NAC 282 - First Impressions

Posted by: Jez R Oakley on 12 June 2017

Out with the 202+NAPSC+HiCap, in with the 282+NAPSC+HiCap

Is this thing supposed to get better and better as it warms up? Well it has.

At first it sounded a bit shouty and bassy but after a while things have really improved, particularly with guitar driven tracks.

Hendrix and The Stone Roses (Second Coming) really allow it to show its class. I can effortlessly follow instruments in the midrange that previously used to disappear into a wall of sound with the 202.

It's definitely more revealing and packed with detail too. The 282 is certainly more forward sounding than the 202 but I haven't heard the big improvements in soundstage, depth and imaging that some have highlighted. Maybe my speakers are (finally) outclassed? Nevertheless they're certainly letting loads more music through.

One caveat is that I suspect it'll expose not so good recordings also but time will tell on that score.

Conclusion so far is that paying ridiculous amounts of money for black boxes might just be worth it!

 

Posted on: 21 June 2017 by Innocent Bystander
Jez R Oakley posted:
Keler Pierre posted:
Jez R Oakley posted:
Dre posted:

Also consider upgrading the hicap to DR, will make the 282 sound more mature. Makes 282 less shouty, with wider sound, more detail and still easier listening. 

Check out the latest dynaudio special 40 to pair with your nap200!

 

Has anyone heard and reviewed the Special 40? They look tremendous but they should do for the thick end of £3000! :-)

they look nice but the load is not easy: 86 db.  I don't think it is the best choice for your nap 200. They will work certainly quite fine, but if you want a real upgrade in your system, without changing your nap 200,  it is better looking at speakers with 90/93 load: they will disappear more easily and the better depth, width on soundstage you seem to look at, will be more easier to happen.

My PMCs are 87db and the 200 seems to cope OK. Not sure what the real world difference between 86 and 87 would be though. Agreed, 88 or higher probably seems sensible.

1dB is said to be the smallest change in sound level that you notice (you can detect smaller, but that is about the smallest that the change would be a distict change)

From a different angle, 1dB less efficient would require about 26% more power from an amp to sound the same level.

Posted on: 21 June 2017 by ryder.

Spec on paper is just a general guideline. The best way is to try the amps in the system and figure it out yourself. Generally speaking you don't need a powerful amp if the speakers are easy to drive (high sensitivity and impedance). As to the numbers, that's debatable.

Having said that, specifications can be useful in some instances. In general, one does not use powerful solid-state amps to drive efficient speakers with high sensitivity >100 dB, Klipschorn for example. Only the specification is able to tell you how easy or difficult the speaker is. Some speaker manufacturers will state the recommended (amplifier) power for their speakers.