272/250DR a journey

Greekspec I have the same set up 272/250DR/926/NACA5 and intend to demo the Sopra next year. I guess if you take NAIMs logic there then the cost of SL and XPSDR would take a sizeable chunk out of the Sopra No2 costs.

It is an intriguing option and one I am looking into, hopefully Sopra prices chill a little by then also.

Is it better value ultimately to have, as HH points out, a mullet system with cost heavy speakers matched to less perceived equal costing electronics? Hmmm.....

Next small item for changing is a small power distribution block in the room. Not having a dedicated spur, I am looking to put a Powerline from a mains socket into a Russ Andrews X4 block or Iostek or similar and run the 272/250DR from that block using the supplied NAIM power leads. 

HH is correct, you are going the the path of mullets. It is your 12000 GBP worth of money and if you want to piss it away, up to you

Me, I would get the XPS DR and SL cables with that money.

The cult of the speaker is one of the most over-rated ideas ever in the history of hi-fi.

analogmusic posted:

The cult of the speaker is one of the most over-rated ideas ever in the history of hi-fi.

Agreed,  however I think the current cult is with cables,  the costs & sonic changes are way way OTT,  its a friggin'  cable,   pence/cents per metre for material costs that are a tiny %%% of the retail rip-off price,  even distilled oil extract from Antarctic 3 eyed pit vipers doesn't cost that much.   ,,,,,,,,,,  and don't get me started on ethernet cable .......... rant over ...... feeling much better now  

analogmusic posted:

HH is correct, you are going the the path of mullets. It is your 12000 GBP worth of money and if you want to piss it away, up to you

Me, I would get the XPS DR and SL cables with that money.

The cult of the speaker is one of the most over-rated ideas ever in the history of hi-fi.

Which is the two routes I guess to take, the mullet approach or take it a lot easier, and less expensively, the XPSDR and SL route.

I am going to try both demo wise, knowing the Sopra No2 route is damned expensive and may represent very poor VFM, but it is intriguing.

S800s are not cheap and list for S600 is up there too, proof will definitely be in the testing pudding.

Egg nog all round later, HNY and into 2016 with renewed vigour, and depleted wallets....

I've heard the Sopra 2 on the end of a 250dr and in no way would I describe it as a mullet, in fact it sounded superb.  Whether it represents better or worse vfm than a power supply and cable upgrade is a different matter but I'd suggest people listen to this combination before making assumptions.

dayjay posted:

I've heard the Sopra 2 on the end of a 250dr and in no way would I describe it as a mullet, in fact it sounded superb.  Whether it represents better or worse vfm than a power supply and cable upgrade is a different matter but I'd suggest people listen to this combination before making assumptions.

+1 

at least for me it's shy of $3000usd between Focal Sopra No2 or XPS-DR/SL 3m speaker cables

I'd rather piss $3000 on speakers Happy New Years

Hi Greekspec

Well, perhaps the path to true musical enlightenment lies somewhere between the two:

Definitely get the XPS-DR, then the Sopra 1, all for less than the cost of the Sopra 2.

Then leave the SL cables for another time.

Having listened to 272/250DR & Sopra 2 vs. 272/XPS-DR/250DR & Sopra 1, the second combination replays much better music to these cloth ears, while saving you a few thousand dollars.  
If you like, swap the 250DR for a 300DR in the second system to widen the gap considerably further, while still staying to a similar (not identical!) budget as the first system.

But at the end of the day, it's your decision.

Happy auditioning and a Happy New Year.

Best regards, FT

It's been interesting reading the thread ebb and flow.

If people are saying that the 250DR is fine with the Sopra, I'm not going to say otherwise. When I first got my speakers - and let's assume that they are as good as the Sopra 2 for a moment - I was using 'just' a 272 and 250 DR. It all sounded very good.

But - and I consider it a big but - I've since added an XPS DR and SL speaker leads. The improvement has been extraordinary, like its a totally different system. 

I certainly don't see the 272/250/Sopra 2 as a satisfying long term solution without the addition of an XPS DR. I'm not going to contribute to a cable war, especially given Mike's strong views above, but my observation would be that the jump from adding the cables (with the XPS already in place) was at least as big, and probably bigger, than the jump from adding an XPS to the 272. 

Make of that what you will!

Hungryhalibut posted:

....but my observation would be that the jump from adding the cables (with the XPS already in place) was at least as big, and probably bigger, than the jump from adding an XPS to the 272.  

from my recent experience of upgrading snaxo to SL in my acive system, i can somehow identify with this. The SL cables make such a big difference that i was shocked how much music i have been missing without them. The pressure to alos upgrade the speaker cables is very strong right now, but as i said in another thread -- cant afford it right now... and in any case i am quite happy slumming it with NACA5 for now...

enjoy

ken

Agree with HH, plus I am personally an advocate of the virtues of quality speaker cables, although I never used to be until a demo at local dealer...would suggest the tellurium q ultra blacks worth considering.

272/250DR with Focal Sopra No2 review/overview :

Found this on the main NAIM site, a review from Ed Selley of HiFi Choice, 272/250DR/Sopra2.

https://www.naimaudio.com/site...ocal_reprint-LOW.pdf

Apologies to those who have read/seen this already, it gives another view of such a system build.

Well, what a good review. Just add some decent speakers and you're sorted. 

