NAP200 v 250DR

Or he could sell the 200 private

Buying older 250.2 seem rather cheap below £1400-1500 waiting for a DR service upgrade until later

Personally I' d get a serviced original 250, not much more expensive than a 200 and better imo than 250.2

IMO, still best to get the 250dr, considering the OP has been offered a very good deal..

I agree [@mention:50422349809511500]. It will perfectly compliment the OPs 272 with XPSDR. Nice setup. 

I would get the 250 DR

Finkfan posted:

I agree [@mention:50422349809511500]. It will perfectly compliment the OPs 272 with XPSDR. Nice setup. 

Of course - the most logical setup.

250DR landed today. WOW! Radiohead "Like Spinning plates" is my bench mark tune. I kid you not I was in tears.. 

What a step up the 250DR is.

There was a fair bit of hiss with my set up prior to the 250DR and thats gone completely. I can only assume it must have been the dodgy cable on the 200 which was a bit loose over the hose.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the 250DR. If it is new, it will only get better.

Because the 250DR is such an advance on the 250.2 IMO (I have owned both), it really is the no-brainer upgrade from the 200 (which I have also owned). Of course you can also do it in stages by DRing a 250.2. You really can't lose!

I hope they were tears of joy

Have fun and enjoy the music!

Adam

I DR'd my 250.2 - a big upgrade, and bigger I think than from 200 to 250.2. Although I may just be getting carried away with how good the DR upgrade is...

Monkadill posted:

250DR landed today. WOW! Radiohead "Like Spinning plates" is my bench mark tune. I kid you not I was in tears.. 

What a step up the 250DR is.

There was a fair bit of hiss with my set up prior to the 250DR and thats gone completely. I can only assume it must have been the dodgy cable on the 200 which was a bit loose over the hose.

 

Funny how this can happen. I also got emotional when I upgraded from the 300 to the 500 and got to feel how right it sounded.

Enjoy and don't look back...

Monkadill posted:

250DR landed today. WOW! Radiohead "Like Spinning plates" is my bench mark tune. I kid you not I was in tears.. 

What a step up the 250DR is.

There was a fair bit of hiss with my set up prior to the 250DR and thats gone completely. I can only assume it must have been the dodgy cable on the 200 which was a bit loose over the hose.

 

Congratulations.. Just don't get any tears on the 250dr .....or else it won't be just the music that ends up on another level 

Is this what you guys are talking about:

"The previous regulator used a Zener diode voltage reference. The reference and the regulator drive circuits were powered from the raw power from the transformer and capacitors. The raw supply has much unwanted 100Hz ripple noise from the rectified 50Hz mains supply. The DR regulator in contrast uses a quieter buried Zener for the voltage reference. Here the silicon junction is buried under a passivation layer which means contaminants don’t get into it, it’s probably the quietest voltage source you can get, and then we filter it. The buried Zener and regulator drive circuits have been engineered to be predominantly powered from its own quiet output instead of the incoming noisy raw power. Only the output stage of the DR regulator drive circuit is powered from the raw supply. The result is a significantly quieter and lower impedance power supply. The interesting thing is that if you measure the DR amp compared to its predecessor the THD and signal to noise figures aren’t that different.”

Just stop it, I'm in tears:

Cdx2/282/HCDR/3 x 250.2/Fraimlite/Briks

Allante93!

Allante93 posted:

Is this what you guys are talking about:

"The previous regulator used a Zener diode voltage reference. The reference and the regulator drive circuits were powered from the raw power from the transformer and capacitors. The raw supply has much unwanted 100Hz ripple noise from the rectified 50Hz mains supply. The DR regulator in contrast uses a quieter buried Zener for the voltage reference. Here the silicon junction is buried under a passivation layer which means contaminants don’t get into it, it’s probably the quietest voltage source you can get, and then we filter it. The buried Zener and regulator drive circuits have been engineered to be predominantly powered from its own quiet output instead of the incoming noisy raw power. Only the output stage of the DR regulator drive circuit is powered from the raw supply. The result is a significantly quieter and lower impedance power supply. The interesting thing is that if you measure the DR amp compared to its predecessor the THD and signal to noise figures aren’t that different.”

Just stop it, I'm in tears:

Cdx2/282/HCDR/3 x 250.2/Fraimlite/Briks

Allante93!

Well Allante93, you Do know what those thRee x 250.2s neeD, Right?

So Don't cRy and Do the Right thing. 

My observation is rather subjective.  I started with an NAC-N272 and NAP200DR. Make no mistake - I loved this setup, as it was lightyears better than anything I'd ever owned, both with digital and LP sources.  After upgrading to the NAP250DR, I found myself breaking out in smiles during passages of music that I'd heard so many times before.  It was better in both subtle and significant ways that I'm probably not equipped to describe adequately.  Better overall "grip" on the music, with more texture and bigger foundation.  I have no regrets.

Now, I'm plagued with curiosity about what can be gained by adding an XPS DR to the 272.  Any thoughts out there? 

Some opinions say that 200 is more forgiving than 250. And that 250 needs NAC252/Supercap (or so) to show its advantages. So, if it is really, then 250 without proper pre-separates has no effect. 

Would anybody share impression on SU upgrade with 200/250, please ?

