nac52 with supercap DR Thoughts?

The 52/SC/250 was the best system I have personally heard and can't imagine a DR SC would make a negative impact and even if it did swap it for an Olive SC and you will have a fantastic system.

This is a tough one.

There is nothing that will not benefit from the DR output on Naim power supplies. However, not everyone likes the DR versions over the non DR versions. Such opinions are rare but if you search for them they can be found. My assumption would be that since you already have a SCDR and are happy with it, then you will like the results on a 52.

Then comes the second issue. Is a 52 of unknown service status better or worse than a current 282? And if it is, would you actually think so? Just like there are people who prefer the 282 over a 252, the same discussion used to happen at the 82/52 level. 

Based on that, it is hard to know whether you will like the result. I am sure there are some very passionate opinions one way or the other about this, but I would find this impossible to determine without trying it out first in my system.

Different looks would bother me.

However the DR PS effect works for Olive Pre-amps too, I'm not so sure about mixing sound styles.

Doug, do you know the age and history of the NAC52?  If it's an early one I would advise caution.  The logic control system is quite different and requires its own dedicated remote control.

Find out what boards are fitted, and if a later one, what POTS board it has.

Does it have a grey or later (and better) black Burndy?

Check the button labels.  The NAC52 came with a sheet of labels which meant a user could re-label the source selection buttons. Most didn't, but some did...

Take a look here at the FAQ:

https://forums.naimaudio.com/t...ficant-changes-by-sn

Hi Doug,

There's a thread called 52 Upgrade from 2017 that's relevant for you.  My comments at the time:

"I tried a Supercap DR on my 52 and found that music notes started and stopped more crisply and clearly than when using my olive Supercap. However, the timing went off a bit, so I found the music to be less engaging. Better Hifi but less music. So the olive Supercap has stayed.

Others prefer the SCDR, so try before you buy."

Otherwise, do follow Richard's advice above.

Hope this helps, FT

I have a fully upgraded 52 and switched from olive Scap to DR this year.

No hesitation in saying it made a wholly positive difference. Everything sounded that bit cleaner, and with a touch more detail maybe. I did not think it lost any of the pace and energy that for me marks out the olive system components at their best.

I think a good 52 is a big step up from an 82 although I have never heard or owned an 82. My experience is you'll still enjoy that benefit with a DR PS. I have bought a s/h 252 now but a fault with my NDS that is taking a while to resolve means I have not had the opportunity to really do the 252 vs 52 comparison, however in the first few days I had it before it all went wrong it was far from convincing me. I would not be surprised if I ended up sticking to the 52.

A good 52 is a very, very fine thing

Bruce

I went from 82/SC to 52/SC (all olive) - there was an improvement but it was not as significant as I had hoped for. The 52 was used but from a reputable dealer. I got a much much bigger improvement moving from 250 to a pair of 135s (again all olive). It may be that the 82 was particularly good as it was massively better than a 62 and I was hoping for the same transformation going to the 52.

Having said that I was also underwhelmed by going from CD5/HiCap to CDS2/XPS - again better but not as much as I had hoped - maybe I've got cloth ears! I can tell the difference betwen FLAC and WAV, and between standard mains lead and Powerline so I'm not stone deaf thankfully.

It's your money, so do a home demo before committing yourself. A 52 would have to be in really, really bad shape to sound worse than a 282. A servicing would make the gap that much bigger.

I wouldn’t. Good later model 52 has more music than a 282 high cap or super cap.while the 282 has great pRat and great head room with the right speakers. It still doesn’t out do the pots8 serviced 52. I have found on my big olive system that powerlines gave my pRat some issues.If you dr you SC  you need to dr the rest of your system other wise it upsets the system synergy. Be happy with what you have imo

Sounsfaber posted:

I wouldn’t. Good later model 52 has more music than a 282 high cap or super cap.while the 282 has great pRat and great head room with the right speakers. It still doesn’t out do the pots8 serviced 52. I have found on my big olive system that powerlines gave my pRat some issues.If you dr you SC  you need to dr the rest of your system other wise it upsets the system synergy. Be happy with what you have imo

Is the 'system synergy' your experience or just a hunch? it is occasionally repeated on the Forum but I wonder if it is an idea that stands up to the test of real life.

My system is certainly a mixture of olive, classic series non DR and some DR'd components. I don't sense that the performance has fallen apart when adding a DR scap to my 52, replacing an olive one.