Can I add ,just make sure it's not the SL2's!! Lol

HH I have some decent speakers, Aria 926s...... ;-) 

My Wilson Sabrina's showed up on new years eve   I'm waiting for my 272/250DR , SL speaker cables & rack to arrive. Then attempt to get it all working with my new NAS.  Should be fun few months ahead filled with frustration and moments of joy.

Dan43 posted:

HH I have some decent speakers, Aria 926s...... ;-) 

Very decent I might add 

blownaway posted:

My Wilson Sabrina's showed up on new years eve   I'm waiting for my 272/250DR , SL speaker cables & rack to arrive. Then attempt to get it all working with my new NAS.  Should be fun few months ahead filled with frustration and moments of joy.

What ! I hope that the flimsy cardboard was in another padded box. For the money I'd hope it would come in a wooden crate or something. DPD would eat that to shreds.

Minimserver newly added tonight. Not new for some but a quick overview, as I was running all the HiRes 24bit WAVs off a USB, which works fine but takes a while to load up first time.

Ordered a single drive Synology D115J from Amazon, arrived this morning. Plugged in a spare 1TB SATA drive and let the Synology software prep and format the drive. On MAC OS X. Wanted a single drive as thats all I need and want to test a 1TB SSD later, this is dedicated to the 272 for storage and playback only.

Followed the Minimserver instructions about loading the Java into the Synology and then the server software. Copied a few test 24bit albums over to a new folder and pointed Minimserver to that folder.

Opened up NAIM app on iPad, and hey presto in the UPnP tab/button the Minimserver logo appeared. Connected no problem and had music playing straight away. Album artwork all intact, excellent stuff.

The Sinology takes a bit of getting used to but works a charm once sorted. Access is easy, nice UI in the web browser, it all works.

Next job is to test a spare SSD drive in the D115J see if that makes any difference, doubt it but why not try. Have custom audio ethernet from the Synology to switch and switch to 272.

Rescan bought the new files up just copied across

Just a few tweaks and it should all be good.

A few WAVs from Unitiserve RIPs have all come up, but haven't loaded as artist separately but bundled into an [unknown] folder heading, inside this all the tracks are listed alphabetically with album artwork but not as albums themselves, so need to work that one out. Ah select folder view and it fixes it, will find out more as I play further.

Next is power block for the mains. Russ Andrews x4 will order tomorrow.

blownaway posted:

My Wilson Sabrina's showed up on new years eve   I'm waiting for my 272/250DR , SL speaker cables & rack to arrive. Then attempt to get it all working with my new NAS.  Should be fun few months ahead filled with frustration and moments of joy.

Very nice, great to hear your thoughts as you run and grow into this set up, especially the SL cables with these speakers....

Sopra No2 quick shop demo : I am going to be taking a look at the Sopra over the next few weeks/months and decide if its worth a punt for long term ownership.

Last year went to visit an open demo (NAIM/Sopra) at a HiFi store about an hour or so away, loved them there very well balanced and exceptional drive, and they let me play some of my HiRes files off a USB drive at the end, but its not quite the same set up as home naturally.

Yesterday though I visited a local HiFi store where I was staying and they had Sopra No2 in the shop on display with all the other equipment. The Manager let me play some files on a USB drive I had in the backpack and had about 15 minutes to try them out.

Unbelievable bass response, NIN Hesitation Marks (Audiophile version) was brilliant, and the high frequency response is terrific. The but though was that certain music sounded pretty ordinary.

Hotel California 24/192 and Rumours The Chain 24/96 sounded absolutely excellent, engaging, foot tapping, balanced but some Metallica and Foo Fighters and bit so so. As a short on the fly demo it perhaps wasn't fair and I will return with the speakers placed in their proper demo room.

Amp was NAP200 (non DR) and did struggle I thought to push hard, some playback got very mushy when pushed, no separation.

In conclusion, keeping in mind a room full of other kit and speakers, amp, bad positioning for proper evaluation, when they worked and clicked with the right music they were utterly fabulous, high end response very very good, hi/mid/lows very well balanced, bass response was excellent, very full and very well controlled, meaty yet solid, believable.

But with the unengaged music a bit meh. Vocals weren't quite soaring, as per Ovators, and the sound staging was limited, not anywhere nearly enough in the room, the sound punching from the speaker directly rather than inhabiting the room.

But like I said this is perhaps unfair, so another listen is required. Bass and high frequency though at each end was tremendous.

Hoping a proper demo in a week or two in their demo room, alone with the kit for a better evaluation will be a better representation. Plus hopefully a test between NACA5 and Super Lumina and SL IC if they ley me swap them over during that demo.

The sopra 2s are definitely a set of speakers that need to be driven, so a nap 250, nac 282 for example, are a minimum requirement, in my experience  that's when they really start to shine...

While Dan's journey with the 272/250DR continues, mine has ended. XPS DR, SL speaker cables and finally Din to XLR. With my cheapo second hand speakers that cost me £2,200, it is simply extraordinarily good. The sound is completely out of the speakers in a way I've not heard before; the music is totally engrossing. All really rather good. No Sopras for me!

To HH, all smugness aside,  if your system sounds perfect, then that's really exactly what we all want, so I'm pleased for you...but for me I much prefer to have a pair of sopra2s in the listening room,  you do need to look at your speakers as well as listen to them!!!