82/SCap to 282 or 252?
Posted by: JohnS on 29 December 2003
I have a CDS-II feeding an 82/SCap, SNAXO2-4/HiCap thru 2x250s into SBLs. I feel the need to reward myself after having worked a whole month (apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas obviously), so I was thinking of upgrading the pre-amp. My local dealer has a 282 to lend me for comparison purposes, but he doesn’t have a 252. My question is this; if I consider the 282 to be an improvement over the 82, should I assume that the 252 will be better again and make a leap of faith? I would be interested to hear from someone who has compared the 282 with the 252. Apparently I can use my existing SuperCap with the 252 until I feel the urge to get a SuperCap2.
As an aside, my friend from London bought over some Mana SBL stands for my Christmas present, they made a very noticeable difference to the sound (in a good way). I think it was more because the SBL spikes couldn’t get all the way through the carpet and underlay, so the SBL bases weren’t very rigid, whereas we mounted the sound base spikes on four Philips head screws fixed into the floorboards and they were totally rigid.
-John
Posted on: 30 December 2003 by Rich Jerskey
John,
Even though my 252/supercap2 is still burning in, I can testify that the difference over my old 82/2 hi-caps is major. I'm also doing 2 250's into SBL's with new SNAXO. It's the way to go unless you're full of cash and skip on up to 552.
I have my SBL's on heavy stone tiles and the sound is full and rich.
All Best,
Rich
Posted on: 30 December 2003 by Hannes
quote:
Originally posted by JohnS:
[... I was thinking of upgrading the pre-amp. My local dealer has a 282 to lend me for comparison purposes, but he doesn’t have a 252. My question is this; if I consider the 282 to be an improvement over the 82, should I assume that the 252 will be better again and make a leap of faith? ...
-John
John,
going from 82 to 282 would probably be a better sidestep. Try to get a
s/h 52, this would be a real step forward and a bargain, too! ;-)
Regards
Hannes
Posted on: 30 December 2003 by JohnS
Thank you gentlemen.
A 552 is not in my future any time soon, so it sounds like the 252 it is.
Rich - do you use a SuperCap on your SNAXO? I was thinking that a SuperCap2 upgrade sometime in the future might be nice, to allow the old SuperCap to power the SNAXO.
John
Posted on: 30 December 2003 by hungryhalibut
John - I'm sure going to the 252 is the right decision. I recently changed from an 82 to a 252 and the difference is huge. I spoke to Naim before deciding what to do and their advice was not to bother changing from the 82 to the 282 as it, though better, is something of a sidegrade. An added bonus is that you lose the NAPSC so have one thing fewer to plug into the mains.
Nigel
Posted on: 31 December 2003 by Emil F
John
I had 282/SC2 and moved to 252. It's a different world.
When I got 282 with SC2 /I think 282 must be used with no lower PSU/ I thought this is the ultimate sound. It was so good.
252 opened up the sound in such a way that you can feel that 282 is just a small preparation for what is next.
Natural sound, very close to live music, bigger soundstage, better PR@T, bass, MF, treble, everything.
You'll be very much satisfied, if you can do 252.
Emil
Posted on: 31 December 2003 by Rich Jerskey
John,
I use a hi-cap on my snaxo. It would be very interesting to hear what kind of difference a supercap would make. Can anyone report on this difference? Would it be a worthwhile upgrade, moneywise? If you have an old SC, that would be a good home for it no doubt. Let me know if you do it and how it is.
Rich
Posted on: 31 December 2003 by Hannes
quote:
Originally posted by Emil F.:
[...]
I had 282/SC2 and moved to 252. It's a different world.
When I got 282 with SC2 /I think 282 must be used with no lower PSU/ I thought this is the ultimate sound. It was so good.
252 opened up the sound in such a way that you can feel that 282 is just a small preparation for what is next.
Natural sound, very close to live music, bigger soundstage, better PR@T, bass, MF, treble, everything.
[...]
Emil
Emil,
I made exactly the same experience, but with an olive system:
I had a 82/sc and yesterday I got a s/h 52. It is really a different world!
Everything goes better, as you said, and the improvement is magic, even just
after a few hours with a cold 52.
Everything I did in the last weeks to upgrade my frontend (82/hi -> 82sc,
CDX -> XPS, CDX -> CDSII) was a more ore less improvement but the biggest
step was going from 82/sc to 52.
So I hope for me, that the "upgraditis" can finally come to an end an my
inner restlessness will disappear! ;-)
(OK, I need a stageline to get my LP12 connected to the 52, but this is't
urgent ... *g*)
Happy New Year
HANNES
