NAP500 off to AVOptions for DR upgrade
Posted by: Chris Bell on 22 October 2016
My 16 year old NAP500 is (past) due for an overhaul. It still sounds very good but the DR upgrade pushed me to pull the trigger. The cost is a good value in my opinion. It will be gone for about 5 weeks, I'll be using a Supernait 2 during the interim. My 552 (which I bought in 2003) will go in next for the DR upgrade. I am asking Chris West will provide me with progress photos which I will share here. Looking forward to hearing the improvement I've been reading about here on the forum.
There's a hole in my heart:
Day 3.5 sat down and had a good listen.....cripes wow this thing is getting better and better .... very open and delicate.... purity of tone getting really good .... this thing sucks you in..... and grabs you.
Hi Skip...... how is your 500 bedding in?? ............. mine is around 6 days young ..... and getting better all the time a huge difference from switch on ...... is yours still improving?
My 500 comes back tomorrow, Saturday having been DRed, I have had an on loan 300 DR for the past 4/5 weeks.
Watch this space.
douglas.
Douglas... I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the differences between the 300DR and 500DR.
A bit of background info. My 500 is about 8 years old so I joined the
waiting list this summer! I decided to have the power supply serviced as
well which included new capacitors. Prior to the 500 I used a pair of 135s.
Talking to another guy with an active system and a six pack of 135s he
reckoned the 500 was superior, so I bought the dealers demo unit soon after.
The on loan 300DR is about a year old so fully run in. At first I thought
it was quicker with better bass control and a fresher sound. Then after a
bit it sounded a little bit "hi-fi" and less dynamic. I played the system a
bit less and in the five weeks without my 500 didn't buy any CDs.
Now its back, out of the box, its just a nicer listen and as with all Naim
kit will improve. There is now better bass control, but with plenty of
slam. Orchestral strings are sweeter, and a more "open" sound.
Having said all that the 300DR is still a great amp. It won Hi-Fi+ amp of
the year! But that's the way any competent manufacturer would grade their
products.
A worthwhile upgrade then. Hope this helps.
Douglas,
Glad I skipped the the 300dr .... I am really impressed with the 500 .... the non dr old one I purchased blew the 250dr away...... openness and delicacy and pace - that was 16 years old! My 500 now dr - ed at ten days young is gradually getting better and better - it is musically becoming very satisfying....
Douglas,
Thanks for your thoughts. My 500 replaced a sixpack of 135s back when I had active NBLs. The 500 passive was superior to the active setup which was a giant leap for the time. The DR is another giant leap forward in sound quality.
I also added a Super Lumia IC 2 weeks ago which is was a big step up from my Chord STA. There is some great engineering going on at Naim these days.
A little story: Having an 552 DR and a 500 running on Magico S5, last summer I decided to DR the 500. Enjoyed the original very much but of course with all the raving reviews I just went for it. Turned out I was quite unhappy with the result. Lots of realism, bass, transparency, etc but lacking the flow and the ease. Hence the joy. Missed immediately the 500. Missed the seduction.
Running in become an obsession. Was able to play the amplifiers a full month full time at nine o clock. That is loud!! Amps even become hot. Definitely better but still not the results like I read on the forums and reviews. Changing the interlinks to AQ Well and got some fine results but were was the speed and emotion? November, 4 months after surgery, maybe a bit better but still not a release of the brakes. Having it checked by the distributor who concluded everything was fine, left me with the unfortunate decision to change the amp asap... So the search began.
However last week I cryogened the naim cabling, so the Snaic and the Burndy. Conductivity of the cables should go up with 15 to 20%. Two days of warming up again and yesterday the first critical listening; spectacular!!! The feeling was if the 500 was freed up, had the speed and was not holding back like before. It really sounded so nice, sweet, involving and tempting. Really happy again.
My thoughts: the DR electronics are great but the Snaic and Burndy cabling are less so. This is probably the weak spot in the total 552 DR- 500 DR setup.
Eric,
Who did the cryo treatment to your cables?
Have now been playing for around 18 days-non stop ..... wow sound really improving - so involving - the sound has opened up beautifully - the detail, purity and punch present is quite amazing - this is a really a big upgrade on the original 500 (which was very good). I find myself - immersed - enjoying track after track. This is a great amplifier ... I can't believe there is more to come ..... as others seem to agree this is only the beginning..... I will keep you posted. Interestingly I note this amp barely gets warm... the old 500 got quite warm and times very warm.
" However last week I cryogened the naim cabling, so the Snaic and the Burndy. Conductivity of the cables should go up with 15 to 20%."
So that would be *really* easy to measure and prove, wouldnt it...
Richieroo posted:Have now been playing for around 18 days-non stop ..... wow sound really improving - so involving - the sound has opened up beautifully - the detail, purity and punch present is quite amazing - this is a really a big upgrade on the original 500 (which was very good). I find myself - immersed - enjoying track after track. This is a great amplifier ... I can't believe there is more to come ..... as others seem to agree this is only the beginning..... I will keep you posted. Interestingly I note this amp barely gets warm... the old 500 got quite warm and times very warm.
18 days is definitely 'early days' if my experience with 500DR is anything to go by. Shocking improvements were apparent beyond week 4/5 -- now i am roughly on week 8 and it seems there is no end to what this amp still has up its sleeve to be revealed at the appropriate time. I sometimes hear 3 months? 6 months? Doesn't matter -- i am looking fwd to it all...
enjoy
ken