Goodbye 282 - I shall remember you fondly. Hello 552.
Posted by: MDS on 16 April 2016
Regular readers might recall that I’ve twice tried a 252 in my system, expecting it to out-perform my 282. These were both long home demos but on each occasion, while the 252 dug out more detail, I found that on rock music the 252 just didn’t deliver the excitement I so liked about the 282 so the 282 stayed. A number of long-standing members on here said ‘try the 552’ . My dealer said the same. But the eye-watering price of the 552 caused me to wuss-out from even listening to it.
However in Feb curiosity finally got the better of me and I asked my dealer to set up an in-store demo. He duly obliged setting up a near-clone of my system, save for the wonderful Sopra 2s in place of my Electra1028be.
The afternoon’s in-store demo was easily enough to persuade me a home demo was justified and that followed immediately. Two things happened during the 2-week him demo.
1. There was so much more info reaching the speakers that on some material the bass was too much and the speakers needed repositioning to restore order;
2. Discounting for the Sopra’s over my 1028’s, I still felt that there was another difference from what I heard in the store and I suspected it might be that the store 555PS was the DR version and mine wasn’t. So the demo 555PSDR was duly installed into my system and, yes, that was instantly better. I hadn’t expected this as when I originally looked to upgrade the PSU on my nDAC I tried the 555PSDR at home and preferred the non-DR version of the 555PS which I went for. Searching for an explanation for this change of heart, my dealer and I concluded that the improvements I’ve made to my system since trying the 555PSDR v 555PS have changed the game. These improvements include Power-lines, full-loom SL, DR’ing the Supercap and replacing my 250.2 with a 300DR. Now my system seemed to cope with and appreciate the extra detail that the 555PSDR was delivering. [It would be appropriate for me to insert an acknowledgement here - yes, Naim, you were right]
So at the end of the demo I placed an order to get my 555PS DR’ed and serviced and, after a couple of weeks of careful deliberation and listening to my 282, I swallowed hard and ordered a 552.
Yesterday evening the new 552DR was installed. From cold and with the full run-in period ahead of it the jump in performance over the 282/SCDR was very, very obvious. I’m still awaiting the return from Salisbury of my 555PS so my CD player is currently native CDX2.2 to nDAC powered by XP5XS. Even so the 552 is impressing. I’ll avoid the usual superlatives, which I’m not sure do justice to describing the 552 anyway. The 552 seems to be revealing so much more, with cast-iron grip, and its presentation of the music seems bigger. I know I’ve got a lot of running in ahead of me and the 555PS, when it returns, will need running in too. But so far, so very good.
Finally, here’s a pic of the newly installed 552 on the top shelf of my ‘brain’ rack:
I always suspected that curiosity could be expensive. 
Mike
MDS posted:
I always suspected that curiosity could be expensive.
Mike
congratulations Mike!!! Upgrade to 552 from wherever, is always very special. now for the run-in, where things will just get continue to get better... !
and yes, curiosity can be very expensive -- and i have had a few of those 'for curiosity' demos in my system. end result almost always the same -- an unhappy bank manager...
enjoy...
ken
ken c posted:MDS posted:
I always suspected that curiosity could be expensive.
Mike
congratulations Mike!!! Upgrade to 552 from wherever, is always very special. now for the run-in, where things will just get continue to get better... !
and yes, curiosity can be very expensive -- and i have had a few of those 'for curiosity' demos in my system. end result almost always the same -- an unhappy bank manager...
enjoy...
ken
Yes, Ken, and thank you. I was tempted to post on the 'What are Naim best at?' thread 'inducing me to deplete my bank account'. But then, as they say, you can't take it with you. 
Mike
Reminds me of how I came to have a 552 in my study. At that time I had a 282/HiCap. I went to a well-known Linn/Naim dealer in Leicester to audition a Supercap, and also the 552. Took me about 10 seconds of listening to the 552 to realise that it was on a completely different level to the 552. Sold!!! Still trying to keep from listening to the NAP500, which somehow seems like total overkill for my study (currently using a 250.2 (not DR) to drive nSats. 
Hungryhalibut posted:There's a bit of dust by the mono button, you should ask for a discount...
this probably came as part of the service HH. a bit of dust, as we all know, makes the system sound better...
enjoy
ken
Well done Mike - I had a feeling that you might succumb to a 552 but wasn't expecting it to be quite so soon 
Mike - a veryinterestig read.
My dealer is tempting me the same way: skip 252 he says, it's not for you. If you like 282, the only real upgrade is 552.
So far I have managed to ignore my dealer. But having read your post, I am not curious. And we all know how this ends...
Enjoy your new 552!
Adam
Mike,
Congratulations.
I made the same move about four weeks ago going from a 282/supercap DR to a new 552DR.
No run in issues for me so far...
Hook posted:Congratulations Mike - am very happy for you!
You had already built a fine audio system, but now you've added a real jewel to the crown. I feel your pain on the outlay, but rest assured that will soon be forgotten, and then more than offset by decades of musical enjoyment!
ATB.
Hook
Thanks Hook. During the 'should I, shouldn't?' debate with myself, I weighed the benefit of the meagre interest that would be earned if investing the outlay in a bank etc versus the likely daily enjoyment I would have for many years to come. So I suspect you're right. The pain/guilt of the initial outlay will fade but the enjoyment never will.
Mike
elkman70 posted:Mike,
Congratulations.
I made the same move about four weeks ago going from a 282/supercap DR to a new 552DR.
No run in issues for me so far...
Nice to know that you've already trodden this path, Elkman. The 552DR/300DR combination that we both have seems to have a lovely synergy. This is very likely my pre/power end point.
Mike