In praise of 272/250DR

I'm not sure if its a coincidence but raising my Burndy cable  off the ground, the bass has come to life! 

Couldn't be happier with my N272/250DR/XPSDR

Monkadill posted:

I'm not sure if its a coincidence but raising my Burndy cable  off the ground, the bass has come to life! 

Couldn't be happier with my N272/250DR/XPSDR

Absolutely makes a difference not having either the Bundy or interconnects resting on the floor or touching any surface (or each other). It is not subtle and I do scratch my head wondering why it makes such a difference

Another 272 xpsdr 300dr happy punter, never been happier. Naim really have done something quite wonderful with the 272 IMHO. 

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

I love this damning with faint praise 'for a hybridI love this damning with faint praise 'for a hybrid'....

 Bit confused by this Nigel - who is doing the damning? If you are referring to me - far from it.. Naim have been keen to develop and improve their integrated and hybrid performances. Yes they will tell you when you discuss the matter with the product designers and have had presented the marketing slides to you that the top performance is with the decoupled units - however they have really started to push what they feel is possible with combining functions  - and this is seen with what they learned with the N-Series hybrid streamer pre-amps and more recently the new Uniti series.  The N272 has been a huge seller for Naim and so they are spurred on I'm sure.  Although no one in Naim said this to me - but my words are the gap could be closing.

It will be good if they can achieve this for those of us who do not want their homes dominated by boxes.  As I understand it they will be differentiating the Uniti range performance from the Classic range performance by, amongst other things, not using the 009 transistors. However if the new Uniti's sound as fine as you and others are suggesting then hopefully this will mean the upgrades to the Classic series will also provide a significant performance boost.

202 to 282

"more control" "more PRat" These descriptions put me off

1.I don't want more control it kill musicality, ears are king. Unless you got a wet splashy vinyl rig. Digital NEVER wanted more control, that's why you ******* hate digital.  Listen to a cheap Technics CD player from the 90's and you might throw away "one of the best players in the world", dream on. I bough5 it and l know.

2.More PRat ,there is no reason under the sun why one has more than the other including price,utter bull.

A member has already stated its not a day and night difference but £2000 to £4000 is.

l will stick to my own judgement and say my NAPC2 is on sale, l hear it as a killer of the lucid excellent sound of 292/200. lve hidden behind the sofa for protection.!!!!

Good to know. Maybe a little lie down now?

Yes until its all hit the fan.....................l enjoy a good    debate

I want to know which is lusher ,warmer the 282 or 252? if l get the right answers that's my next upgrade. 202/200 man

FenderStratman52 posted:

I want to know which is lusher ,warmer the 282 or 252? if l get the right answers that's my next upgrade. 202/200 man

I totally fail to see the relevance of this to the quality of the 272/250DR pairing!

Huge posted:

FenderStratman52 posted:

I want to know which is lusher ,warmer the 282 or 252? if l get the right answers that's my next upgrade. 202/200 man

I totally fail to see the relevance of this to the quality of the 272/250DR pairing!

I was asking an advice question nothing to do with your pairing, l like lusher better than leaner . l have heard this pairing 272/250DR recently in a dealer demo . l also heard it with an added latest XPS2.

hope that clears up the misunderstanding

George

FenderStratman52 posted:

Huge posted:

FenderStratman52 posted:

I want to know which is lusher ,warmer the 282 or 252? if l get the right answers that's my next upgrade. 202/200 man

I totally fail to see the relevance of this to the quality of the 272/250DR pairing!

I was asking an advice question nothing to do with your pairing, l like lusher better than leaner . l have heard this pairing 272/250DR recently in a dealer demo . l also heard it with an added latest XPS2.

hope that clears up the misunderstanding

George

OK.

It just probably would have been better to ask that on the 200 to 282 upgrade thread rather than the 272 / 250DR thread.  

Hungryhalibut wrote: 'I've heard an NDX/282 and didn't think it was any better, and I'd take a 272 over a 252 any day.' 

272/250DR over 252/NDS/300? (serious question)

252/300DR/NDS/555PS and throw in an SL loom too - even more serious but so is the cost. For me I've always been sceptical about lumping so much gubbins into a single box a la 272 but perhaps that's me.

I'm worried that the technology inside a 272 could become stagnant as without a digital out to bypass the 272's internal dac it does become a 2 or 3 box final solution as far as I can see which is fine if you are happy to live with that sound forever.  The beauty of a digital sound is that it is a constantly improving technology at a point not so long ago mp3 was considered to be cutting edge,  the dac's now produced by Chord, Naim and others are at a level unheard even five years ago, my humble ND5XS has been transformed with the addition of Chord Dac as would the 272 I'm sure if this additon were possible.  The 272 is a fantastic modern approach to HiFi and will no doubt be expanded upon and improved as the years pass but and this is a big but for me those improvements will not be available to ownwers of the 272. 

