NAP 250.2 getting DR'ed later in the week

You won't regret it AussieSteve. The Dr version is glaringly better and you will never look back. You will notice this straight out of the box although of course it will only get better over time. Happy listening !

Mine should have been DR'd by the time I get back from holiday next week. (In the meantime I'm trying to put a brave face on visiting the wonders of Italy...)

Aussiesteve, let us know how you get on.. My 250.2 is two years old.. I have been nervous about getting my 250.2 changed as I don't want to break its current organic type spell... I guess I really need to arrange a long home demo to hear if it brings worthwhile improvements in my system... I have this nagging doubt it might bring a bit of highlighting into my system and  I wouldn't  want that at all...

I may have missed it. Can someone point me to a thread which briefly describes on the sonic differences between the NAP 250.2 and 250 DR?

ryder. posted:

I may have missed it. Can someone point me to a thread which briefly describes on the sonic differences between the NAP 250.2 and 250 DR?

My 250.2 left the building yesterday to be replaced with the DR so will comment later.

G

Thanks for that. Do take your time while you slowly appreciate the qualities of the new amp. I hope you would be in musical bliss.

The new amps have provided so much insight to the music in my system (not only the NAP 250 DR but NAC 282 and HCDR all combined) that I am now seriously looking at upgrading my speakers and source. I've got the upgrade bug! Funds are low at the moment so I have to plan the purchases carefully.

Cheers.

My 250's also packaged up and ready for the trip to Salisbury (via St Albans) - service AND DR upgrade scheduled. My socks are ready to be blown off!

ryder. posted:

I may have missed it. Can someone point me to a thread which briefly describes on the sonic differences between the NAP 250.2 and 250 DR?

You might find my last few comments here interesting:

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...91#61824863953362691

For what its worth, an upgraded 250.2 not being recapped will run in in just a couple weeks. Mine certainly did which matched my dealer's experience too. Mine has sounded the same since my final comment in that thread.

@Simon, your concern is valid. Much better the 250dr may be but it is voiced different. If you've carefully matched your amp to your speakers to your room there is no guarantee the balance will be retained. I feel it's huge soundstage and incredibly solid feel from each instrument is not something I could give up having heard it. But (and this is where the 250dr crew scream "sacrilege" at me), it has thrown things a bit out of balance. In a large room but a small listening area, the 250.2 was perfect for letting a lightweight floorstander like my Twenty.23s have some propper bass depth that belied their size. The DR seems to go deeper but the voicing is further up the register and shows the 23s small size in the room which was never an issue before. It is an upgrade that may necessitate another change to bring back balance. 

So if you can borrow one (which I couldn't) I am 100% sure you will agree it is better but it may help comfirm whether it will work as-is or need other system changes. Odd as it sounds, it is possible for an upgrade to sound better but introduce another problem that is hard to get used to.

Simon,

You should borrow one - I think you'll be blown away unless the non-DR signature better suits the ATCs?

Regards,

Lindsay

you tease 

Simon, I think you will be pleasantly suprised with the 250 dr particularly as you are using a 252 and Supercap dr.

I recently upgraded my Olive system and taking into comments on the Forum some of yours in particular regarding the qualities of the 252 over a 282.

My demo was with a NDX source which I was using with my Olive system this was with a 282,Supercap dr and a 250 dr intially with PMC 23 speakers a XPS dr power supply was added to the NDX this gave the system a significant uplift.

The speaker were changed to Spendor D7s these were truly outstanding after listening to this combination for some time I asked the dealer to change the 282 for a 252 ,whilst I was expecting an improvement I was very very suprised at the amount of improvement better bass control more detail everthing just seemed better.

My new system was installed nine or ten weeks ago and far as I am concerened the 252,Supercar dr and 250 dr are match made in heaven when used in a correctly balanced system,

Thanks Feeling_Zen. Good writeup on the 250.2 vs 250 DR. I have not had the privilege to listen to the 250.2 but the 250 DR is very nice. A departure from the lean and thin sounding NAP 200 with good depth and texture in the bass.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Aussiesteve, let us know how you get on.. My 250.2 is two years old.. I have been nervous about getting my 250.2 changed as I don't want to break its current organic type spell... I guess I really need to arrange a long home demo to hear if it brings worthwhile improvements in my system... I have this nagging doubt it might bring a bit of highlighting into my system and  I wouldn't  want that at all...

Simon, as you know I have a similar setup to you (speakers aside) and a 250.2 of very similar vintage - my DR'd 250 is now waiting for me on my return. I'll let you know what I think about it.

Cheers Nick - I was playing around repositioning my speakers today and reverting back to some favourite stands - and boy the system is sounding wonderful - tight bass and a degrees of resolution that allows lyrics and playing styles to be so much clearer and musical. It just shows how critical speaker placement and stand design (for stand mounts) is to the performance of a system.

Not really relevant in this thread as I switched from the NAP 200 to the NAP 250 DR. But boy I am surely appreciating the qualities of the 250 DR. A  completely different voicing between these two amps and the added sophistication, warmth and detail across the frequency spectrum are very nice. A warm and full sound doesn't always correlate with detail but the 250 DR sounds warm, full, coherent and detailed, all these traits in one package.

Enjoy the DR'd NAP 250. I am sure it is one excellent sounding amp at its price range.

