NAP 200DR to 250DR upgrade.....could this be a blimey moment?
Posted by: Atherton on 13 December 2017
This is the second phase of my upgrade plan, the first having been to add an XPS-DR to my 272. That upgrade was nothing less than spectacular. So anyone out there who is still unsure of the value of adding an external psu to a streamer, I can tell you quite categorically it makes for a huge improvement.
My 200DR is now on its way to its new owner, and I await delivery of an ex-demo 250DR...hopefully tomorrow. I felt that my PMC Twenty 23's needed a bit more ooomph behind them, and so I'm hoping the addition of the 250DR will balance the system perfectly.
Will the 250DR deliver a similar step change that I experienced with the XPS-DR upgrade? I am itching to find out!
Given the DR in your 200 was redundant with the 272, and my experience of 20.23 ownership, I’d hazzard a ‘blimey’ moment could be heading your way.
G
Not that I have any experience, but I'm eager to see the comments as I currently own a NAP200DR :-)
Blimey can be an expression of alarm. Is that an alarm to warn us of something ? or to wake us up to something ?
Blimey is probably an abbreviation of " Bloody limey". An expression given to English sailers as they set foot on foreign lands
TOBYJUG posted:Blimey can be an expression of alarm. Is that an alarm to warn us of something ? or to wake us up to something ?
"Blimey" seems to have taken on a special meaning in this forum, and it's all down to [@mention:4804681823084713]. If this thread attracts 1% of the interest he generated with his blimey thread, then I will be honoured.
Yes the 200 is very average in my opinion, whereas the 250 is a very good amp.
Paul Downs posted:Yes the 200 is very average in my opinion, whereas the 250 is a very good amp.
The 200 is way above average but the 250DR is a very significant step further on again.
Regards,
Lindsay
Blimey actually comes from 'Blind me' just to put the record straight!
Paul Downs posted:Yes the 200 is very average in my opinion, whereas the 250 is a very good amp.
This is what I've heard.
tonybabawalla posted:Blimey actually comes from 'Blind me' just to put the record straight!
" Bloody Limey". I prefer my version. Although not expressing a politically correct version, but how PC should one be when talking about hifi ?
I went from a 200 (non DR) to a 250.2 to a 250DR using 282 and those two steps from memory would constitute a Blimey moment. Just going from 250.2 to 250DR was Blimey enough.
You will be in for a treat I recon.
You do realise that having used the B word, this thread will either go viral or get so weirdly diverted that Richard will end up moving it to the Padded Cell.
You have been warned.
nigelb posted:I went from a 200 (non DR) to a 250.2 to a 250DR using 282 and those two steps from memory would constitute a Blimey moment. Just going from 250.2 to 250DR was Blimey enough.
You will be in for a treat I recon.
You do realise that having used the B word, this thread will either go viral or get so weirdly diverted that Richard will end up moving it to the Padded Cell.
You have been warned.
Thanks....either destiny is fine by me, But I live in hope it will be the former.
TOBYJUG posted:tonybabawalla posted:Blimey actually comes from 'Blind me' just to put the record straight!
" Bloody Limey". I prefer my version. Although not expressing a politically correct version, but how PC should one be when talking about hifi ?
I'm with Tony on the origins of the word.
It comes from gorblimey - old english slang 'god blind me' in modern slang its an expression of surprise alarm excitement
TOBYJUG posted:tonybabawalla posted:Blimey actually comes from 'Blind me' just to put the record straight!
" Bloody Limey". I prefer my version. Although not expressing a politically correct version, but how PC should one be when talking about hifi ?
"To put the record straight" - the opposite of 'politically correct' is not 'inaccurate'.
I don't know about blimey but I would say that the 250DR I'm listening to right now is the dogs B's.
The Strat (Fender) posted:Paul Downs posted:Yes the 200 is very average in my opinion, whereas the 250 is a very good amp.
The 200 is way above average but the 250DR is a very significant step further on again.
