500 DR upgrade time

Excellent news John and very reassuring. Thank you for such a well written report. I have a few more days to wait yet but I am looking forward to the return of my 500 next week. 

Unlike John I did not need a service as my boxes were serviced three years ago, so it was only the 500 and not the 500PS that are in Salisbury so I will not have any PS run in issues to factor in, just the DR upgrade.

it is good that the feedback on the 500DR will now start to flow as it has on the other amps.

i am sure you are in for another day of delights today John, rediscovering your music collection.

John, that's a very well considered and helpful report. You have captured - so much better than I can manage - exactly what I found in my much humbler 250 based system when SL leads and DR are combined. The level of immersion in the music is continually surprising. DR really is a big leap forward. 

John,

sounds like a fun weekend ahead.

keep us all posted.

all the best,

Richard

Signals UK posted:

 It's the same story with the 300, by the way, properly dramatic steps.

Using J.N.'s maths then presumably to NAP600 level 

I am not impressed - I had my 500 fully serviced in October 2014 just a few months before the DR upgrade to the 500 was announced.

Re the write up  - all the positive write ups tend to use the same words just rearranged slightly

Are you not impressed by the sonic change of the DR upgrade or by the unfortunate timing? I've been caught out twice by unfortunate timing: introduction of HDX-SSD and 552PS DR upgrade.  Hindsight's nice but not useful!

John, have you DR'd your 555 or 552?  I am wondering if this would have a bigger impact. For active users it would also presumably be (slightly) more cost effective. Interested to hear your thoughts. 

Dammit John! Couldn't you just have just lied about it? Now I'll have to get mine done. Whether to do all three in one hit, or one at a time? Decisions, decisions...

Derek Wright posted:

 

Re the write up  - all the positive write ups tend to use the same words just rearranged slightly

this must be good and perhaps expected, if they are describing the same effect?

in any case, its good to read other people's positive expeiences of their hifi journeys, whatever words they use.

enjoy

ken

tonym posted:

Dammit John! Couldn't you just have just lied about it? Now I'll have to get mine done. Whether to do all three in one hit, or one at a time? Decisions, decisions...

for me, its dammit x 2 !... 

enjoy

ken

Michael posted:

Excellent news John and very reassuring. Thank you for such a well written report. I have a few more days to wait yet but I am looking forward to the return of my 500 next week. 

Unlike John I did not need a service as my boxes were serviced three years ago, so it was only the 500 and not the 500PS that are in Salisbury so I will not have any PS run in issues to factor in, just the DR upgrade.

it is good that the feedback on the 500DR will now start to flow as it has on the other amps.

i am sure you are in for another day of delights today John, rediscovering your music collection.

ooops! i just assumed you also received your back yesterday Michael ...?

enjoy

ken

Gavin L posted:

John, have you DR'd your 555 or 552?  I am wondering if this would have a bigger impact. For active users it would also presumably be (slightly) more cost effective. Interested to hear your thoughts. 

Hi Gavin,

'Yes' to both. Day two of DR 500 brings a leaner, cleaner sound with better grip - if just a tad ragged. But folks; I'll take 'off the boil and ragged DR 500' over how the amp sounded, pre-op. The midband is sublime. Vocal clarity like I've never heard before.

Buying Naim electronics since 1982, I've never been troubled by the 'unlistenable for three weeks' phenomenon. Sure; things get better with run-in, but I normally have a smile on my face from the start.

John.

Ken/Tony,

Sorry; I should have had more consideration for my friends and stated that I can't hear any difference. Just keep reading this post if you're unsure how to proceed.

John.

J.N. posted:

Gavin L posted:

John, have you DR'd your 555 or 552?  I am wondering if this would have a bigger impact. 

'Yes' to both. 

Many thanks ��

tonym posted:

Dammit John! Couldn't you just have just lied about it? Now I'll have to get mine done. Whether to do all three in one hit, or one at a time? Decisions, decisions...

Tony,

I tried a single 300DR in my system back in October while still using two non-DRed 300s.  It just didn't sound right because the sonic signature of the new amp and its different timing just made the whole lot sound odd, regardless of whether I used it on the BMR or one of the bass drivers. 

I would imagine the same to be true of the 500 so I think doing them separately may not be the best plan if you can fund all three simultaneously.  Plus it means you have nine weeks of disruption rather than three. 

If you send them in at the same time and also have them serviced you could ask them to make them into a matched set for you.  Surprisingly this doesn't cost any extra!

Yes Graham, that does make sense. What to do in the three weeks? I've got the DBLs' passive xovers in the loft, and my spare old NAP150...

