What am I hearing....?

Sounds like you're hearing the DR on the 250 and HC, the powerline lites, possibly the difference a good unplug & re-plug would have made, and the difference a service would have made to the 282.

That's actually quite a lot of tweaks/upgrades all at once.  Lucky you, in the end

Quote - 'It really is as if I'm listening to a totally different system'.

Err, you are - a totally 'new' one. Not a mixture of 'X' years old units. Plus all the latest Naim fairy dust.

Interesting post.... I had my 2005 vintage 282 and Hicap serviced in October 2015. HiCap was Dr'd at the same time.... at that time the DR upgrade on the 250.2 was not available, so i didnt service it - prefering to wait until the DR upgrade was availble. The improvement was noticable.... not sure if it was the service or the DR upgrade on the HiCap.

BUT.... I got impatient for the DR upgrade on the 250 and ultimately traded in the 250.2 for a brand new 250DR.... Then, I can confirm, it sounded like a completely different system... I suspect the 250DR is the biggest contributor to the improved sound in your system.

Dave***t posted:

Sounds like you're hearing the DR on the 250 and HC, the powerline lites, possibly the difference a good unplug & re-plug would have made, and the difference a service would have made to the 282.

That's actually quite a lot of tweaks/upgrades all at once.  Lucky you, in the end

Yes, I would pretty much agree with this analysis. I have heard the difference made by going from a 250.2 to a 250DR with my (at that time) 282 and as they say, the difference is not subtle. Although not having done the same comparison with a HiCap, I would suggest this 'upgrade' would also have a significant impact, possibly not in the same league as DRing the 250, but DRing everything seem to bring some extra synergy.

A service of your 282 would have also been helpful but I doubt that any internal changes to the 282 over the years would have made any where near the improvement the DRing has. Lastly the PL Lite will make some difference but again this would be far outweighed by DRs on the 250 and HiCap.

Lastly don't underestimate what improvement a rebuild can bring. Simply the act of unplugging and replugging cables can clean contacts. Of course all your contacts are new and shiny.

I realise the improvements can be intriguing (and baffling) but in the end the reasons are less important than kicking back and enjoying your new, upgraded system. Hope the additional enjoyment it brings is some compensation for the grief and distress the burglary must have caused you.

Don't you just love a happy ending!

Enjoy,

N

Thanks for taking time to reply guys. You kind of confirm my thoughts that the biggest update was the DR'ing of the 2 components, alas I never had chance to test them as 'upgrades' on home demo to my previous system, where genuine comparison could have been made, hence the intrigue. 

Is DR'ing the biggest single upgrade you've made, in the context of your Naim kit? 

If you are talking upgrades as distinct for moving up the black box ladder then DRing for me has probably been one of the most impressive changes. That followed by SL cabling. 

Cheekymonkey71 posted:

Thanks for taking time to reply guys. You kind of confirm my thoughts that the biggest update was the DR'ing of the 2 components, alas I never had chance to test them as 'upgrades' on home demo to my previous system, where genuine comparison could have been made, hence the intrigue. 

Is DR'ing the biggest single upgrade you've made, in the context of your Naim kit? 

Adding a CDX2 and XPSDR was a big improvement over the CD5+Flatcap2 it replaced.

For me, servicing the 282 and HiCap, plus DRing the Hicap, improved the system but it didnt provide the "WOW" moment that adding the 250DR did.

Impossible to say for certain. The DR effect most likely. \It's no small gain. There may have been in line changes other than DR to one or more components. You may have also hit a perfect set up sweet spot by dint of just a few millimetres here or there. But it's more likely to be DR. And the PLs if you didn't have them before. Everything makes a difference.

For sure the new DR boxes are making a difference, but I bet a lot of the perceived leap is down to relief at putting the horrible events behind you and having wonderful music in the house again. Just enjoy it. 

HH is right - just having music back is the most important thing.

Indeed. Although surely the whole point of this forum is the opportunity to ruminate about such things with likeminded people. It adds to the pleasure, I think.