2WheelsRBetter posted:

My observation is rather subjective.  I started with an NAC-N272 and NAP200DR. Make no mistake - I loved this setup, as it was lightyears better than anything I'd ever owned, both with digital and LP sources.  After upgrading to the NAP250DR, I found myself breaking out in smiles during passages of music that I'd heard so many times before.  It was better in both subtle and significant ways that I'm probably not equipped to describe adequately.  Better overall "grip" on the music, with more texture and bigger foundation.  I have no regrets.

Now, I'm plagued with curiosity about what can be gained by adding an XPS DR to the 272.  Any thoughts out there? 

Adding a XPS DR to a 272 is a significant upgrade a demo will prove this.

I was a little underwhelmed by the 272/250DR to be honest. Still a big step up from a Superuniti, but it took the XPSDR to make it sing.

Crofta - Can't disagree more!

I upgraded from 200 to 250DR but my front end is a humble 202 ...

... this was a wow upgrade so you don't need an expensive pre to appreciate the "rightness" of the 250DR, no wayy

Allan

Crofta posted:

Some opinions say that 200 is more forgiving than 250. And that 250 needs NAC252/Supercap (or so) to show its advantages. So, if it is really, then 250 without proper pre-separates has no effect. 

Would anybody share impression on SU upgrade with 200/250, please ?

I added the 250Dr onto the my SU and there was a very obvious improvement. There was a greater sense of pace, the bare SU sounded rather slow in comparison. There was also more air and space around the music, it was more 3D. The 272 I bought subsequently added yet more clarity, but was not as big an incremental improvement as adding the 250Dr to the SU.

2WheelsRBetter posted:

My observation is rather subjective.  I started with an NAC-N272 and NAP200DR. Make no mistake - I loved this setup, as it was lightyears better than anything I'd ever owned, both with digital and LP sources.  After upgrading to the NAP250DR, I found myself breaking out in smiles during passages of music that I'd heard so many times before.  It was better in both subtle and significant ways that I'm probably not equipped to describe adequately.  Better overall "grip" on the music, with more texture and bigger foundation.  I have no regrets.

Now, I'm plagued with curiosity about what can be gained by adding an XPS DR to the 272.  Any thoughts out there? 

I went a different way and added an XPS-DR to an existing 272/200DR combo. There was an immediate and substantial uplift. It just sounded more musical and natural.  It was a big step up. Just this evening, I ordered a NAP250DR and very much looking forward the  extra level of everything musical this bigger brother should provide.

rightcoastants posted:

I went a different way and added an XPS-DR to an existing 272/200DR combo. There was an immediate and substantial uplift. It just sounded more musical and natural.  It was a big step up. Just this evening, I ordered a NAP250DR and very much looking forward the  extra level of everything musical this bigger brother should provide.

Improvements with sources, in the case of the XPS-DR will be more toward the subtleties ie. more detail, more natural and musical etc. as you have found out. The improvements with the NAP 250 DR will be on a different level. The transformation will be a rather significant one as the amp will provide better grip and control over the speakers than the NAP 200. Much have been said about the NAP 250 DR so I wouldn't want to sound like a broken record. Bottom line is the NAP 250 DR is a great amplifier that will provide a rather substantial improvement over the NAP 200 which is already quite good in its own right.

Please update the thread once you have managed to listen to the NAP 250 DR though it may take several weeks or months for the unit to open up.

ryder. posted:

Please update the thread once you have managed to listen to the NAP 250 DR though it may take several weeks or months for the unit to open up.

Only been 24 hours since I swapped the 200 for a 250 but from the first moment it is obvious that the NAP 250 is something completely different. Your comment, "the transformation will be a rather significant" could not be truer.  A very different presentation from the 200, In a few words, depth, ease, tonal accuracy and musical come to mind. I'll let things settle in for the next few weeks and prepare myself for what's to come.

rightcoastants posted:

Only been 24 hours since I swapped the 200 for a 250 but from the first moment it is obvious that the NAP 250 is something completely different. Your comment, "the transformation will be a rather significant" could not be truer.  A very different presentation from the 200, In a few words, depth, ease, tonal accuracy and musical come to mind. I'll let things settle in for the next few weeks and prepare myself for what's to come.

Thanks for the update. That is good to hear. You can surely expect more good things to come from the NAP 250 DR when it gets more hours on it. Few words are useful enough and yes, the NAP 250 DR has better depth and tonal accuracy than the NAP 200 and the ease and flow in the music will be much improved.

The NAP 250 DR is a more matured and complete amp than the NAP 200 and is probably the most competent in the Naim line up (technically and sound-wise) at not too much money when compared to the 2-box NAP 300 DR. Great VFM the 250 DR. 

Enjoy~

I hope your all very happy with yourselves, after reading this thread I went out and auditioned / bought an XPS and 250 DR, my children will be eating beans on toast and Pot Noodles for a while. 

Dirty Deeds posted:

I hope your all very happy with yourselves, after reading this thread I went out and auditioned / bought an XPS and 250 DR, my children will be eating beans on toast and Pot Noodles for a while. 

The good news is you will be very happy with you purchase,  as for the children,  I think they call it 'character building'....they are so lucky to be able to benefit from this experience