Regards,
Lindsay
In your opinion maybe, but certainly not mine. The 250 on the other hand is a fine amplifier.
You would be pleased. The NAP 200 is fleet-footed and the NAP 250 DR adds more of everything from the bass to refinement and sophistication whilst retaining the speed of the NAP 200. The NAP 200 sounds fine but the 250 DR rendered it inadequate particularly in the bass department.
This thread is of interest to me as I have a bare 272 and a 200DR. I have been wondering if my next step should be the PS or 250DR. I think from previous threads it would be the PS first, however if I go for the 250Dr first would this give a bigger lift. The PS would then be the Icing on the cake? Let us know how you get on Atherton.
It's arrived!
Slim68 posted:This thread is of interest to me as I have a bare 272 and a 200DR. I have been wondering if my next step should be the PS or 250DR. I think from previous threads it would be the PS first, however if I go for the 250Dr first would this give a bigger lift. The PS would then be the Icing on the cake? Let us know how you get on Atherton.
Indeed interesting ... but I can also imagine that the speaker used might also impact the result: if these are difficult to drive, a 250DR might make more sense ...
Klout10 posted:Slim68 posted:This thread is of interest to me as I have a bare 272 and a 200DR. I have been wondering if my next step should be the PS or 250DR. I think from previous threads it would be the PS first, however if I go for the 250Dr first would this give a bigger lift. The PS would then be the Icing on the cake? Let us know how you get on Atherton.
Indeed interesting ... but I can also imagine that the speaker used might also impact the result: if these are difficult to drive, a 250DR might make more sense ...
I am using Ovator S-400's, they seem happy with the 200DR. I will be looking to take the next step early in the New Year.
It works!
Very early days, as it's been in a cold warehouse overnight and will probably take several hours to get up to working temperature.
But already I can hear what I was missing with the 200DR...BASS!
It's a massive relief, as I was worried it might be a shortcoming of the PMC's. But it does indeed seem they need a bit more oomph to drive them, as several have commented on this forum in the past.
I'll leave it running whilst I pop out for a celebratory pint to give it time to warm up,
Atherton posted:It works!
Very early days, as it's been in a cold warehouse overnight and will probably take several hours to get up to working temperature.
But already I can hear what I was missing with the 200DR...BASS!
It's a massive relief, as I was worried it might be a shortcoming of the PMC's. But it does indeed seem they need a bit more oomph to drive them, as several have commented on this forum in the past.
I'll leave it running whilst I pop out for a celebratory pint to give it time to warm up,
Several hours means several pints ime...
Enjoy!
G
Paul Downs posted:The Strat (Fender) posted:Paul Downs posted:Yes the 200 is very average in my opinion, whereas the 250 is a very good amp.
The 200 is way above average but the 250DR is a very significant step further on again.
Regards,
Lindsay
In your opinion maybe, but certainly not mine. The 250 on the other hand is a fine amplifier.
Well okay. Prior to the 250DR I had a 200 for 10 years - I loved it.
Right, I've had a couple of hours listening and report back as follows:
Initially, despite the welcome addition of a fuller bass, I confess I was a tad under-whelmed. Whilst there was a noticeable improvement over the 200DR across the board, it was quite subtle and certainly not the step change my expectations had led me to believe I was in store for.
But then, the more I listened, the more I started to appreciate the improvements. The 250DR just seems to deliver 'more of everything'. I am not a hifi critic, so I have real difficulty putting in to words just how or why it sounds better. But it really does. Certainly the bass is clearer and more detailed.
The whole system is still warming up, as it was switched off a couple of days ago to allow the removal of the 200DR. So perhaps once it's properly bedded in, the improvements will become easier to define.
At this stage, I would say the addition of the XPS-DR to the 272 + 200DR resulted in a more dramatic impact on sound quality than upgrading the amp. But then the XPS-DR took quite a while to settle in fully, so perhaps I'm being a little hasty.
I'll be listening to a wide range of genres this evening, and am hopeful that I will then be in a position to officially declare the upgrade a 'blimey' moment...