/250DR

I was quite pleasantly surprised by the 202/HCDR/250DR combo it didn't sound slow to me at all, but the bass was a bit too much in my room and with my speakers and the 250 DR. It wasn't bloated or unpleasant at all, and if you feel your speakers need that bass boost then 250DR seems to work well with 202 (just as I thought it would)

But putting the 282 bring the bass back into balance, so it is a matter of taste and perspective.

In some ways, the 202 sounded smoother to me than the 282 with vinyl as the 282 exposes the poor quality of my vinyl player too ruthlessly, I guess the better preamp opens with window of the source even more.