Supercap DR upgrade?

Yes

It's a no brainer as they say

Either upgrade your existing Supercap or trade it against a new one

You may want to DR your XPS first though

DR should lover the noise floor of the SuperCap and as it feeds your 252, should directly benefit the pre-amp. And the pre-amp shapes the sound.

I've only run my 252 with a SCDR so I cannot unfortunately offer a direct comparison. 

When I had a 252 on demo at home to try against my 282/SC, my dealer also loaned me a SCDR.  I found that the DR version of the SC gave a bigger benefit on the 252 than it did on the 282. That said, even though I retained my 282, I later got my SC DR'ed and didn't regret it.  Later still I got a 300DR (replacing a 250.2) and felt the 282/SCDR/300DR was a very nice combination.  I think with DR there's a multiplying effect in a system i.e. the more DR components in the system chain the greater the benefit, perhaps because that lower noise floor is replicated.

Anyway, in short, if you DR your Supercap I don't think you will regret it. 

Hi Olivier,

My amplification is the same as yours, except I've already upgraded the 300 to DR level, which can't recommend too highly. It has transformed my system, but I do wonder about doing the same the the Supercap. I also have a non-DR 555 on my NDS which is not DR, but I wonder whether I should just be content with my already superb system, at least for while

Keith

All thanks for the advise...so I have to robe an other bank

MDS posted:

Anyway, in short, if you DR your Supercap I don't think you will regret it. 

Oh dear!

Olivier1961 posted:

All thanks for the advise...so I have to robe an other bank

You can always sell a kidney - you only need one 

I started this year with a couple days of home audition with new DR versions against my 2006 CD555PS/300 and 2007 SC. Them main reason for this was a somewhat bloated bass and a nagging feeling that service might be due. And of cause a general interest in what the DR upgrades might bring.
I was expecting the 300dr to make the most difference but in my case it was the CD555PS DR. It might be that this unit also needed service most... but anyhow this shows that audition is always a good idea if possible.
At first I actually kind of preferred the slightly smother sound of my SC to the new DR, which came across as slightly stilty (more impact and but with less flow). But from this came my next lesson learned from these days, don't try to set the units up in for convenient swapping (even if on fraim). Positioning and cable routing really matters at this level, also the units need a some time to settle, so don't expect quick a/b testing to work.
Set up in the place of my original SC i believe it is a worthwhile upgrade that shares the character of the other DR units. In the end I chose to send mine in for an upgrade together with the other units. This was partly based on the convenience of have ing them all serviced and upgraded at the same time. There is no mismatch running a 252/SC with a 300DR if you would like to wait a few years to get the SC serviced and DR'd IMO.

I think I will run the 252/SC with the 300DR and DR the SC later this year or next year .... (I prefer to keep my kidney )

Olivier1961 posted:

I think I will run the 252/SC with the 300DR and DR the SC later this year or next year .... (I prefer to keep my kidney )

Sensible solution.

Enjoy the music - this is the most important thing. Naim survived for many years without a DR and it didn't exactly sound 'broken'. So you too should manage for a while

Adam Zielinski posted:

 Naim survived for many years without a DR and it didn't exactly sound 'broken'.

Adam's right - I would have happily carried on listening to non-DR'd Naim kit. However, this morning my dealer brought back my serviced 252 with my newly DR'd and serviced 250 and Supercap. Er... there's quite a difference! Since I had all three pieces worked on at once I can't comment directly on the effect of DR'ing the Supercap alone but the overall experience is very impressive and well worthwhile.

One thing that is worthy of note is that my 2008 Supercap had at least one leaky capacitor so the eight-year service interval for classic kit would appear to be about right.

Tim