I'm  not convinced that you have to have a system that is uniformly all olive, all non DR or all non DR for it to perform well.

Your ears are of course the only real test

Bruce

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

I have a fully upgraded 52 and switched from olive Scap to DR this year.

No hesitation in saying it made a wholly positive difference. Everything sounded that bit cleaner, and with a touch more detail maybe. I did not think it lost any of the pace and energy that for me marks out the olive system components at their best.

I think a good 52 is a big step up from an 82 although I have never heard or owned an 82. My experience is you'll still enjoy that benefit with a DR PS. I have bought a s/h 252 now but a fault with my NDS that is taking a while to resolve means I have not had the opportunity to really do the 252 vs 52 comparison, however in the first few days I had it before it all went wrong it was far from convincing me. I would not be surprised if I ended up sticking to the 52.

A good 52 is a very, very fine thing

Bruce

I had an 82 and went to a 52 and had the POTS8 and a service. The 52 was the flagship pre of its day and hardly surprisingly it was, to my ears, very significantly better than the 82.  The improvement was greater than that from going from an Olive 250 to 2 Olive 135's, though that's not to downplay that improvement.  I can only speculate that Pevs experience may have been marred by a sub-par 52, albeit from a good dealer.  A trip to Salisbury may have been the answer.

A 52 (unless it's very sub par) should be rather better than any 282.

Late and factory serviced 52 with SCDR. Done this. Sounds... etched. 

252 with SCDR on the other hand... finally the 252 becomes the creature it was meant to be. 

Just to add my thoughts regarding the original question. I'd refrain from putting a DR Supercap on a 52. For me the original SC is what it was designed to work with and sounds best with, in the same way i have steared clear of adding DR XPS2 or 555PS to my CDS3. 

Hmmm, my system is a mix, Class A serviced 52, factory serviced 135s a brand new SCDR that replaced a SC I borrowed from TomTom nDac/555ps and a high spec LP12. For me the SCDR was an improvement over the original SC but I've never heard a 52 with a 52PS and I believe that was what it was designed with.

I don't often contribute to HiFi room threads and I only noticed this one as I had done the exact change mentioned in the title so felt I had something to add.

I wish people who comment would be clear if it is based on their own experience and ears, or just opinion. There's a mixture on here.

When all is said and done see if you can borrow one and make your own decision!

Bruce

Fair point above. My experience is first hand, with everything i write. On that point i also agree with an earlier poster, in as much as the best 52 i've heard had an original 52PS.

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

I don't often contribute to HiFi room threads and I only noticed this one as I had done the exact change mentioned in the title so felt I had something to add.

I wish people who comment would be clear if it is based on their own experience and ears, or just opinion. There's a mixture on here.

When all is said and done see if you can borrow one and make your own decision!

Bruce

I have a 52/olive supercap

what is YOUR opinion, since you have done this move

david

My comments are based on listening to our 52 in our system at home.

Delighted that the SCDR works well for Bruce though!

Best regards, FT

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

Sounsfaber posted:

I wouldn’t. Good later model 52 has more music than a 282 high cap or super cap.while the 282 has great pRat and great head room with the right speakers. It still doesn’t out do the pots8 serviced 52. I have found on my big olive system that powerlines gave my pRat some issues.If you dr you SC  you need to dr the rest of your system other wise it upsets the system synergy. Be happy with what you have imo

Is the 'system synergy' your experience or just a hunch? it is occasionally repeated on the Forum but I wonder if it is an idea that stands up to the test of real life.

My system is certainly a mixture of olive, classic series non DR and some DR'd components. I don't sense that the performance has fallen apart when adding a DR scap to my 52, replacing an olive one.

I'm  not convinced that you have to have a system that is uniformly all olive, all non DR or all non DR for it to perform well.

Your ears are of course the only real test

Bruce

 

????% my experience. A progressive system build by a good friend of mine 282/nap250.2/ cds 3/ lp12 bla bla

it didn’t gel till all was DR.

why would I post about something I haven’t experienced ?

Thanks everybody for your comments have learnt a lot.The 52 head unit i was looking at was a early one so i think i will wait for perhaps a later model to pop up.A 252 is a bit to much of a climb money wise so was hoping to get some of the way there with a 52.I have had a black olive system running for some time and love it.A dealer told me i should  treat the black boxes as a half box upgrade over the olive which i have done over the years 102 to 202 and 180 to 200 nice upgrades and worked well with rest of system.