272 and PS
Posted by: lhau on 03 September 2018
Hi, I'm interested to know what an external PS does to 272.
It appears the 272 takes source PSU of XPS/555PS instead of the series for PreAmp like the various Caps.
Does that mean the PSU are onl6 for enhancing the streamer/DAC sections only while the PreAmp is still taking power from NAP and not affected?
Thanks
The external PSU on a 272 powers the entire unit. You remove the mains lead and just connect it via the Burndy cable to the PSU.
ChrisSU posted:The external PSU on a 272 powers the entire unit. You remove the mains lead and just connect it via the Burndy cable to the PSU.
Thanks. But how about the PreAmp, does it still draw power from the Power Amp like 202 does ?
No, it is all powered from the external PSU. Otherwise you would be limited in which power amps you could use, as from the current range, only the 200 can supply a preamp.
ChrisSU posted:No, it is all powered from the external PSU. Otherwise you would be limited in which power amps you could use, as from the current range, only the 200 can supply a preamp.
Thanks!
I had a 272/XPS DR and I will tell you the XPS DR upgrade is not a subtle upgrade. Much better separation of instruments, better dynamics and more 3 dimensional sound stage. I highly recommend the upgrade if you can afford it. However, the 555 is not as good as the XPS DR for the 272. Don't ask me why, it's just that I tried both and with the 272 the XPS DR was a better match of components. However, the nDac/555 DR absolutely smoked the 272 and the NDS when compared side by side.
It’s simply wrong to say categorically that the 555 is not as good as the XPS with the 272. You may prefer it with the XPS, but that’s entirely different. I found the 272 was hugely better with the 555DR compared to the XPSDR, as have a good few others.
There does appear to be a wonderful synergy with the 272 and XPS DR (especially when partnered with the NAP250.2 DR) but as HH says, YMMV
I'm with HH. In my opinion, the 272 / 555DR is an exceptional combination worthy of being accompanied by a 300DR.
See also the bottom left paragraph of the last page of this:
https://www.naimaudio.com/site...im%20NAC-N%20272.pdf
I just replaced my XPS DR for a 555 PS DR on my 272. Everything is better: the timbre of the instruments is more real, voices are more natural, sound stage improves, imaging is much much better, the timing... No contest. Now, I would argue that the big start is the 300DR. My conclusion is that the XPS DR was holding back the performance of the 300. As the 555 DR improves the performance of the 272, that increase, when transferred to the 300, works magic.
This weekend make me think a lot about: when good is good enough. The combination 272+555DR+300DR+Sopra 2 is just fantastic.