Bob the Builder posted:

not so long ago mp3 was considered to be cutting edge

ChrisSU posted:

Bob the Builder posted:

not so long ago mp3 was considered to be cutting edge

1987 - The Fraunhofer Institut in Germany began research code-named EUREKA project EU147, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).
January 1988 - Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG was established as a subcommittee of the International Standards Organization/International Electrotechnical Commission or ISO/IEC.
April 1989 - Fraunhofer received a German patent for MP3.1992 -

Fraunhofer's and Dieter Seitzer’s audio coding algorithm was integrated into MPEG-1.
1993 - MPEG-1 standard published.
1994 - MPEG-2 developed and published a year later.

Cutting Edge enough for you? Might not sound great now but the compression of music files and its implications back then were indeed cutting edge. 

Bob the Builder posted:

I'm worried that the technology inside a 272 could become stagnant as without a digital out to bypass the 272's internal dac it does become a 2 or 3 box final solution as far as I can see which is fine if you are happy to live with that sound forever.  The beauty of a digital sound is that it is a constantly improving technology at a point not so long ago mp3 was considered to be cutting edge,  the dac's now produced by Chord, Naim and others are at a level unheard even five years ago, my humble ND5XS has been transformed with the addition of Chord Dac as would the 272 I'm sure if this additon were possible.  The 272 is a fantastic modern approach to HiFi and will no doubt be expanded upon and improved as the years pass but and this is a big but for me those improvements will not be available to ownwers of the 272. 

+1  And those of us who follow Naim products on ebay have recently seen a few 272 who failed to find a new owner -- other  used and ex-demo Naim kit with similar discounts would have been sold. This might be a reflection of DAC concerns and concerns over a not so distant release of new streaming products with updated technology. Well, once Naim sorted out the Uniti range....

Bob the Builder posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Bob the Builder posted:

not so long ago mp3 was considered to be cutting edge

1987 - The Fraunhofer Institut in Germany began research code-named EUREKA project EU147, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).
January 1988 - Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG was established as a subcommittee of the International Standards Organization/International Electrotechnical Commission or ISO/IEC.
April 1989 - Fraunhofer received a German patent for MP3.1992 -

Fraunhofer's and Dieter Seitzer’s audio coding algorithm was integrated into MPEG-1.
1993 - MPEG-1 standard published.
1994 - MPEG-2 developed and published a year later.

Cutting Edge enough for you? Might not sound great now but the compression of music files and its implications back then were indeed cutting edge. 

They might have had brains the size of small planets, but as one who enjoys decent sound quality, I feel these people have a lot to answer for.

Ravenswood10 posted:

252/300DR/NDS/555PS and throw in an SL loom too - even more serious but so is the cost. For me I've always been sceptical about lumping so much gubbins into a single box a la 272 but perhaps that's me.

I was sceptical too until I heard it in action. Maybe some of what's lost on the swings (having all the electronics in one box) comes back on the roundabouts when you take out the distortion/variable of an Interconnect between streamer and pre-amp ?

I have just had an opportunity to hear Finkfans new 272 that he has on demo. It's paired with a 250dr.

Unfortunately it sounds exceptionally good, and that's without an XPS,  and no doubt not fully burnt in.

kevin J Carden posted:

Ravenswood10 posted:

252/300DR/NDS/555PS and throw in an SL loom too - even more serious but so is the cost. For me I've always been sceptical about lumping so much gubbins into a single box a la 272 but perhaps that's me.

I was sceptical too until I heard it in action. Maybe some of what's lost on the swings (having all the electronics in one box) comes back on the roundabouts when you take out the distortion/variable of an Interconnect between streamer and pre-amp ?

Naim seem to have hit a real sweet spot with the 272, something that didn't quite happen with the 172. Very impressed when i heard one last year so i can understand why they are so popular. 

Timo posted:

Bob the Builder posted:

I'm worried that the technology inside a 272 could become stagnant as without a digital out to bypass the 272's internal dac it does become a 2 or 3 box final solution as far as I can see which is fine if you are happy to live with that sound forever.  The beauty of a digital sound is that it is a constantly improving technology at a point not so long ago mp3 was considered to be cutting edge,  the dac's now produced by Chord, Naim and others are at a level unheard even five years ago, my humble ND5XS has been transformed with the addition of Chord Dac as would the 272 I'm sure if this additon were possible.  The 272 is a fantastic modern approach to HiFi and will no doubt be expanded upon and improved as the years pass but and this is a big but for me those improvements will not be available to ownwers of the 272. 

+1  And those of us who follow Naim products on ebay have recently seen a few 272 who failed to find a new owner -- other  used and ex-demo Naim kit with similar discounts would have been sold. This might be a reflection of DAC concerns and concerns over a not so distant release of new streaming products with updated technology. Well, once Naim sorted out the Uniti range....

I do not have any concerns about the DAC in the 272,it sounds fantastic to me without an external one,especially with the Xpsdr attatched.One thing you can do,is run a Core into a DAC,into the 272's analog inputs if you wish.

Why not just buy the 272 and enjoy its wonderful sound with, or without, external PS until it's been superceded, then replace it, should you so wish, with a 372 or whatever? I can't see that the 272 has ever been aimed at the dyed in the wool separates owner, and shouldn't be judged as such. 

Tim

Picking up my 272 this afternoon from my dealer.  Took 4 weeks from placing order. Replacing the Uniti 2. Reading all the posts on this thread can I expect a big difference once run in?

Forgot to add, a 250DR is the NAP with the 272