Nap 250 DR connection to non Naim pre amp

Theo,

generally Naim power amps and pre-amps are designed to work together - Naim just see it as two halves of the one amp.  A Naim power amp has been designed to receive a "conditioned" signal from a Naim pre-amp.  As such use of a pre-amp that has not been designed with a Naim power in mind can lead to the power amp underperforming.

I don't know the quality of the pre-amp inside the Akurate DSM, or whether it's suitable to feed a Naim power amp.  However, it does appear to offer both balanced and single-ended outputs - you would use the latter with a custom interconnect (2 x RCA to single-ended stereo XLR).  

If you want the 'Naim sound', might it be better to swap the DSM for a 272? Alternatively, if you want the 'Linn sound' you'd be better adding an Akurate power amplifier. Otherwise, you risk ending up with a Hifi cockapoo, in other words a mongrel. 

I tried a Linn preamp into my 250 DR, it didn't sound like a Naim anymore, more like Hi-fi mongrel (and I didn't like it ) as HH says so that was the end of that, and back to my 282. 

I'd rather buy a 272, or an older used naim preamp like 72, 82, or 52 than any non-naim preamp, so you're better off selling the Linn, and buying one of these Naim preamps.

Hungryhalibut posted:

If you want the 'Naim sound', might it be better to swap the DSM for a 272? Alternatively, if you want the 'Linn sound' you'd be better adding an Akurate power amplifier. Otherwise, you risk ending up with a Hifi cockapoo, in other words a mongrel. 

Cockapoo... don't you mean a shiht-shund....

Someone we know has a Schitzu / poodle cross and never knows whether to describe it as a Schitpoo or a Pooschit. Neither is good. It's a sweet little dog though. 

Hi Theo,

We have installed this type of system for several customers now as we are both a Linn dealer and a Naim dealer in California. Initially I was skeptical because I was concerned as others have been that inherent individual qualities of both Naim and Linn would be lost and their strengths diminished. Also I had a warranty concern however Naim confirmed they would honour warranties with this type of connection. The main issue is the custom cable solution. We offer Chord Signature RCA to single ended XLR and two different cable looms we make ourselves - one emphasizes Naim priorities - edge, muscle, drive, immediate; the other Linn - tune, correct, lively, accurate sounding.

We also run events where we demonstrate non-Naim streamer/preamps using Naim 500, 300 and 250 in this way. You can clearly hear the same differences between these amps that you would hear in an all-Naim system. Specifically for Linn the 300 and 500 probably match better in terms of refinement and beauty which some might prefer to Linn + 250. If you prefer the 250 you may want to stay with N272 as others have mentioned. However I would make an exception - we have customers using NAP250DR with Sopras which is a special combination. Klimax DS/DSM directly into the power amp works extremely well with that combination and you can use the Space Optimization to place the speakers very close to the wall.

My conclusion is that if you like the sound of the non-Naim pre-amp, it will still sound the best it can using a Naim power amp rather than other brands of amp into passive speakers. It will sound different from an all-Naim system though. A Naim amplifier with NACA5 or Linn K20 will maximize the performance of almost any speaker which is why I usually now suggest a Naim power amp in a 2-channel setup and speakers with passive crossover. Mullet is still a danger and applies here, so maybe Akurate is a minimum for 250/300/500, Klimax is fine obviously, below that I would recommend Majik DS or Akurate DS as a player only into Supernait 2 rather than using Linn as the Pre, which is a very fine system.

Jeremy

We're both a Linn and Naim dealer, rarer than you might think here in California. We have several customers now using Linn DSM as pre-amp with Naim Supernait 2, NAP250DR, NAP300DR and NAP500DR. As Richard said we need to provide custom cables. As well as two types we make ourselves, Chord make a phono to XLR version of their Signature cable for us.

I used to be against this until Naim confirmed that their power amp warranty allowed it. This gave us a chance to evaluate different combinations and experiment with cables. When we listen to all the combinations, you can clearly hear the characteristic differences between a DSM into say 250, 300 and 500 and those differences reflect all their differences you would hear when driven by a Naim pre-amp or N272. The difference between a DSM directly into NAP500 vs into a NAC552/NAP500 is not so great. However both are very different than say NDS/pre or NDX/pre or N272 with Naim Power amps - I'd expect that if you liked the way Linn systems sound you would also like the Linn source/pre into Naim amps combination.

Many of our walk-in customers are looking for new speakers and I usually now recommend as the first step that instead of getting new passive speakers a customer first listens to their existing speaker driven by a Naim amp and either Linn or Naim streamer/pre or CD player/pre. One big advantage of a Linn front end with say Focal Sopras is that Space Optimization can be used to make them work in small rooms and the speakers can be placed with an inch or two of the wall behind. Driving the Sopras with Naim amps and DSMs as several of our customers now do is a practical solution that allows the best of all worlds. But it does require some time and effort and it's not always obvious which cables are going to work best in each system.

Jeremy

Basil Inc. Audio Systems