Anyone with experience using a 552DR with a 250DR?

I agree with Geko.  But I think there’s an overriding principle and that is synergy and in particular even a Cd555/552/500 with the wrong speakers in the wrong room will be awful.  

"Awful"?  come on now Strat...maybe not great, but awful? True believer that room is a huge variable though  

Yes went to a demo once a little while ago of NDS/Statement big PMCs - all great components I know but absolutely terrible - paint stripping.

It's odd you don't find it more dynamic. Since from the start, mine along with 250-2 was very much. 

On the other hand t took a couple of months to be fully run in and more refined. However only with the introducion of Nap 500 the system came really on song and realized how the 250 was the limiting factor. (especially for bass control)Probably the 250DR is a different animal.

What's your source ?
Regards

Roberto

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Yes went to a demo once a little while ago of NDS/Statement big PMCs - all great components I know but absolutely terrible - paint stripping.

 

And perhaps the system had not been on long enough. My demo 552 took 16 days before it started showing its pedigree. I’ve been to the factory and been underwhelmed by NDS/Statement/big Focals. 

Phil

Filipe posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Yes went to a demo once a little while ago of NDS/Statement big PMCs - all great components I know but absolutely terrible - paint stripping.

 

And perhaps the system had not been on long enough. My demo 552 took 16 days before it started showing its pedigree. I’ve been to the factory and been underwhelmed by NDS/Statement/big Focals. 

Phil

No - in order to impress they’d packed these great PMC speAkers into completely the wrong room.  

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Filipe posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Yes went to a demo once a little while ago of NDS/Statement big PMCs - all great components I know but absolutely terrible - paint stripping.

 

And perhaps the system had not been on long enough. My demo 552 took 16 days before it started showing its pedigree. I’ve been to the factory and been underwhelmed by NDS/Statement/big Focals. 

Phil

No - in order to impress they’d packed these great PMC speAkers into completely the wrong room.  

So you know that the boxes had been on long enough to have reached optimum working condition? The speakers may be in the wrong room  also, but my experience is that a 552 System can sound absolute crap if the boxes have not reached optimum operating condition.  When they have they sound amazing. 

All,

i thought I should follow up this post. Writing from my phone so will be brief.  There are many thoughtful and insightful post above.  Thanks to each of you.  

Richards comment about the 552 being sensitive to support was very accurate.  Shifting the 552 to an upper self of isoblue opened it up and improved dynamics.  The power supply seems less sensitive to support. Also, the 552 seems to have improved more after the first 5 days.  Warm up time seems to be 10days or more.  Now it is both more dynamic and less warm in character. Sounds much more like I expected.  It projects a very large sound stage which takes some taking used to and required speaker placement adjustments to focus properly.

 I ended up purchasing the 552.  It's a 2006 model with a dr upgrade in 2013.  I think I got ok deal and the opportunity to demo helped solidify my decision.  I also learned in the process that the 252 really is an excellent preamp and should not be overlooked.

The 552 is very spicial. Be warned, it's transpancy does make some overly produced recordings somewhat unlistenable.   Despite the detail retrevil, it still manages to stay very musical. This will likely be the last preamp I own.  

BritishSea posted:

Simon, your description of the 552 is very much what I am experiencing.  Certain recordings do sound off, especially if they have been tweaked or compressed in the studio.  However, that is to be expected.  As equipment becomes more revealing, certain over produced recordings reveal their manipulation.  

Simon, I am very surprised that you prefer a 250.2 over a 250DR with your 552.  I have found the 250DR to be an all round better performer than the 250.2, by a wide margin.  Would elaborate on this point?  It seems to suggest that the 552 and 250DR may not be a synergistic match.

BTW I believe we are using the same speakers, SCM 19. 

 

 

 

Can we say that 552 is revealing the “off nature” of the recording rather than being off it self... ? 

I used this combo at home for six weeks while the 500 was away.

The 552 really showed up the limitations and colorations of the 250DR, although I suppose this was inevitable. 

