What to upgrade next

I recently wrote about the dangers of upgrading without thinking through what it is you want to achieve through the upgrade, where you feel your current system is deficient and what areas of sound quality you wish to improve.

I am the world's worst offender of not going through this thought process but I am going to change my ways.

What is it about the current sound quality you want to improve? You also have two sources, CD and Streaming. Do you want to retain both or are you going to move towards one, presumably Streaming as a single source?

Ideally i want both. For streaming I use my AK380 via bluetooth and my cd5i for cd replay.

As I just bought the nac272 I am wondering whether the 150x is not giving my system the optimal sound.

I have not owned a 272 but have owned the NDX, 202 and 282. When I went from a 200 to 250DR (via a 250.2) using a NDX and 282 the improvement was significant and several important areas. Those on here that have 272, many use with a 250DR and say it is an ideal combo. So going from your 150x to a 250DR should be a very significant improvement.

Try to organise a demo of the 250DR if you can, ideally in your system at home. It should also work well with your Aria speakers. Be aware that bluetooth will not bring you the best quality in streaming. You might want to investigate a NAS (QNAP or Synology) to stream to your 272.

Further down the line (after the power amp upgrade) you might investigate an XPSDR power supply for your 272.

Good luck.

If you like CD a lot, try to audition a CD5X or CD5XS.  I have the X and have always been amazed at how compelling it sounds, compared with the 5i I heard.  Otherwise, a power supply for the 272 would be my next stop.  The 150X has a lot of fans, myself among them.  Don't upgrade the amp on faith in the hierarchy -- it usually works out, but testimony is mixed, at the margin.

Nick

NickSeattle posted:

If you like CD a lot, try to audition a CD5X or CD5XS.  I have the X and have always been amazed at how compelling it sounds, compared with the 5i I heard.  Otherwise, a power supply for the 272 would be my next stop.  The 150X has a lot of fans, myself among them.  Don't upgrade the amp on faith in the hierarchy -- it usually works out, but testimony is mixed, at the margin.

Nick

I read somewhere that Naim can, on request, modify their CD players to work as transports only, with digital out. So if OP doesn't want to sell the cd player on, he can just have it converted to have a digital out, since I assume the DAC in the 272 is better. Otherwise, from reports, adding a PSU to the 272 seems to be like a very worthwhile investment.

rich51080 posted:

I have a system consisting of a CD5i, Nac 272-N, Nap 150x and Focal Aria 236 speakers.

What would you advise the next upgrade to be. I am thinking of the power amp to maybe a 250 Nap.

Any suggestions grateully received,

How many CDs do you have?

I realise you want to keep both sources but you might want to give some thought as to which source you want to give preference to. Of course the 250DR would benefit both sources. 

If you decide to develop streaming as a source, I would definitely recommend the 250DR before the PS for the 272 (XPSDR). In this scenario, you will need to move from Bluetooth to UPnP streaming using a NAS as a server streaming WAV or FLAC files. Presumably you can rip CDs on your PC.

But of course the answer, if you are in doubt, is to home demo both the 250DR and the XPSDR separately and let your ears decide.

Both the CD5i and Bluetooth streaming are woefully inadequate for a 272. A 250 will only make it worse. Put the music on a nas. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

....Bluetooth streaming are woefully inadequate for a 272.

It is, but that's a £3000 portable player - with a decent connection, it might be a very respectable source.

The music collection. The Music collection. The music collection. Then we can talk.

ChrisSU posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

....Bluetooth streaming are woefully inadequate for a 272.

It is, but that's a £3000 portable player - with a decent connection, it might be a very respectable source.

A bluetooth connection is not a respectable source for a 272. How else can it be connected?

not sure if Focal Aria is the best choice here... the focal electra range is considerably better.

nigelb posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

....Bluetooth streaming are woefully inadequate for a 272.

It is, but that's a £3000 portable player - with a decent connection, it might be a very respectable source.

