Am I the only one

Some would say they had the same feelings when comparing olive era amps to current black boxes....

Trust your ears and stick with what you like. 

ATB,

Mark

The lower noise floor of the XPS DR lets more music through, but it can appear to be slower, as there is more clarity.

There is some synergistic effect with cables, the old DIN/XLR cable which runs from your Supercap to your 250.2 was really originally designed in the older LM317 era, and also with the CB and Olive amps.

I think if you used a modern interconnect like the SL DIN/XLR, you might appreciate the additional bandwidth of the DR power supplies and also lower noise floor.

It's been reported on this forum the SuperLumina DIN/XLR lets more though, and doesn't sound that great with NACA5 for instance, so another example of Synergy at work.

I had some doubts before buying a HCDR and 250 DR, but they get my foot tapping 

But I would just get the old XPS serviced, as that is what works for you in your system.

Yes it does seem to work and will be serviced later this month with my supercap hopefully. Lack of pace is exactly what was evident in my system in my room with the xpsdr. To my ears seemed far too clinical and slow

I've become a cable believer lately, which cable do you use to connect the NDX to your 252?

Chord indigo 

hmmmmm ok, now your findings make a lot of sense to me.

I might speculate you might love the XPS DR a little bit more with a original Naim interconnect like Lavender, Hi-Line or SuperLumina...

Our esteemed moderator Richard Dane has stated to get the intended foot tapping performance, please try all Naim cables,

When Naim tuned or designed the DR power supplies, they did it with their own cables, and other companies cables may not always give the foot tapping thrill.

But I would still get the old XPS serviced 

other factors in foot tapping, is cable dressing, are any cables touching each other, free from the wall, free from the rack.

I think the chord cables are quite stiff, and their (and all cables) performance suffers if they touch the wall.

Burndy's are tricky and must be de-stressed. plenty of advice on the forum.

True Blue posted:

I have recently "almost" bought a 552 but held back because my source et al were well behind in the naim hierarchical order. So I borrowed an xps2dr to go for source first on my ndx.

The sound was uninvolving an upgrade which could almost be missed. Too analytical too sterile. Ok powerful. Wide sound stage etc but ultimately uninvolving.

Have this afternoon connected an xps2 over 10 yrs old needing service and my foot has not stopped rocking?

I'm thinking of sending it plus my supercap to be serviced by Darren at class a. Don't feel the need to "upgrade" to dr.

Am I missing something????? Am I deaf???? Or wasn't the loaend xps2dr up to speed?????

 

 

Don't hold back True Blue !  The age old adage of 'Source first' flies right out of the window when the 552 arrives on your rack !

It doesn't matter what the source component is, pure analogue (vinyl, tape, FM) or digital-to-analogue (CD, stream), the 552 will pull music out of it that you've never heard before - and you'll find that's guaranteed by me and by a large number of other forum members.

Oh, and the answer to your question 'Am I missing something' is a resounding 'YES', but you won't realise ths until you experience* a 552.

(* Note - I chose the word 'experience' rather than 'hear')

Analogue music yes all cables free to hang. Free from walls etc. Twin racks brain and brawn. Dedicated mains supply.

The ONLY difference was I gave the burndy a darn good massage on the xps2 before installing as it seemed a little stiff.  Surely that couldn't account for the performance if the demo xpsdr? ??????

rjstaines posted:

True Blue posted:

I have recently "almost" bought a 552 but held back because my source et al were well behind in the naim hierarchical order. So I borrowed an xps2dr to go for source first on my ndx.

The sound was uninvolving an upgrade which could almost be missed. Too analytical too sterile. Ok powerful. Wide sound stage etc but ultimately uninvolving.

Have this afternoon connected an xps2 over 10 yrs old needing service and my foot has not stopped rocking?

I'm thinking of sending it plus my supercap to be serviced by Darren at class a. Don't feel the need to "upgrade" to dr.

Am I missing something????? Am I deaf???? Or wasn't the loaend xps2dr up to speed?????

 

 

Don't hold back True Blue !  The age old adage of 'Source first' flies right out of the window when the 552 arrives on your rack !

It doesn't matter what the source component is, pure analogue (vinyl, tape, FM) or digital-to-analogue (CD, stream), the 552 will pull music out of it that you've never heard before - and you'll find that's guaranteed by me and by a large number of other forum members.

Oh, and the answer to your question 'Am I missing something' is a resounding 'YES', but you won't realise ths until you experience* a 552.

(* Note - I chose the word 'experience' rather than 'hear')

I have nothing else to add.

Have similar system to you 252 250 with an olive Supercap . Original P9 apheta. Running Fact 3s through them prior to that GB1s myself and the jump from from GB1s is huge. 

