To Two Seven Two or not to Two Seven Two...?

Posted by: GraemeH on 14 February 2017

Confession time folks...Having been round the houses with many naim & naim/hugo combinations - up to ndac:555PS NDX:TT level - curiosity (and a good s/h price) got the better of me and since last week I've been listening via a lovely 272 into the 250DR S400.

System synergy does count for a lot & the 272 is a very accomplished musical box indeed. It's interesting reading the threads currently running on dacs, Chord v Naim etc and the passions being played out. The 272 has somewhat recalibrated my perspective - It actually does some things better than the NDX:TT...and some things not as well, but by a very small margin indeed. I'm surprised and delighted.

And yes, I've read all about how transformational the XPSDR is, but I'm in no rush based on what I've been hearing this past week.

Back to all naim...Oh, and having volume back on the app is bliss!

Posted on: 15 February 2017 by GraemeH

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:
Graeme, interesting, I found the 272 a little grey and flat compared to the Hugo without that inner Mandelbrot effect which I have become addicted to ...but we are all different..if the 272 grabs you and it certainly does have appeal in its simplicity then go for it. In talking to Naim before Christmas I'd be surprised if a 372 appears anytime soon, as there is a feel that they have compressed just about as much as they can in the 272 so as to provide a performance comensutae with a Naim Classic series component... Naim believe ultimately you need space around componentry for optimum SQ that matches the true Naim DNA.
If you are looking to buy, my only reservation might be perhaps hold off to listen to forthcoming Star and definitely the Nova. These are strikingly good, especially the Nova... and they take a new architectural direction for Naim which very much enhances local and remote streaming capability as well as having some of the features of the 272 (electronic volume control etc)

Hi Simon - It's funny, 'grey' is what I half expected as it's what I found with the ND5XS 282/250 I tried a couple of years ago. The 272 250DR is not like the sound of that combination at all...maybe I need my Mandelbrots realigned of course...

As I type I'm listening to 'Meet Me in London' and more than once the 272/250DR has made me do that thing where, without thinking, you quickly look up from typing convinced there is something to see in the sound-stage...Ms Sciubba sounding breathier on 'Night Train' than I recall before too.

Nice.