252 - a delight

John,

Any 252 owners with thoughts on 'display off' - can you hear any difference?

The only question is can you hear a difference ? of course, the difference could change over the next few weeks during 'burn-in'.

But it's good to know you really like your new piece of kit.

As ken c would say "enjoy"

Cheers

Don

Are you guys using the 252 with an original (olive) supercap?

I have SC/82 and may consider this step in the next year. (all current available funds being put towards a just ordered CDS3 however).

How much better is the 252 than a last spec 52?

This is the next logical step for me.

Is it totally reliant on the supercap 2 to work well or does the old supercap suffice?

I had a new S/C with my 252, but I think an 'Olive' S/C is identical; apart from the case, feet and power switch.

I became disenchanted with an 'Olive' 52, S/C and 250, about a year ago and sold them.

This could of course be down to a number of factors, including me, my room etc:

But......... I felt that the 'Olive' stuff operated on a knife edge (or was more difficult to get 'right').

I find the new range of kit to be much more tolerant of indifferent recordings, and offers a more consistent and sophisticated sound, with a much better sense of acoustic space.

my 252 arrived last wednesday, so this is the third day in use. i have left it on tuner input since installation. it still sounds a bit strangled, although i can feel the grip loosening and the smear on treble lifting.

its very easy to sense that this is a different pre-amp from the 52; i feel some elements of its presentation bear a "family" resemblance to the nac112, which i have been using prior to now.

i know its early days to make any sort of assessment, but just thought i would share preliminary impressions.

a slight disadvantage is that visually, its quite odd in relation to the many olive boxes in my active system. but if early indications of sound quality are anything to go by, i will probably soon forget that... i suppose i "prepared" myself a bit using my 112.

enjoy

ken

Any 252 owners with thoughts on 'display off' - can you hear any difference?

I can't hear any difference here.

Be prepared for some 'troubles' during the burn-in period. After 6 weeks you will hear the natural sound of the 252. You will be amazed by its relaxed sound, doing great PRAT.

I don't know the difference between SC and SC2, but owners of SC with the old power cord could at least change it with the new one.

Emil

quote:

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Originally posted by Emil F.:
_Any 252 owners with thoughts on 'display off' - can you hear any difference?_

I can't hear any difference here.

Be prepared for some 'troubles' during the burn-in period. After 6 weeks you will hear the natural sound of the 252. You will be amazed by its relaxed sound, doing great PRAT.

Emil

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i suspect that "display off" is of a subtle kind -- certainly not immediately apparent in a quick A/B test, unless you are "super-eared".

its funny how nerve wrecking it is to go thru this long burn in period, even though i know about it, and have been quick to advise many a new naim owner to be "patient". now its my turn, its quite hard...

however, i sense that even at this early stage the thing is mellowing quite a bit, although the smeary treble/sibilant treble and the pinched voicing still gets in the way of the music.

i also sense that my system sounds "more powerful" -- as if i have iserted a bigger power amp. there is more enthusiasm in the sound of all instruments -- especially voice.

perhaps i am going to enjoy this thing after all...


i still cant stop thinking about the SL2's, although it would make sense to revamp the cd player at this stage. or perhaps the power amps?? choices, choices... fortunately, the bank manager, and the wife, get in the way.

enjoy

ken
enjoy

ken

many thanks allen. i guess the "problem" for me is that my system is in my office, so i get to hear it every minute of the day, and sometimes late into the night. so you get to hear any little foibles.

but there is no question that the run-in is taking effect and the day-to-day or minute-to-minute improvement is quite apparent.

upgrade options are dizzying right now, so i will leave things as they are for quite a while yet. cds3 beckons, so does 2x250MkII's, so does active SL2's etc... and then there is fraim. i am sure pleased i am not even thinking about the 552.

no, maybe the 252 is the last upgrage for this year... famous last words.

enjoy

ken

Hi Ken

Congratulations on the acquisition of the 252.

I concur with Allen - it'll be fairly muted to begin with. Mine seemed to really open up about a month in and needed two months to reveal its true colours.

I'd get a CDS3 over SL2's personally; but I have a problem with the price and the appearance of them.

Enjoy the warm up.

quote:

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Originally posted by J.N.:
_Hi Ken_

Congratulations on the acquisition of the 252.

I concur with Allen - it'll be fairly muted to begin with. Mine seemed to really open up about a month in and needed two months to reveal its true colours.

I'd get a CDS3 over SL2's personally; but I have a problem with the price and the appearance of them.

Enjoy the warm up.

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many thanks john.

the run-in/warmup should perhaps be considered as an initiation process -- to mark the occasion of the upgrade, as it were. i used to think that equipment should be pre-runin before delivery, but i am not sure about this anymore.

i have been through many naim upgrades over the years, so the initiation should be be familiar, very familiar indeed. i recall many times advising fellow upgraders to be patient.

now its a case of "put that in your pipe and smoke it, ken"

i think you are right about cds upgrade vs speakers. my sbl's have taken me thru many upgrades and they have clearly shown the improvements of each. but i quite like the looks of sl2, in the right finish of course... i think i made a mistake when i bough black ash sbl's.

enjoy

ken

Can any of the 252 owners enlighten me on the power feeds? Specifically, why does the 82/282 need as NAPSC, whereas the 52/252 doesn’t? Also, just in case I change my mind tomorrow and order a 252 instead of a 282, what will I get for the extra £1,245? (with CDX/XPS2, SC,250,LP12/geddon/Aro).

the napsc supplies voltage for the fascia and control panel-supplying this from a hicap polutes the supply
The 252 52 get their fascia/LED supply from the supercap via a snaic and special socket(differnt voltage)extra to the thick burndy cable. The 82 uses the supercap like 2 hicaps(2 snaics) no seperate digital supply and no burndy.
RP

Thanks Richard. I've used this socket on the Supercap to power the 82 instead of the NAPSC, but it doesn't seem to work with the 282. (NAPSC does though).

quote:

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Originally posted by Simon S:
Hi Ken,

If you are enjoying what the 252 is doing then the SL2s will give much more of the same 'family sound'. They are much less coloured than SBLs but sound just as fast and they also appear to have a much deeper yet still very tightly defined bass, they also sound a lot more open IMO And thats coming from someone who owns Shahinian speakers !

Glad you are enjoying your 252, I am envious

Cheers

Simon

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simon, many thanks.

from my brief encounter with SL2's, i would tend to agree with your view. i really liked the sl2's but have to think about the poor upgrade prices for sbl's and also the attraction of a source upgrade via xps2 or the whole hog with cdsiii. lost of dosh...

the question really is what the optimal next upgrade is, in terms of highest musical return for the money. i will need to do a LOT of auditioning to determine this.

enjoy

ken

Hands over eyes.

Hands over ears.

Hear no evil see no evil while mumbling in muffled voice "la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la no more hi-fi la la la la la la la la la no more frikken hi-fi la la la la la la la la la la la la"

Ah thats better.

Jonathan,

You can't turn your back on evil brother. It's all around you.