The GB1s and the stageline will be holding things back a fair bit. The 252 surely deserves more. I would get the xps serviced and maybe leave the dr upgrade. Maybe look at a phono stage in the 1k bracket 

Richard

True Blue posted:

"upgrade" to dr.

...

Am I missing something????? Am I deaf????...

 

 

Trust your ears! I doubt that you are deaf!

About the burndy you destressed

funny behavior with these cables.

if you search there is a post by Erice who was NOT impressed with his nap 500 dr upgrade

until he got the Burndy cryogenic treated which destressed the burndy

saved the day and now he's happy !

True Blue posted:

I have recently "almost" bought a 552 but held back because my source et al were well behind in the naim hierarchical order. So I borrowed an xps2dr to go for source first on my ndx.

The sound was uninvolving an upgrade which could almost be missed. Too analytical too sterile. Ok powerful. Wide sound stage etc but ultimately uninvolving.

Have this afternoon connected an xps2 over 10 yrs old needing service and my foot has not stopped rocking?

I'm thinking of sending it plus my supercap to be serviced by Darren at class a. Don't feel the need to "upgrade" to dr.

Am I missing something????? Am I deaf???? Or wasn't the loaend xps2dr up to speed?????

 

 

In my humble experience feel the DR upgrade on the 252 (i.e. The SuperCapDR) gets the sound closer - albeit not the same of course as a 552DR... however despite the hyperbole you sometimes read here I have found the 552 does not magically transform all systems with some wired alchemistic effect... with a few occasions I have found the 552 can make a system quite forward and clinical.. especially if that system has been tuned for other components.... so do tread carefully... and always decide if you can with your own ears and not overly rely on forum folklore. The NAC is the heart of a Naim system in my opinion and changing it can upset the system synergy. To my ears the 252 and Statement NAC have a kind of class sound, and the 282 and 552 have a kind of class sound...

A Supercapdr might get the 252 closer to a 552dr but but it's still a million miles away.  

I do agree with Simon 282 and 552 have the same verve and PRAT, that's why I am quite happy with my 282

as for 252 and 552 being a million miles away..... all things being equal, well the 552 is better than 252, but it should be right, I mean look at their prices. Why would someone pay for double the price of 252 for 552, if 252 gave 90 % of the performance of 552. There has some be some reason to pay for a 552.

after listening to many Naim systems over the years, I go back the advice of our esteemed moderator Richard Dane, source first.

a 552 is not going to turn an Ipod into a CD555, it doesn't have these kind of mythical, mystical, seductive and magical alchemistic properties.

But yes it is the second best Naim preamp.

A million miles away in this context means nothing.  The 282, 252 and 552 all make fantastic music each is a step up and each have their own nuances.  If it were me I would jump straight from 282 to 552 but that level of investment isn't available.  But I'll say again it's all good.

Regards,

Lindsay

But people buy boxes lower in the range and then make up the cost difference by buying expensive cables because it can be done in steps. I looked at 252/SCDR and then added up the cost of a full  SL loom and I was up there at 552 costs. Bet you 552 and standard cables is better than a maxed out 252/SC/SL. At least that would be the case with my system. I took a big hit and jumped up to the 552 using standard cables and I'm in no hurry to change anything. I'm happy with what I have now. 

I followed the preamp upgrade path from NaitXS to 282/HC to 282/SC to 252/SC to 552/552PS to 552/552PS DR.

Found each step brought improvements in sound quality and, needless to say, am very happy where I wound up!

True Blue posted:

Don't feel the need to "upgrade" to dr.

Interesting - I intermittently contemplate change my XPS2, and now have another reason not to 

True Blues's experience with the XPS reminds me of mine when I went to upgrade the PSU on my nDAC, which at the time was a XP5XS.  Having tried and dismissed the XPS (DR and non-DR) as not improving things enough, I tried the 555PSDR. It gave bags more detail but somehow forced things a bit which meant I didn't enjoy the performance as much as I expected to. An opportunity then arose with a  preowned 555PS (non-DR) and that just worked beautifully.  

Some years later, I have had cause to reverse my opinion and have since DR'ed my 555PS but the equation changed when there were other DR components in my system.  

So my advice would be 'trust your ears' and if the non-DR XPS sounds better to you in your system than the DR version , go with it. Enjoyment is all that matters. 

This is why I have gone back in time rather than forward on the Naim product ladder.  I had an all black set up, and whilst it sounded great it was almost too analytical, then went to Olive, hmmmm I like this forward 'brash' in your face sound, and now i'm on an all Chrome system which I have had for some time and just love  Sometimes less is more!

Strange thing is when I ran 202 / 200 I had a normal hicap. Did the dem with the dr version and bought in then and there the difference was so notable.