Power Supply Upgrades to Nac n272

I have to agree with the box count issue mentioned by Nigel. Whilst I don't have a space problem currently, it doesn't feel right that in my system it should require seven boxes of electronics to play a ripped CD through a passive system, not including speakers in that number. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

... At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what is better or best; what matters is that the owner is happy with it and it meets their needs, whatever they may be. 

Amen to that.

Antonio1 posted:

I agree with you, far from underrating the product.

It's a good one, I would have bought it and saved myself some money if it had proved the place to hang my hat. Unfortunately hasn't, as I've usually found that what I'm after always directs me to separates.

Mind you I don't rate much the SN an many other products.

What I mean is that the all-in box, money wise, could give much more if funds where directed towards, say ,one fraim base, , Core, PL ethernet and cabling, router, you know the usual stuff to help any Naim or else sound at its best in a much more balanced way. Not sure if your very findings 272 vs282 may not been compromised by set-up issues ,though.

But if people tend to rate 555 PSUs to be the ideal path, sorry I can't be blamed to tell the truth, even if its my own.

Replace 'truth' with 'opinion' and very few people would take issue with you.

I'd rather call them facts, and sorry I'm not looking for approval.

I have an ND5XS/282/250 and 3rd party half width PSU so 3 boxes as the PSU cannot readily be seen the same as 272/XPS/250 so talk of box count being a factor in choosing a 272 based sytsem over a more traditional 282 based one really makes no sense as does HH comment that some 282 owners are scared of 272's, I'm scared of big spiders my Mrs but surprisingly enough not a pre amp/streamer/dac although I did hear a Rotel amp once that made me wince a bit.

ryder. posted:

...

Firstly, the 272 costs £3,469 while the 555 PS costs £6,530. Personally my opinion is the 555 PS is a mismatch to the 272 in terms of cost, though sound-wise it can be an improvement OR a mismatch(downgrade) as you have found. The XPS DR costs £3,820 and this should rightfully be the ideal or optimised partner for the 272 on both cost and sound aspects. The XPS DR is already costlier than the 272 itself so it is actually good enough if not an overkill for the 272.

...

I found a different solution to this....       I bought a second-hand 555PSDR for £4000; so, although more expensive, not excessively so.

In the context of my system it works extremely well.

intothevoid posted:

Emre posted:

And 555 makes you ready for imaginary 372

We can only hope 

Most probaly without an internal PS....

Bob the Builder posted:

I have an ND5XS/282/250 and 3rd party half width PSU so 3 boxes as the PSU cannot readily be seen the same as 272/XPS/250 so talk of box count being a factor in choosing a 272 based sytsem over a more traditional 282 based one really makes no sense as does HH comment that some 282 owners are scared of 272's, I'm scared of big spiders my Mrs but surprisingly enough not a pre amp/streamer/dac although I did hear a Rotel amp once that made me wince a bit.

There is a difference between scared and slightly threatened, which is the phrase I used. Interestingly your post displays exactly what I was referring to in the slightly threatened description. I strongly suspect that a bare 272 would better an NS5xs/282, merely because the streamer is better. And all for £3,000 less too. 

Emre posted:

intothevoid posted:

Emre posted:

And 555 makes you ready for imaginary 372

We can only hope 

Most probaly without an internal PS....

Wouldn't that make it an "ND-N572", if you keep to the established Naim numbering conventions?

Huge posted:

ryder. posted:

...

Firstly, the 272 costs £3,469 while the 555 PS costs £6,530. Personally my opinion is the 555 PS is a mismatch to the 272 in terms of cost, though sound-wise it can be an improvement OR a mismatch(downgrade) as you have found. The XPS DR costs £3,820 and this should rightfully be the ideal or optimised partner for the 272 on both cost and sound aspects. The XPS DR is already costlier than the 272 itself so it is actually good enough if not an overkill for the 272.

...

I found a different solution to this....       I bought a second-hand 555PSDR for £4000; so, although more expensive, not excessively so.

In the context of my system it works extremely well.

I bought a 2008 DR upgraded 555ps with lovely anodised case for just over 3k. I would find it hard to upgrade a 272 with a full priced 555ps. I'm using it with an NDS which I also bought second hand.

Hungryhalibut posted:

Bob the Builder posted:

I have an ND5XS/282/250 and 3rd party half width PSU so 3 boxes as the PSU cannot readily be seen the same as 272/XPS/250 so talk of box count being a factor in choosing a 272 based sytsem over a more traditional 282 based one really makes no sense as does HH comment that some 282 owners are scared of 272's, I'm scared of big spiders my Mrs but surprisingly enough not a pre amp/streamer/dac although I did hear a Rotel amp once that made me wince a bit.

There is a difference between scared and slightly threatened, which is the phrase I used. Interestingly your post displays exactly what I was referring to in the slightly threatened description. I strongly suspect that a bare 272 would better an NS5xs/282, merely because the streamer is better. And all for £3,000 less too. 

You might be right if I hadn't added a C. H. O. R. D.  D A C !!!!!!!!! ( You walked right into that one HH).

Also I traded in my 202 (that I paid 600 pounds for) plus 850 pounds for my 282  so 1450 and I paid 1100 for my ND5XS

total 2550 and then added a Chord 2Qute for 700 so a total of 3250 still less than a 272 I believe.

Bob, you're not doing a 'like for like' price comparison there.

Huge posted:

I found a different solution to this....       I bought a second-hand 555PSDR for £4000; so, although more expensive, not excessively so.

In the context of my system it works extremely well.

