SN2 vs 272/200 for Vinyl

Both look good options to me - I have no experience of the 272 or Snait 2 but really quite liked the 200 in a 282/200 system compared with the XS.

Have fun finding out.

Ray

I have no listened to a Supernait, but can vouch for the N272.... I also have an LP12 which I use with through the N272 and combination works very well. While it could be considered that the upgrade part is limited - in your case with the N272 you still have a lot of potential upgrades ahead of you...

* 200 to 250 or even a 300

* Addition of XPS DR or even a 555 DR

* Powerline

If you want a better quality sound the a maxed out 272, then you will be looking at a 282 or 252 based solution which can ost substantially more - especially with the 252 route.

But as always at the end of the day - you should demo both routes and maybe also compare with a 282 + NDX so that you can hear for yourself the next potential step you want to aim for....

Cloud Sauce posted:

I wonder if the learned, or at least opinionated forum members could help me with an upgrade query?

Current system:

• LP12
• ND5
• XS2
• PMC20.23 

Vinyl is my primary source; I probably listen to it 70% of the time, and the remaining time distributed across the digital sources available through the ND5 XS. I have to say that I’m generally very satisfied, everything is well balanced and it sounds great, but audiophilia is a sickness and I’m a chronic case.

I have in mind a couple of upgrade options:

1. Supernait 2 (p/x ing the XS2)
2. NAC 272 / NAP 200 (p/x ing XS2 and ND5)
    

The first is a straight amp swap leaving me with plenty of options to improve the digital side in the future (PSU / NDX / Hugo / whatever). The second probably / possibly might give me an improvement across the sources straight away but closes off some future options.

There are plenty of previous discussions around these options, but my specific queries are:

• Which gives the better result with the vinyl source? That is the priority for me.
• Is anyone satisfied with 272/200 in the long term ? Having lurked on the forum for some time it seems that almost everyone goes quite quickly (or immediately) to 272/XPS or upgrades the 200 to 250DR. 

 

Your opinions would be very welcome.

i have had a 200 for 10 years and very happy with it, like you I too play a lot of vinyl on my LP12 so I went down a slightly different route of 282, if you are not going to rip CD's and play 272 dont see need for this in your system -

I would certainly reccomend however the 250DR and look at pre AMP as a source which will improve both LP12 and ND5 XS - just a thought - also adding pre amp means more little black boxes - but pre AMP will make the LP12 really work IMO

fernar posted:

I have no listened to a Supernait, but can vouch for the N272.... I also have an LP12 which I use with through the N272 and combination works very well. While it could be considered that the upgrade part is limited - in your case with the N272 you still have a lot of potential upgrades ahead of you...

* 200 to 250 or even a 300

* Addition of XPS DR or even a 555 DR

* Powerline

If you want a better quality sound the a maxed out 272, then you will be looking at a 282 or 252 based solution which can ost substantially more - especially with the 252 route.

But as always at the end of the day - you should demo both routes and maybe also compare with a 282 + NDX so that you can hear for yourself the next potential step you want to aim for....

 

Thanks fernar.

The question is would I be happy with the 272 / 200 in the longer term if I didn't want to go to XPS / 250 for quite a while?  It doesn't seem that many forum members stick at the "basic" 2 boxes for long - but I could be wrong.

I run a RP8 / Aria with N272 and it is fantastic so no doubt about the 272's vinyl attributes. I also had the NAP200 which I thoroughly enjoyed. However the 250DR took it to a different level and the XPS2 on the 272 further still. Be prepared to pursue both of those upgrades before long!

Cloud Sauce, What is your phono pre?

Our systems are quite similar LP12 & ND5XS but I have 282/200 where as you have XS2 obviously ,  vinyl is also my main source  I would say get a 202/200 over the SN2, LP12/ND5XS/202/200 is exactly the system I had prior to getting a 282 and if I had to go back to it I would be happy to do so.   I listened to a friends SN2 at my house in my system and I also had a Nait XS2 for a while last year and the pre/power set up sounded better with my LP12 on both occasions. The 272 is a great piece of kit by all accounts and you certainly wouldnt go wrong with it but upgrades if that is your thing are limited.

NickSeattle posted:

Cloud Sauce, What is your phono pre?

Black Cube SE Nick.

Bob the Builder posted:

Our systems are quite similar LP12 & ND5XS but I have 282/200 where as you have XS2 obviously ,  vinyl is also my main source  I would say get a 202/200 over the SN2, LP12/ND5XS/202/200 is exactly the system I had prior to getting a 282 and if I had to go back to it I would be happy to do so.   I listened to a friends SN2 at my house in my system and I also had a Nait XS2 for a while last year and the pre/power set up sounded better with my LP12 on both occasions. The 272 is a great piece of kit by all accounts and you certainly wouldnt go wrong with it but upgrades if that is your thing are limited.

Thanks Bob,

What I'm really saying is that I don't want to upgrade.  At least for a while. Let's assume I can exercise some restraint after this upgrade!  What's the better "end state" system?

Had discounted the 202 in my mind, if only to narrow down the options (and number of boxes). Auditioning every possible combination would try the patience of my dealer, though I'm sure they'd never show it.