The 250DR has a processed, rather artificial presentation, puffed up, like a Loudness button is jammed on. It misses top end and bottom end detail and subtleties, rather like looking at a full length photo of somebody, where the top of the head and bottom of the feet have been over cropped. Staying with the photograph analogy, the colours are over saturated, and the fine detail is blurred.

The first time I heard a 250.2 on home demo, years ago, I knew it wasn't the sort of amp I could live with, and the DR turned out to be the same, for my taste at least. A 552 goes just brilliantly with a 300. I used mine with a non DR 300. It's poised, detailed and above all, musical. The music flows, as opposed to being banged out.

Your ears will know best. My ears are no good to you.

Your description of the 250DR sound is almost the exact opposite of what mine sounds like.

I find it clear, open, plenty of detail, strong bass and rhythmic. I prefer it to the NAP300 non-DR which sounds a bit pedestrian in comparison.

Isn't that the beauty of it?

Not to mention the fun. We take it so seriously, yet it's so meaningless.

it obviously is not meaningless Harry, but there is simply no accounting for taste, or ears on this forum.

I can't agree with many of these descriptions of Naim amps (yours too, since I own a 250DR and can't find any fault with it).

What it seems to me, is that the 250.2 or DR doesn't get along with the B&W speakers you own, and having used and owned B&W speakers for many years, that's hardly a fault of a Naim amp, more a coloration and limitation of a B&W speaker.

I got rid of my B&W 805 speakers when I heard and saw the light, and hoping they had fixed the obvious sound bloating, went for a demo of the D3 version. Heard the 805D3, and 802D3.

for me, It just was more of the same, over saturated, over egged and bright to a fault, hardly a sound I could live with.

Also we tend to think all sources and speaker sound the same, and the amp is at fault, but maybe it's just a bad match and a bad marriage between speaker and amp in need of a divorce.

In my case either the Naim's had to go or the B&W - and this is after months of speaker auditions where as I said earlier I saw the light.

But hey ho, as I said, there's no accounting for taste or ears, as clearly for me Naim and B&W don't work well together.

Hey Ho..........YAAAAAAAAWN

Nor did it get along with Spendors or Ruarks. It's had multiple chances to shine.

In my listening room. Which may have something to do with it.

Components which don't work well with some types of music or some brands of other components  are suspect in my view. Or maybe the word "view" should be replaced with "room". Or possibly "ears".

It is all meaningless. Rather frivolous really.  AKA good material for a forum discussion. I imagine Naim shift 250s by the lorry load. But you can't please everyone.

Ok some very interesting views here .... I originally had a 272 driving a 250dr it was very good.....then I got a nap500 omg huge improvement....made 250dr sound very unfocused and narrow sound stage esp on complex music....it was superb. Dr ing the 500 was nice...more punch. Adding a 552 was a shock... it was more upfront whilst being punchy.... I had to ditch a hi line cable to NDS far too upfront. Changed to SL bliss.... I found d the 552 took about 3 weeks to settle in.... but it improved as time went on reaching its optimum after 3 months it is very sensitive . ..it is a fantastic performer .... I found that it really draws you into a performance very open with great highs and very natural voices....however combined with NDS it can expose poor recordings very that are very proessed .... give it a live recoding and it is amazing..... For those with a 272 I still reckon it is a very fine preamp for what it is .... I would imagine the 252 is really good and a little more tollerant. Incidentally I have found the 552 stunning driving a graham slee headphone amp ULDE ....driving HD800S...

respect your experience, but really the 272 is hardly a front end worthy to be in front of a NAP 500, and some dealers and Naim forum folks reported the NDX/SN2 was better than 272/250DR (source first)

if your experience was great, that's wonderful.

this is quite a subjective hobby, and people listen and get attracted to a number different experiences provided by speakers, sources etc... even those who like B&W speakers , which also sell by the buckletload, but as one forum member told me 9 years ago - they're so boring as to put him to sleep  (I think Adam Meredith also posted they killed whatever Naim ness there was in a Naim amplifier)