New (to me) 250.2????

Cheekymonkey71 posted:

Turned up yesterday morning, bought second hand from Lotus hi-fi. It has replace a nap150 in my system and is now singing quite beautifully in my system along with my 282 and hicap. My Neat motive 1's have never sounded so good. The amp was a bargain at £1350 and is in mint condition as Richard promised. The prices of these has dropped through the floor since the DR was introduced, but to my ears this is still a great sounding amp, certainly not fat and slow as suggested on another post on this forum, at least not to me anyway. ��  

I agree. Although the combination with 282 and HC does seem to be less derided as far as the 250.2 goes. I don't get the fat and slow criticism as it's not something I can say I've experienced with mine. Maybe it's something to do with the speaker match also. The low values helped me get back onto the active ladder which is something I've been wanting to do for a while, so happy about that too!

I do wonder how long I'll resist the urge to send them off for a sprinkling of magic DR dust though.. 

Is your Hicap a DR? I'll be getting a HCDR to replace my older HC on the Snaxo. I might try popping the HC2 on the 282 to see how much I lose vs the DR.

Rgds

Mark

No my hicap is a plain hc2 and whilst I heard the 250DR recently at my local dealer and it was very good (with a 282 + HCDR, NDS, and a set on the new Motive 1sx's) I think my next bout of investment will be into my sources. I have a gyro se, rb300, 2m black, era gold v phono stage and an iMac/ Arcam irdac combo, which whilst being great (the irdac sometimes amazes me even when being fed by my iPhone) offers considerable room for improvement. I have my eye on either a HDX or an NDS. 

Sounds like you've got a bargain there.  The 250.2 is an excellent amp and complements the 282 beautifully. Enjoy it.

M

I think marksnaim might have a point with the speaker matching observation.  Lean fast speakers like Neats should suit the 250.2 to a tee. 

My Momentums seem to gel beautifully with the full blooded 250.2.

I can think of quite a few speakers that would make this amp sound bloated though. So it is  understandable that it has the unjustified reputation for being fat and slow.

Cheekymonkey71 posted:

No my hicap is a plain hc2 and whilst I heard the 250DR recently at my local dealer and it was very good (with a 282 + HCDR, NDS, and a set on the new Motive 1sx's) I think my next bout of investment will be into my sources. I have a gyro se, rb300, 2m black, era gold v phono stage and an iMac/ Arcam irdac combo, which whilst being great (the irdac sometimes amazes me even when being fed by my iPhone) offers considerable room for improvement. I have my eye on either a HDX or an NDS. 

Good call I think.

cheeselet posted:

I think marksnaim might have a point with the speaker matching observation.  Lean fast speakers like Neats should suit the 250.2 to a tee. 

My Momentums seem to gel beautifully with the full blooded 250.2.

I can think of quite a few speakers that would make this amp sound bloated though. So it is  understandable that it has the unjustified reputation for being fat and slow.

Which Momentums do you run? The 3i by any chance? I've heard great things about the momentum range with Naim kit. I recently missed out on a pair of 3i's on fleabay recently. 

Great stuff, congrats! One of the all time classic combos, from what I've read.

What's the little symbol after 250.2 in your title?

C.

Yup 3i's.

I've tried several Naim amps but the 250.2 is the one. It really fleshes out instruments and voices with a satisfying weight and dynamic to the bass.

They are quite a demanding speaker so this amp is probably the best starting point, as there  are plenty  of Naim choices if you wish to carry  on up the ladder. 

Yes it interesting how we all loved the 250 and enjoyed it for years, then all of a sudden it is being derided by some. There were very good reasons it gave so much pleasure to so many in its non-DR form. DR brings another level of delivery which is well worth the upgrade which is why you have got yourself a bargain. However, you have a great and legendary amp. Enjoy it.

I had a demo 250.2 on my 272 before my purchased 250DR arrived. I have to say, I enjoyed the 250.2 very much and whilst there were improvements with the DR, the  250.2 was very enjoyable in my system.

Christopher_M posted:

Great stuff, congrats! One of the all time classic combos, from what I've read.

What's the little symbol after 250.2 in your title?

C.

Just a smiley face!

Harty601 posted:

I had a demo 250.2 on my 272 before my purchased 250DR arrived. I have to say, I enjoyed the 250.2 very much and whilst there were improvements with the DR, the  250.2 was very enjoyable in my system.

Out of interest, what are you using as a NAS / file server feeding your 272? 

Cheekymonkey71 posted:

Christopher_M posted:

Great stuff, congrats! One of the all time classic combos, from what I've read.

What's the little symbol after 250.2 in your title?

C.

Just a smiley face!

Oh. Just had a very close look. I thought it might be the plate on your motorbike: 01F and 60R on the line beneath it. What's the Naim forum without a diversion?!

Anyway, the main thing is your new Nap250.2 which is stonkingly good for you, despite the deriders  :-)

C.

Cheekymonkey71 posted:

Harty601 posted:

I had a demo 250.2 on my 272 before my purchased 250DR arrived. I have to say, I enjoyed the 250.2 very much and whilst there were improvements with the DR, the  250.2 was very enjoyable in my system.

Out of interest, what are you using as a NAS / file server feeding your 272? 

I'm running asset on a Qnap TS 231. I've ripped my CDs to uncompressed Flac and transcode on the fly to wav. I knew nothing about NAS and file servers before purchasing my 272, but with the help of people here and other research, I found it relatively easy to set up and has so far been bullet proof.

At that price a 250 is a snip.  Excellent.

I tried some Motive 1s once and found that they had massive booming bass, in my room. It sounds as though yours are fine, nevertheless I think it would be worth considering better speakers that will do justice to the 282/250. There are some amazing secondhand bargains to be had. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

I tried some Motive 1s once and found that they had massive booming bass, in my room. It sounds as though yours are fine, nevertheless I think it would be worth considering better speakers that will do justice to the 282/250. There are some amazing secondhand bargains to be had. 

You are right concerning the bass in the Motive 1's, the  250.2 certainly has much more control over them than the 150 ever had, and i am using a foam plug in the bass port, so most of the time they're fine. Out of interest what would you recommend?

I've seen Kudos C20 or Super 20 around at good prices. The C20 was very nice when I heard it with a 282/250DR, albeit with a fuller sound than I'm used to. As you like the Motives, these could fit the bill. Before getting my current speakers I had some PMC twenty.23s, which I really like. The Ovators also seem popular- I've heard them in passing but never really listened properly - they can be had for sensible prices used. Other than that, no idea!