252: Not your Father's Naim.

Posted by: Chris Bell on 15 January 2003

The following hi-fi terms may now be added to the description of the NAC 252: air, space, soundstage, texture, hyper dynamics, depth, and Quad like. While I hate all of these terms I was not prepared for the sound of the new preamp. It is like no other Naim premap I have heard; yet I am happy to report the 252 still has all of the hallmark 52 virtues. Think of it as a 52 with several layers of grime removed and whole new sense of space (did I just use the word space?) It is hyper dynamic, even at low volume levels, and the bass comming out my SBLs is large. Still, I hate to dwell on hi-fi terms and dissecting sound, so in the end the 252, like the CDX2, allows me to connect with the music in a way my old CDS2/52 system never did. (CDS3 to be added when available.)

Other areas of interest include the variable speed volume knob, RCA interconnects on the back, and the front panel display can be turned off! For grins I tried RCA connection between the CDX2 – 252. I had an older vampire RCA cable…can’t say how good it was although it looked the part. No surprise, the DIN walked all over the RCA in every way. I would still like to borrow a Nordost Valhalla for a definitive test…I guess the Valhalla is supposed to be the super-cable of the week???? The 252 also has a unity gain input and an rs232 expansion slot.

One interesting note from the manual: It suggests running the din and Burndy cable as close together as possible. Can anyone at Naim explain why?

Chris Bell

PS: The system I am using now is a CDX2, 252, Supercap, 500, SBLs on Fraim.
Posted on: 15 January 2003 by Richard Dane
Hi Chris,

the reason we recommend keeping the Burndy and Din lead close together has to do with possible interference. Any cable has the potential to pick up interference froma variety of sources and careful cable dressing and placement is necessary to avoid this. By keeping the two cables together in the same "space" it's much easier to find a placement which minimises any possibility of the cables picking up interference.

I hope that makes sense.

Richard
Posted on: 15 January 2003 by Dev B
Hi Chris,

What's happened to the DBL's - didn't you have CDS2, 52, 500, DBL? What made you change?

regards

Dev
Posted on: 15 January 2003 by Chris Bell
Dev,

I am building a large addtion to my house, so the DBLs are on holiday until I finish the project. The CDS2/52 were sold off several months ago in anticipation of the new products.

Chris
Posted on: 15 January 2003 by Frank Abela
And the reason for not considering the 552? Smile

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.
Posted on: 15 January 2003 by Chris Bell
Frank,

Sure I considered the 552. I have 22,000 reasons why passed...at least for now.

Chris
Posted on: 16 January 2003 by Derek Wright
The description of the 252 sound as Naim plus hifi - does this description also aopply to the 552 - so far I have not read any description of the 552 as having this property - comments please

Derek
Posted on: 16 January 2003 by Simon Matthews
"The description of the 252 sound as Naim plus hifi - does this description also aopply to the 552 - so far I have not read any description of the 552 as having this property - comments please".

The 552 should come with an additional earth lead to connect to the listener. This may help as everything played through it seems to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - must be some kind of static issue. Wink
Posted on: 16 January 2003 by Roland Huu
Chris

I know what you mean with the 252. I've a 252 on loan for almost 3 weeks (nice dealer) and it's going back tomorrow.

when I first powered it up.. I was stunned!! Another level of transparency compared to my existing 52. Things just opened up. I'll have to listen to some albums with the 52 once it's powered up to see if I feel the difference. Looking forward to my new Roksan TT.

Keeping my CDS1 though.
Posted on: 16 January 2003 by Jens
Hi Guys,

Interesting post. So how much more is the new 252/Scap compared to the old 52/Scap?

Roland-interesting to hear you're keeping your CDS1. I have one too and also rate it highly. Good to hear it works well with the new kit too.

Cheers, Jens
Posted on: 16 January 2003 by Roland Huu
Jens

Well at the moment I can't afford anyting else after the purchase of the TT. Hence I didn't really ask for the retail price. But I think it should be in the same price range as a new 52/Scap (then).

CDS1 stays until the transport/nextel ring is completely kaput. Many months ago someone lent me a CDS2 and I had a listen... yes, it's an improvement but not that significant enough (to me atleast) to trade-in my 7 years old CDS1.
I hope Naim will have the upgrade option when I want to do it in the future. I even thought of asking Naim 'upgrading' my CDS1 with a newer CDS1 transport with the spares they have from people who upgraded to CDS2. Something about the CDS1...

Long term plan is to buy a secondhand 252 and cherry DBL. Someone once sold his 500 in less than 6 months!!

Regards
Roland
Posted on: 20 January 2003 by Dobbin
I'm enjoying my 252 / 300 combo too....

...nuff said!
Posted on: 20 January 2003 by Simon Matthews
Dobbin

We want to know more!
Posted on: 20 January 2003 by reductionist
Chis Bell,

Thankyou for your description of the sound of the 252 pre-amplifier.

I do not believe we have seen enough descriptions of the qualities of the new range. If you have had a good demonstration of the new Naim equipment please write it up and post it here.