Well, either twist Signals' arm to lend you something or go to the Lake District for a 3 week holiday!

Yes - I'm also saving-up for getting all three of my NAP500 done together sometime. I'd also prefer to get them done piecemeal to spread the cost, but accept the consensus that it would not be wise.

Nice write-up John.

DB.

Harry posted:

I've just been contacted by Audience Bath to tell me that our 500 is going in next week. I will report accordingly.

Also for information. Anyone in Bath between now and the week after the Bristol show can hear the Statement amps at Audience. We're going to toddle in at some point. Fools that we are.

Thanks for the tip about Audience. It might be fun (nothing more, of course!) to hear he Statement amps in something closer to a domestic type setting, rather than at a hi-fi show. I've heard those amps demonstrated at the Bristol show a couple of times and have been distinctly unimpressed. 

I'll have to see what I'm doing in the coming week - may have to give Andrew a call.

We will try to get in. It would be a good opportunity missed. The Statement, even if in reach, is not justifiable to us so it should be a safe audition. Well, that's the theory.

Darke Bear posted:

Yes - I'm also saving-up for getting all three of my NAP500 done together sometime. I'd also prefer to get them done piecemeal to spread the cost, but accept the consensus that it would not be wise.

Nice write-up John.

DB.

Do you have a date yet for when they return to Naim?

A quick 'Day 3' update folks. The sound continues to open up and clean up, becoming more transparent with increasing resolution, grip and power.

The timbre and texture of the first few notes of many a familiar track have me exclaiming 'Whoa; that's different'.

This is 'DR 552 upgrade' level and then some. Actually; the 552 is irksomely, probably now the weak link here, and I ideally need one of those upright thingies.

Good listening y'all.

John.

Graham Clarke posted:

Darke Bear posted:

Yes - I'm also saving-up for getting all three of my NAP500 done together sometime....

DB.

Do you have a date yet for when they return to Naim?

No - I gave-up my DR-upgrade slot to sort out some other things in the system first that really need to be nailed-down before I get these done. The DR upgrade is very worthwhile, but in the context of an Active system you need to ensure you don't unbalance things and upgrade in the right sequence, or you get problems has been my experience.

I've recently found that the positioning of power supplies in the 500 power amps with respect to each other actually has more impact on the performance of my system than the DR-upgrade so that is getting fixed right now first. Essentially you need more than a standard Fraim space between the boxes with the transformers - I suppose you have to hear it to believe it, but it is very large and it was bigger than the DR-upgrade I heard demoed to me at my Dealer's.

The 500 DR made everything more tuneful, detailed and better bass-definition and extension, so I want it - but the extra spacing around the 500PS units in my stack did a lot more; the dynamic range and clarity just exploded massively when I gave these boxes more space.

Without going into more detail here - I will definitely get my set of three NAP500 upgraded to DR when funds permit!

DB.

J.N. posted:

...Actually; the 552 is irksomely, probably now the weak link here, and I ideally need one of those upright thingies.

...

John.

That is part of the reason I'm having to save for my 500DR - the recent 'upright thingy' and associated 'full SL-loom' expenses kind of emptied the pot.
I'm sure a home-loan of the said 'thingy' can be arranged from our friendly Dealer though.

DB.

Darke Bear posted:

Graham Clarke posted:

Darke Bear posted:

Yes - I'm also saving-up for getting all three of my NAP500 done together sometime....

DB.

Do you have a date yet for when they return to Naim?

No - I gave-up my DR-upgrade slot to sort out some other things in the system first that really need to be nailed-down before I get these done. The DR upgrade is very worthwhile, but in the context of an Active system you need to ensure you don't unbalance things and upgrade in the right sequence, or you get problems has been my experience.

I've recently found that the positioning of power supplies in the 500 power amps with respect to each other actually has more impact on the performance of my system than the DR-upgrade so that is getting fixed right now first. Essentially you need more than a standard Fraim space between the boxes with the transformers - I suppose you have to hear it to believe it, but it is very large and it was bigger than the DR-upgrade I heard demoed to me at my Dealer's.

The 500 DR made everything more tuneful, detailed and better bass-definition and extension, so I want it - but the extra spacing around the 500PS units in my stack did a lot more; the dynamic range and clarity just exploded massively when I gave these boxes more space.

Without going into more detail here - I will definitely get my set of three NAP500 upgraded to DR when funds permit!

DB.

How did you resolve the 500PS spacing issue then?  Have you now exceeded 5 Fraim racks?