Upgrade to 552 - NDX 2

ChrisBerlin posted:

The 552 is a wonderful black box - ok, two boxes! I heard it with my old 250 and with my 300 in the current setup. It was amazing how much control the 552 brings in the system with the 250. The round sound of 250 was blown away. And with the 300 it sounds impressive. Now I know what my turntable and the Superline is capable of. When listening to my vinyls I have had a permanent grin on my face...

The NDX 2 with XPS DR and the 555 were demonstrated at my dealer. I have also listened to the 252 with Supercap in comparision to the 552. It felt like there was a curtain lifted when we changed to the 552. The difference between NDX 2 and 555 was also amazing, but the invest in the 555 with a new power supply is a bit to big. But the 552 is a wonderful end of the ladder - at least for the preamp.

Hi. The 552 is a superb bit of kit... the 252 is now slouch either.. but a somewhat different in presentation. The beauty I found with the 252 and continue to find with the 552 is that they make the best of your source components, and allow their traits to be exploited for different media/recordings/masters ... with a 552 you definitely will be missing out if you try and limit your self to one source... just as well you have those inputs... the 552 is for the true enthusiast. I use three sources regularly on my 552.

In the Naim world, I think many of us feel the most important component and the heart of the system  is the NAC, and it brings everything along with it.. So perhaps you will enjoy your 552 with your various sources ... and what ever NAP you decide to use.. you won’t be disappointed.. I certainly am not. But given the choice i say invest in the NAC first, then speakers, then source components, then amp...

A local friend had 272/300dr/555dr. He has upgraded to 552 and a used nds and is extremely happy with the (rather expensive) results

After the impressions of the demo I think that I will listen to vinyl much more often. It sounds superb, like I never heard it before. Now I understand why it is said, that you have to go for the source and NAC first and then you should go for the power amp. The C in NAC clearly stands for control! And the 552 would control every power amp.

I made a big jump from Supernait 2, with Hi Cap DR (for the primary source of a higher level LP12) to a 552 pre and 250 DR. This enabled me to keep the Naim box count low, but with superb control. This system has been wonderful and leaves me with feeling very fortunate and satisfied. I made the move after hearing the contrary opinions regarding the 252. Plus I managed to get the 552 as second hand and DR, so not unreasonable and future proofing. Good luck in your decision making

I did similar jumped from 272 to 552.... omg ... but best upgrade...as all sources have been optomised....