A bluetooth connection is not a respectable source for a 272. How else can it be connected?

I believe it has a combined 3.5mm analogue/optical out, so there are two options, allowing use of either the A&K DAC, or the 272.

analogmusic posted:

not sure if Focal Aria is the best choice here... the focal electra range is considerably better.

You would assume that to be the case as there is significant price disparity.

Which of the two ranges have you auditioned?

rich51080 posted:

I have a system consisting of a CD5i, Nac 272-N, Nap 150x and Focal Aria 236 speakers.

What would you advise the next upgrade to be. I am thinking of the power amp to maybe a 250 Nap.

Any suggestions grateully received,

Upgrading the 5i cd player will be much better than changing poweramp unless speakers are a pig to drive

Even then the poweramp will just reveal more of the budget frontend

Thanks for the replies.

I demoed the 236's against the Dali Rubicon 6 and I found the Focal Aria 236 to be of my taste. 

I got rid of my previous speakers (B&W 705's).

How would i connect the AK380 to my N272?

The Line out is already in use with my Lehmann Headphone amplifier. Would it get connected from the 3.5mm jack to an analogue input?

Personally I think a NAS drive would be the best upgrade. CDs ripped to that should sound better streamed over ethernet to the 272 than the CD5i. pretty inexpensive too

100% Jedt,  it makes no sense to buy a 272 & not partner it with a NAS.    Forget the CD player,  sell it & buy a pukka NAS (QNAP or Synology) with a pair of WD Red HDD's & you will even have money left over.  Rip what CD's you have to the NAS & then move on to collecting 24-bit high res downloads.   Then you can copy/share the rips & downloads on the NAS with your A&K.    

HH, JedT and Mike-B have all said it...

Best advice... get a NAS drive.

Rip your CDs to the NAS and play them using the NAC-N272.
Several Internet streaming services can also accessed through the 272 (and a wired Ethernet connection is far more stable than using a wireless connection to the AK380).

(If you really insist on using the AK380 with your main HiFi, you can connect the Headphone output (3.5mm jack) to the 272.  You can either do this with an analogue 3.5mm jack to DIN cable or with an miniToslink to Toslink optical digital cable to one of the optical digital inputs on the 272.)

Do this before even thinking about upgrading the power amp.

if you have bought 272, AK380 has no meaning for hope setup, you need a NAS for 272...

but if you prefer to use another DAC for 272 AK380 can be a very good transportor for the DAC..

but all these are very pick choices.... just get a NAS and enjoy your 272 from it together with Tidal...

250DR will be an excellent upgrade.

Or try a Tidal hifi subscription. I suppose you still can get one month for free. If that is better than standard files on the AK played over bluetooth, I understand this is the way you are listening now,  the nas route is the way to go.

Claus

I have no idea what a nas drive is and what it does.

How do you set it up and how do you use it.

What connection do you use to connect to the 272.

I currently using my AK380 plugged in to the analague output streaming hi res files.

how about getting an external harddrive and connecting to the usb device on the front of the machine.

Finally surely a AK380 would be a better source than cd5i and Nas drive?

I'm amazed you ask the question.  NAS = Network Attached Storage.  Its a box that holds one or more HDD (hard disk drives) that you can upload your CD rips & purchased downloads.   The NAS is connected with ethernet cable to the broadband router (or a network switch) another ethernet connects from the router to your 272 'Network' input.   The NAS will have one or other UPnP media server software installed & that will enable you to browse the albums stored on the NAS with an iPad/Phone or Android device,  to view the album & its art & select & play the album (or a sting of them) on the 272.  

This is my NAS.  it has 2TB capacity & is about 25% full with 1000 albums,  16bit & 24bit,  WAV & DSD file formats. Its only 165 X 108 X 233.2 mm

This a sample of the views I (you) get on my (your) iPad control point

Sell the CD player & rip all the CD's onto the NAS

The A&K is a mobile headphone player - a nice one but its not a NAS & it does not have the UPnP control point