Happy 202 / HiCap / 200 users

yes   quite satisfied

My plan (as i recall) was to use the 200/202 as a starter and then work my way up. Not sure how far,but statement and (probably) 552 did not exist. Life threw me a curve,and forced retirement and reduced income made me hold on much longer to the original system. I decided that I still wanted to upgrade and recently added 250dr and more importantly hi-capdr and 282. I can clearly hear  (to me ) a large improvement. I have to admit,with the large improvement when the 282 was added,I am a bit sorry I did not change sooner or start at that level. TBH,my dealer was not a fan of 200/202 system, and did not even have it on display (if i recall correctly).

Shaun McCullagh posted:

Hi,

So I’ve had this modest  setup for a few years and this evening I have to say it just sounds fine to my ears.

Are there any other satisfied. 200/HiCap/200 users? Or must we aspire to 252/SuperCap/300?

Tongue in cheek tho ;-)

Regards

 

Shaun

I’m at the same price point/models on amps/PS but sank a lot in to source (CD5XS + DAC) and never seriously thought about the next level up. HCDR is a very cost effective upgrade for you, my HC had the retro-fit DR upgrade when NAIM first came out with DR kit, 2012 I think and well worth it 

A napsc would be a good idea. It makes the 202/200 sound much more natural. 

I assumed he had that, thought everyone with this setup has one 

Shaun,

The existence of more expensive configurations doesn’t make your system irrelevant or modest.  It’s excellent in itself.  

Regards,

Lindsay 

The average person would struggle to comprehend spending £ 1000 on a CD player let alone the dizzy sums involved higher up so yes, 200/202 not that modest !

Fwiw, I never had a napsc on my 200/202 and it sounded fine. Again circumstance has made it increasingly difficult to buy before hearing/seeing, but with enough studying up and info,I have faired well. The 200/202 is a well rounded and perfectly good system. Nothing wrong with making it a final destination. I (as I said) always planned to upgrade. With naim, improvements can safely be made by going further up the ladder. If you are happy with 200/202, just spend some saved $ and time on more music.

hungryhalibut posted:

A napsc would be a good idea. It makes the 202/200 sound much more natural. 

Great suggestion by HH. Big benefit for not much cost. What I love about Naim is balanced systems like this give great musical enjoyment.

Shaun McCullagh posted:

Hi,

So I’ve had this modest  setup for a few years and this evening I have to say it just sounds fine to my ears.

Are there any other satisfied. 200/HiCap/200 users? Or must we aspire to 252/SuperCap/300?

Tongue in cheek tho ;-)

Regards

 

Shaun

Shaun - i had a 202/200 for a long time - as others have advised NAPSC would be an upgrade

the main thing is you are happy! thats the main goal to be honest!

202/200 has a lovely balance

Loved my 202/200 but a Napsc is a must. I now own a 102/180/HC/Napsc the Olive equivalent to the 202/200 and have no desire to go back up the upgrade path. 

Yes I expect an 82 or a 52 would sound excellent too but I'm happy with what I have because I have learnt that some source material will never sound good no matter what you play it through for instance last night I opened a sealed copy of the Bernie Grundman remaster of Pink Floyd's The Wall and played it for friends that are staying for the weekend who are big Floyd fans and it just sounded lifeless.

Maybe I'm bored, but I thought this thread was going somewhere.  Oh, well.

Maybe you are just pi**ed, it is a truly memorable thread 

  you nailed it.

Had my 200/202 for a decade now. Balance with a HC2DR, NAPSC, CDX2 and XPS2 suits the whole family. The balance is the thing. Putting aside my frequently expressed dislike of the runt 282 I can’t see where I’d go without some serious unbalancing and budget wise I can’t justify spending more on 1 box only to have the thing unbalanced and need to spend on other boxes. Would love to move to a 300 but... well as per the above really. 

Agree with what has already  been said, the napsc and dr to the hiCap are upgrades well worth doing. A very well balanced system. I could have happily stayed there and saved myself loads of $$$$$, however, This forum and upgradeitis got the better of me.

what speakers are working well with the 202/200?

I'm having nice results with kudos c20, so easy to drive

Speakers are nothing to do with 202/200 or 552/500 it’s entirely down to space/budget/personal taste 

Tiger Woods is 8 under.

8 feet under ? Great! All golfers and European championships competitors 8 feet under? Great!!

I've come to a point that I no longer care for the equipment. I now derive enjoyment from both lesser and better sounding systems.

I enjoyed the 202/200 for many years and often thought about what the 282/250 would bring. After 7 years living with the 202/200, I eventually upgraded to the 282/250 after reading all the advice and words of encouragement from forum members here. The 282/250 did sound better than the 202/200 and I was surely happy with the change but as others have mentioned here, the 282/250 did not make the 202/200 sound broken. The 202/200 still sounds fine in its own right. 

Not exactly comparing the quality between the 202/200 and 282/250, I recently discovered (again) that the room and setup gave the biggest impact to the sound, not the electronics. My 282/250 are now boxed up waiting to be relocated, and the 202/200 are now set up in a much smaller room driving the Dali Mentor Menuet. To be frank, the system now sounds completely different than before. The leanness of the 202/200 is now replaced with a full bodied sound as the system now sounds more like the 282/250. The room acoustics really changed the whole presentation, not only the amps but the speakers as well. On one particular track by Bob James, the presentation of the piece is completely different, I'm not sure how. When I listened to the track, I was thinking this is now how the details were presented like before when the system was in the old room. I'm not sure how the 282/250 will compare but one thing is for certain - the 202/200 is capable of sounding great in the right environment with the right speakers. 

A note is I bought the 202/200 used and the amps have not been serviced for almost 15 years, I think, and it still sounded quite stellar.

In summary, I'm sure the 282/250 will sound different (or better) but I do believe that one can always stop at the 202/200's level if it gives great satisfaction to the listener. You will surely attain a different or better sound with the 282/250, 252/300 or 552/500 or even other non-Naim amps but you've got to stop somewhere isn't it? If one finds satisfaction in going up the upgrade ladder then that's a different story. 

BTW I still love the 282/250/Hicap DR as it's now my reference level gear. Just stopping by to say that the 202/200 can sound fine in the right circumstances, and you don't need to upgrade if you are happy with the system. 

Delighted 202/200 user here, with NAPSC and HCDR driving Kudos C2's. Shame it's a four box amp, but the sound is fast, open, detailed and exciting. Love it, but am moving soon so will see what sound the new room gives me

I have 202/200 with NAPSC and HCDR driving PMC twenty.24's. I've spent 25 years getting to this point so really appreciate what I have. Unfortunately I have a mate who once had similar set-up. He added the 282 and it was a significant improvement. I can't quite get that out of my head and will probably end up going for a used 282 at some point. 

Diggerbj posted:

I have 202/200 with NAPSC and HCDR driving PMC twenty.24's. I've spent 25 years getting to this point so really appreciate what I have. Unfortunately I have a mate who once had similar set-up. He added the 282 and it was a significant improvement. I can't quite get that out of my head and will probably end up going for a used 282 at some point. 

At that stage, you' ll b ecaught by the upgraditis bug, you will crave for a 250DR and  a never ending list . (my personal experience) If you're happy with your system keep your 202 for a while longer. Personally i could live well happy  with my secondary system DVD5/XS/nSat.

Regards

Roberto