Have you set a budget?    If vinyl is your priority I would aim for the best pre amp possible keeping your ND5.  I would certainly listen to a SN2 but as ever a trip to the local dealer is in order.  

Incidentally, iive heard the ND5/SN2 pairing - it was very good. 

Regards,

Lindsay

Make the blighter earn his profit, he might even enjoy it. No need to audition all in one go either, listen to pairs of options then pit the best against the next possibility on a later occasion with a refreshed pair of ears.

Cloud Sauce posted:

Bob the Builder posted:

Our systems are quite similar LP12 & ND5XS but I have 282/200 where as you have XS2 obviously ,  vinyl is also my main source  I would say get a 202/200 over the SN2, LP12/ND5XS/202/200 is exactly the system I had prior to getting a 282 and if I had to go back to it I would be happy to do so.   I listened to a friends SN2 at my house in my system and I also had a Nait XS2 for a while last year and the pre/power set up sounded better with my LP12 on both occasions. The 272 is a great piece of kit by all accounts and you certainly wouldnt go wrong with it but upgrades if that is your thing are limited.

Thanks Bob,

What I'm really saying is that I don't want to upgrade.  At least for a while. Let's assume I can exercise some restraint after this upgrade!  What's the better "end state" system?

Had discounted the 202 in my mind, if only to narrow down the options (and number of boxes). Auditioning every possible combination would try the patience of my dealer, though I'm sure they'd never show it.

 

If you dont want to upgrade then 272/250DR is the way to go 100% and if that itch needs scratching one day you can add a PSU for the 272. Good luck and most of all enjoy the music.

Cloud Sauce posted:

Thanks Bob,

What I'm really saying is that I don't want to upgrade.  At least for a while. Let's assume I can exercise some restraint after this upgrade!  What's the better "end state" system?

Had discounted the 202 in my mind, if only to narrow down the options (and number of boxes). Auditioning every possible combination would try the patience of my dealer, though I'm sure they'd never show it.

 

I do not have experience with the Supernait2 or the N272/NAP200 though I listened to the Nait XS in my system before settling down with the NAC 202 and NAP 200. The latter separates have superior finesse, separation and detail than the Nait XS even with digital. I only play digital with the system, no vinyl. It might be worthwhile to just throw the NAC 202 / NAP 200 into the mix. You would never know if the 202/200 sound better than the Supernait 2 in the context of your system and listening preference.

FWIW I upgraded from the NAC 202 / NAP 200 to the NAC 282 / NAP 250 DR but still retain the 202/200 for a 2nd system. Yes, the NAC 282 and NAP 250 DR do sound better but the price is double that of the 202/200. In my case triple as I got the 202/200 used while the 282/250 DR were bought new.

In my experience it will be a significant challenge to withhold the urge to move from 200 to 250DR (don't bother with 250.2) and adding the XPS to the 272. As you will have read that is the sweet spot for a 272 based system.

FWIW I didn't feel that the extra £2k + that it takes to get a XPS DR over a decent pre/loved XPS2 was justified (to my ears the XPS2 gives you 80-90% of the DR version) but that's a personal choice.

Ultimately it will be a case of will power for you I suspect! Enjoy the journey...

rather than SN2 and 272 , I would also advise for 202/200 

Hicaps are relatively inexpensive, compared to the mighty expensive XPS

Cloud Sauce posted:

fernar posted:

I have no listened to a Supernait, but can vouch for the N272.... I also have an LP12 which I use with through the N272 and combination works very well. While it could be considered that the upgrade part is limited - in your case with the N272 you still have a lot of potential upgrades ahead of you...

* 200 to 250 or even a 300

* Addition of XPS DR or even a 555 DR

* Powerline

If you want a better quality sound the a maxed out 272, then you will be looking at a 282 or 252 based solution which can ost substantially more - especially with the 252 route.

But as always at the end of the day - you should demo both routes and maybe also compare with a 282 + NDX so that you can hear for yourself the next potential step you want to aim for....

 

Thanks fernar.

The question is would I be happy with the 272 / 200 in the longer term if I didn't want to go to XPS / 250 for quite a while?  It doesn't seem that many forum members stick at the "basic" 2 boxes for long - but I could be wrong.

The N272 on it's own is a good as well - as you can see from the responses so far you have a number of options in which you could move forward with.

I think it really comes down to how much you want to spend, what your long term views are on upgrading in the future and the balance between analogue (LP12) and the digital environment and the ongoing box count...

From my personal experience... I move from a ND5 SX to a stand-alone N272 and thought that there was good gains to the sound as a result. The analogue side was also very good. For reference my listening habits are 40:60 on vinyl : streamed music from my NAS. 

The N272 was good enough to show very clearly the benefits of the Kore upgrade on my LP12.

Adding the XPS DR brought improvements both on the analogue and digital side. 

Before buying the N272, I did listen to both the 202 and 282 - to my ears the 272 sounded better that the 202. Against the 282 I could not really make up my mind - the sound was different to the 272 and after a long audition and a long think, I settled on the 272.

I cant really comment on the Supernait as I didnt even consider this route.

If I were in your shoes, I would find a dealerso that you could listen to Supernait + ND5 XS against the 272 + 200 against the 202+200+ND5 XS and 282+200+ND5 XS. (remember that there is also the option of upgrading the ND5 XS with a additional PS...!!)