NAC 252

I had an NDX/282/250DR and was totally satisfied with it.

Along with loving music I also really enjoy buying and selling used equipment. I bought a 15 year old 252 that even though it needed a service was an excellent deal. I had no intention of listening to it but the timing of the service fell through and I was going to be left with it for a couple of months .. what was one to do ?

Oh my .. it was superb .. the rumors of “boring” and “sedate” are rubbish. What really stood out for me was listening to male voice choirs. The 252 put more voices on stage with greater texture and depth. This wasn’t a question of volume is was a question of breadth .. the two words which came to my mind were heft and majesty.

This is an absolutely superb piece of equipment .. the 282 is really good too but the 252 is just so much more.

I listen to a lot of blues mixed in with a fair amount of rock .. the 252 does not leave me missing the 282.

Each to his own of course ..

I moved the 282 on, and now I have a preamp that needs a service (by age but not by my ears) .. dammit.

Though I’m looking forward to what it will sound like when I get it done .. eventually.

ChrisSU posted:

Allante93 posted:

 

Furthermore, way back in 2007, Naim Debuted it's Reference CDP! 

CD555>282>2x SC>3 x 250.2>DBLs 

Well, if the 282 was worthy of the above hookup, I figured it would work fine for me!  

TWO Supercaps! The poor thing must have been bouncing off the bloody ceiling!!!

Now you know the 282 is at it's best when paired with the SC, and the Burndy/Snaxo is a match made in Heaven!

Hence, Two SCs, but Naim was debuting it's Reference CDP!

https://youtu.be/AFzMuO3K3ZY

Allante93!

it's tuff to get a demo of the two but will play it by ear I guess

Malaka posted:

it's tuff to get a demo of the two but will play it by ear I guess

Now think about it, that 56K USD for Speakers & CDP!

Then add 3 × 250.2, 282, Snaxo, and 2 SCs!

That nearly 90K USD!

Trust me, it may not be an 252, but it ain't Bad!

Allante93!

The 252 is just great. It has the old smoothness, and comes alive when the music does. It goes well with my 300's, and can sound sublime, or as sharp as, when the drummer is striking the rim instead of the skin. Don't cry for me Argentina by Sinead, is haunting.

Malaka posted:

I enjoy your feedback but my budget is s 252/SC and NDS source, I never liked the fact the 282 uses a NAPSC

Hmmmm.... Maybe skip the NDS, sell the 555, get a used ND5+Hugo +552.

I'm an expert at spending other people's money.

Kevin Richardson posted:

Malaka posted:

I enjoy your feedback but my budget is s 252/SC and NDS source, I never liked the fact the 282 uses a NAPSC

Hmmmm.... Maybe skip the NDS, sell the 555, get a used ND5+Hugo +552.

I'm an expert at spending other people's money.

+1 

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

nigelb posted:

Malaka posted:

I enjoy your feedback but my budget is s 252/SC and NDS source, I never liked the fact the 282 uses a NAPSC

That, may I say, is a very strange reason for not considering a 282. Unless you take the time to listen to both pre amps (preferably in your own system at home) you will never know which you prefer. As you will see from the above 'debate' there are some who prefer the 282 over the 252. I have used both preamps with a NDS and the 282 is certainly not shamed by the NDS, quite the reverse. I just preferred the 252, but this, as you have seen, is far from a unanimous finding. If you are one of those who prefer the 282, you could save yourself a slug of cash. But you can't know if you don't demo.

Just a thought.

I agree, the 282 is very good, and I can why some might like it.. the 252 is less Hi-Fi than the 282 and has a certain naturalness to it which gets so much closer to your music that gets you grinning or shaking your head in slight disbelief on certain tracks... However in my experience to get the best from the 252 you need revealing accurate speakers, I use ATCCs that do just that.. the 552 goes further but at the lower  levels I listen at I don't find the difference between 252 and 552 as great as I otherwise would.. crank the listening level up and the 552 does seem to pull away... all subjective of course

Simon, been using a 252 for best part of a year choosing it over a 282 during a demo for a new system and I must agree with your statement entirely.

The low level listening was also a plus point quite extraordinary particularly since upgrading from a 250dr to a 300dr all system dependent of course and subject to  personal preferences.

greekspec2 posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Malaka is an interesting Forum name. It means wanker in Greek. A friend of mine had a cat named Malaka and took endless pleasure in hollering it out of the back door. 

I've owned a (boring) 252 and there's no way I'd swap a 272 for one. 552 or don't bother would be my, undoubtedly unwanted, advice. 

not sure what that means but you believe a N272/555PS is better than a N252/SC-DR/NDS

I wasn't prepared to replace my Superuniti into 300dr for a 252. The 252 gave a hugely better bottom end, the bass was lovely I must admit but it didn't give the mids and highs in the same measure. I'd personally prefer to have 272/555ps than 252. And that's not taking into account the costs. 

Drewy posted:

greekspec2 posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Malaka is an interesting Forum name. It means wanker in Greek. A friend of mine had a cat named Malaka and took endless pleasure in hollering it out of the back door. 

I've owned a (boring) 252 and there's no way I'd swap a 272 for one. 552 or don't bother would be my, undoubtedly unwanted, advice. 

not sure what that means but you believe a N272/555PS is better than a N252/SC-DR/NDS

I wasn't prepared to replace my Superuniti into 300dr for a 252. The 252 gave a hugely better bottom end, the bass was lovely I must admit but it didn't give the mids and highs in the same measure. I'd personally prefer to have 272/555ps than 252. And that's not taking into account the costs. 

interesting that you would take a N272 vs 252