272 vs 202+nd5xs
Posted by: Adi Stefan on 17 April 2016
I have nd5xs, and i will change xs2 to 200dr+202. What is better separates or all in one.202+nd5xs or 272. Thank you.
interesting question, and one I am afraid only you can answer by listening - as ultimately its subjective as the presentations almost certainly will be different between the two. If you do listen I'd be be interested to hear which you prefer.
Swapping the Nait for a 202/200 is doing things the wrong way round: you should really swap the ND5 for an NDX. The 272 would be my choice. The other thing to bear in mind is that there is little point in using it with a 200DR, so you could get a used 200 and make a big saving.
How much benefit you get from upgrading the poweramp to a NAP 200 from the XS 2 will depend on your speakers. If they are easy to drive the improvement may not be as great as you expect. With easier loads, the XS 2 is remarkably capable.
Similarly, the ND5 is actually better than some people believe it to be. I have the same ND5 XS and Nait XS 2 that you have (driving very easy speakers - Spendor SP2s), and I believe the weakest part of my system to be the pre-amp of the Nait. I've also heard the ND5 in a NAC 72 + NAP 140 system, and it acquitted itself very convincingly.
So as Simon says, you need to listen to both before deciding which one is your preference.
I had a quick play with a 272 and nap200 yesterday (which happened to be set up in the demo room) and was surprised that I wasn't more impressed. Now, I must caveat this by making it clear that I didn't conduct a proper a/b test, but it was rigged up to the same Audio Physics speakers that I own, hence taking a proper listen.
The presentation was certainly very familiar to my ND5/SN2 set up and I didn't notice much of an uplift in performance. Best thing to do is arrange a demo with a good Naim dealer to explore all the options. Good luck!
Now when I have the xps dr finally connected to my n272/200dr I can somehow understand that standalone n272 could be not that impressive.
Hungryhalibut posted:Swapping the Nait for a 202/200 is doing things the wrong way round: you should really swap the ND5 for an NDX. The 272 would be my choice. The other thing to bear in mind is that there is little point in using it with a 200DR, so you could get a used 200 and make a big saving.
unless the 200DR sounds better of course....
I have focal aria 926 easy to drive for xs, i want to upgrade later to revel preforma f206(next year)