Nice to know. Have you managed to compare the 555 DR to the XPS DR? I suspect the 555 DR has brought a massive transformation to the 272 considering the price?

I wonder how the 282 suddenly came into the picture and ended up being compared to the 272 when the earlier discussion was focused on the XPS DR and 555 DR on the 272.

I have to say I'm very, very happy for all satisfied 272 owners out there and wish them all many happy listening hours well done.

Bob the Builder posted:

I have to say I'm very, very happy for all satisfied 272 owners out there and wish them all many happy listening hours well done.

Thanking you kindly Bob

ryder. posted:

Huge posted:

I found a different solution to this....       I bought a second-hand 555PSDR for £4000; so, although more expensive, not excessively so.

In the context of my system it works extremely well.

Nice to know. Have you managed to compare the 555 DR to the XPS DR? I suspect the 555 DR has brought a massive transformation to the 272 considering the price?

No, but I did compare it to another power supply unit.  The 555 won hands down - no contest!

Huge posted:

Emre posted:

intothevoid posted:

Emre posted:

And 555 makes you ready for imaginary 372

We can only hope 

Most probaly without an internal PS....

Wouldn't that make it an "ND-N572", if you keep to the established Naim numbering conventions?

Yes it might be but i susupect there will be one 372 to match the NDS with same price point as NDS and some say a 572 to match new flagship streamer at the price point of cd555

So i said it the nd555 is coming to near your statement, so sell your double 555psed nds fast! You may keep both the ps for nd555...

272/xps/250 similar to 282/ndx

372/555/300 similar to 252/nds

572/555 or 2*555/500 similar to  552/cd555

I have an uncle working for Focal... or just too much afternoon beer

The comparison between the XPS DR and the 555PSDR on the last page of this review is quite informative.

https://www.naimaudio.com/site...im%20NAC-N%20272.pdf

Whilst they only mention XPS and 555PS I would have thought they used the current versions, so as the date is 2015 both would be DR versions.

ryder. posted:

I wonder how the 282 suddenly came into the picture and ended up being compared to the 272 when the earlier discussion was focused on the XPS DR and 555 DR on the 272.

Because Max B mentioned it. 

Bob the Builder posted:

I have to say I'm very, very happy for all satisfied 272 owners out there and wish them all many happy listening hours well done.

Thanks Bob much appreciated, happy 272/XP5XS/100 Proac Tablette 10 owner here.

Hungryhalibut posted:

Massimo, my friend, I think you are perhaps being a little too cynical. Adding a power supply to the 272 is no different to adding one to a CDX2, NDX or indeed the Supernait, as Joe mentioned above. I would never say that a 272 is better than a 282, but I have heard the NDX/282/Hicap and my 272/XPS and couldn't say which is better. People with 282s in some cases seem slightly threatened by the 272, which simply 'cannot' be as good or nearly as good. Then there are people like Antonio who say that any separate steamer and preamp will by definition be better, even when listening shows this not to be the case.

It's important to remember that the 272 is not simply a preamp, it's also a streamer and radio. That it manages to sound is good as it does, for what it costs, is quite extraordinary, and adding a power supply is entirely optional. The fact that you can get such a good sound from two, or three, boxes is surely something to be celebrated. People can have six if they wish to have ultimate sound quality and/or to impress their friends. 

That said, even I am a little bored with 272 threads, and was only moved to contribute to this one by your comment, which is unfair to 272 owners. 

Nigel, my friend, I was only joking a little. You yourself agree that threads on the 272/250DR have become way too many - and yet, you must also admit that you contributed largely to this abundance. To say that I am being unfair to 272 owners is a little unfair in turn, because it is obvious that I have no reason to mock anyone's choices. Yes, a 272 is not different from a CDX2; and yet, the CDX2 is only a CD player. A 272 is a sort of miracle machine, and the only reason why I have sometimes being mildly sarcastic about it is that although, as you punctuate, it is also a radio and a streamer and a DAC, it is called a preamp instead of a streamer with a gain control.

There has been a time when preamps were a sacred thing, inside which nothing but the most pure and dedicated circuits had a right to take place. There has also been a time when Naim declared that the first way to fight jitter was to keep DAC and analogue circuits as close to each other as possible. Things change, ideas are turned inside out, but one thing remains: faith. Naim is always right.

All this doesn't contradict what you have written in the second paragraph of your post; but I am not being cynical: I wrote posts of the same tone when I read of people who buy a CDX2.2 then add an XPS – making the internal PSU redundant – then buy a DAC – making the internal DAC (perfectly identical to the basic chip of the N-Dac and of the CD5x) also redundant, then buy a 555PS and ask here if it is more sensible to use a £6500 PSU to power a laser unit or an external DAC using the same chip as the one made redundant by the purchase of the external £2600 DAC.

When I come here, I try to keep my mental feet on the ground. It's not always easy.

Friendly,

Max

I bought my 272/250 on 30 June 2015, and still find it as delightful today as I did then. It was always the plan to add an XPS, which I did about three months later, followed by SL cables in early 2016. Since then it's just sat in the corner doing its thing. For me, as something of a serial,box swapper in the past, this something about how musically satisfying it is. New owners will hopefully be as excited with their new boxes as I was when I got mine, so of course they will enthuse about it. Perhaps it's time for you to get one! Says he, hiding behind the sofa for fear of flying power supplies from Casa Max. 

I agree - when your system is working and sounding as it should - the temptation to box swap and upgrade reduces if not completely dissipates.. you also enjoy your music / audio without thinking that sounds analogue, or that sounds digital etc etc