200 vs 250 (both DR) and some other stuff

hello.

this weekend i has the chance to listen to 2 interesting setups, first with Devialet 200 and Audio Physic Avantera speakers, and second with 272/250DR with Focal diablo utopia speakers.

while first setup was a big dissapointment, the second was was proof that new breed Naim is very good and synergetic with even the highest range of Focal speakers.

i could actually "snatch" the 250DR power amp at home, and put it "shoulder to shoulder" with my own 200DR, the rest of the setup consisting of 172 streamer and Ovator s400 speakers.

first i would like to add that, in the light of the numerous praises here on the forum, i had very (i mean VERY) high expectations of the new 250DR. i had the chance when i bought my setup in the summer to listen to it for a few minutes, but budget-wise i favoured the smaller amp instead.

that being said, i swapped the 200DR with the 250DR and started to listen... well it was obious that an improvement was present, but i listened further, swapping from time to time between amps, it became obvious that the jump in sound quality was lower than i expected. i remember in the former days i used to like very much the 250.2, i even had one once with a CD5i and the first gen Nait XS as a pre, with my good old spendors back in the day, and used to love that particular setup. so much that at the time was the only time that i remember i quited using the TV set in the living room, i just wanted to enjoy my CD5i/XS/250.2/spendor setup as much as i could!

the opposite i coulkd say about the older 200 (nonDR). while somehow forgiving with 282 in front of it, i actually preffered way better the 202 with the older 180 instead of 200, and i had for a while cd5X/FC2x/202/180, instead of the more common 202/200 combo.

while exciting and engaging at first few tracks, the older 200 started to become way too tyring and i have never could actually live with it for too long.

well when i heard the new 200DR, this thing has changed... it is still obvious that the 2500DR is still the rounder and heavier amp in presentation, but now, at DR gen, the differences seem to me more of nuances than direction, as they were in the older days...

nonetheless, i will write down below a few differences observed by me in the few hours that i could test the amp in those 2 days i had it at home...(between work duties, a heavy metal festival headlined by canadians Annihilator that i happen to like very much, and regular weekend session at the swimming pool ):

- in terms of timing, coherence, soundstage, control over (these particular) speakers, the 2 amps voice quite the same, no major differences

- 250DR has a little darker tone, not much, but spottable. makes harsher record easier to digest

- 200DR favours instead the darker tone of the Ovators, they bring the cymbals, for example a little bit more in front, not hugely but again spottable

-250DR has a slightly "fatter" presentation, the bass is rounder and a bit better defined. i actually noticed that this was the only thing a missed last evenig when swapping back my 200DR after giving back the 250DR

- timbres and voices are richer on the bigger amp, but as reviews said, i expected more. it was better, yes, but not that huge better

- separation was again better on the bigger amp, but much in the way of the previous characteristic, not night and day difference, spottable, but not demolishing...

- noise floor again, in the same note, better on the bigger amp.

over all, i would state that the differences observed by me, in this particular setup were like the 200 had a "younger" and more sparklier sound, albait with some loss of definition and weight, while the 250 had a more mature sound, BUT, not in the quantity i expected!

there are, however 2 aspects that might change the perception of this comparison, i am aware of that:

first, probably a better front end, would reveal higher distance between the amps, same goes for more demanding speakers.

and second, i just kept the bigger amp for such a small time into the setup. probably over a longer session, of let's say weeks, the impact when swapping back would have been greater... who knows.

and ther is another thing that kept me thinking: i used to keep the 200 on the lower shelf, (i have a 2 shelves Fraim lite, black finish) and 172 on the above... at first i swapped the 200 with the 172, to make it easier to insert the 250 into the setup, and i had the feeling that with the 200 on the top shelf, the sound is actually slightly better... can say what exactly has changed, but my inner self sensed a small improvement...

maybe not for the mechanical positioning in itself, maybe more for the fact that i have repositioned the interconnects and decoupled and coupled tham again... i don't really know, but in a few weeks i will swap them back again and see the result...

that's it for this weekend... enjoy! and feel free to contribute...