The thing I notice, as well as all the observations above, is the w i d t h of the soundstage - way beyond the outside face of my S400's now. Listening to 'Sheep' from 'Animals' and the keyboard sounds both convincingly real and very holographic.

Lovely,

G

GraemeH posted:

The thing I notice, as well as all the observations above, is the w i d t h of the soundstage - way beyond the outside face of my S400's now. Listening to 'Sheep' from 'Animals' and the keyboard sounds both convincingly real and very holographic.

Lovely,

G

Yup. I think that is the most noticeable thing about the 250DR over the 250.2. The soundstage is just massive and everything is very solid sounding.

One of the best things for me is the way music emerges from a silent background - the infamous 'inky blackness'. Somehow it seems to make the music much more present. 

GraemeH posted:

The thing I notice, as well as all the observations above, is the w i d t h of the soundstage - way beyond the outside face of my S400's now. Listening to 'Sheep' from 'Animals' and the keyboard sounds both convincingly real and very holographic.

Lovely,

G

Graeme - one thing I find with the 250.2 is the sound stage opens up and comes forward into the room as well as widening - I love this and really gives space and air  around instrumentation in the mix and the speakers just seem to disappear  - I assume the 250DR does this as well but somehow better? Yes Animals is great - but The Wall even has sounds appearing to come from outside of the room - I know they used some special techniques when recording it - but it really shines with the 250.2 - and I assume still with the DR?

True - it did take the Hugo as a source and 252 as a NAC  to really encourage the 250.2 to do this - perhaps the DR will do this with lesser sources? Thoughts?

S

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

GraemeH posted:

The thing I notice, as well as all the observations above, is the w i d t h of the soundstage - way beyond the outside face of my S400's now. Listening to 'Sheep' from 'Animals' and the keyboard sounds both convincingly real and very holographic.

Lovely,

G

Graeme - one thing I find with the 250.2 is the sound stage opens up and comes forward into the room as well as widening - I love this and really gives space and air  around instrumentation in the mix and the speakers just seem to disappear  - I assume the 250DR does this as well but better? Yes Animals is great - but The Wall even has sounds appearing to come from outside of the room - I know they used some special techniques when recording it - but it really shines with the 250.2 - and I assume still with the DR?

True - it did take the Hugo as a source and 252 as a NAC  to really encourage the 250.2 to do this.

S

Simon, I am saving money as fast as I can for a DAC, but I want to wait until I see what Naim do.  You tease with the 252 info, that would be a mega move up I imagine, but beyond me for awhile I pick up the amp on Saturday from my dealer, when I dropped it off yesterday I noticed they now stock Harbeth and ATC, Oh God I wish I hadn't seen the Harbeth 40.2's they are my idea of a beautiful speaker to look at and bigger than I imagined. I love classic looking speakers, now that JBL have closed down their entire R&D facility including their anechoic chambers, I will never buy new JBL again So I have a strong feeling I will be honorary Pommy in a few years with all British kit!

Simon,

I too have a 252 but upgraded from 250.2 to 250DR when I had my 282. Even on the 282, the uplift in SQ in all the important areas was considerable going to the 250DR. As regards soundstage, I am getting more width and depth but I don't really analyse it that way. More that instruments and vocals are presented far more naturally (what ever that means to you) in their own space and you get much more of a feel of a real band playing infront of you, each doing their own thing but entirely hanging together with musicians playing in harmony and vocalists singing with the band if that makes any sense whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, bad recordings still sound bad and poor performances still sound poor. The 250DR is great but it can never fix these things. But on my favourite recordings of my favourite artists, the 250DR has been one of the best upgrades I have ever made.

I do think however that to get the very best out of the 252/250DR you might want to also consider SL cables. The interconnect first, then speaker cables. I have not yet gone to the SL DIN/XLR but I hope to audition this soon. I know these cables are expensive, but you simply don't get the very best from the 252/250DR by using stock cables and NACA5 IMHO.

I don't know what your upgrade plans/budget are but if financially it is doable, I would home demo the 250DR first and once it has settled in, home demo SL cables later. 

I believe you will get all the stuff you love with the 250.2 and a whole lot more with the 250DR and I suspect you will not be disappointed.

Did someone say, "inky blackness"?  

They'll be claiming that the 250DR makes the 250-2 "sound broken" next 

The cliché count has started...

NIGELB posted

As regards soundstage, I am getting more width and depth but I don't really analyse it that way. More that instruments and vocals are presented far more naturally (what ever that means to you) in their own space and you get much more of a feel of a real band playing infront of you, each doing their own thing but entirely hanging together with musicians playing in harmony and vocalists singing with the band if that makes any sense whatsoever.

I couldn't agree more the 252.Supercap dr and 250 dr combination really excels at this it is just like the band are playing in your lounge.

NIGELB.Looks like SL cables for Christmas.

I've got a 250DR and any other amp is rubbish 

nigelb posted:

Simon....

I do think however that to get the very best out of the 252/250DR you might want to also consider SL cables. The interconnect first, then speaker cables....

Maybe the dark inky Blackness of the 250DR, and that's a hard sell for Simon!

But SL ICs and Speaker Cable.

Good luck!

Just enjoying your conversation, continue.

 Allante93!