252 or CD555 ?

Filipe posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Sounsfaber posted:

Great thing about a CD555 over a streamer is that, it will actually work when you press play! 

 

Now that did make me chuckle..... especially since I’ve just had to send my Qb back to naim!!!!

Been trying not to say that on the ND555 impressions thread. Of course my 800 CDs is still manageable without a streamer, and I can read the covers etc. Kept having App problems whenever I tried a streamer. Very content with vinyl and CDs.

As an aside, one of the kindred spirits I met on my 452 mile pilgrimage from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela told me travel is really good for the brain cells because humans evolved to explore their environment as a matter of survival. If we live in the same environment we don’t get this basic stimulation we need. Slow travel brought me alive and made me feel young again at 70!

Well I think streamers don’t encourage you to explore your music the way having physical contact with it does. Read my blog on Facebook via www dot robocap dot org dot uk to get an insight of my pilgrimage.

Phil

Phil, since I sold my LP12 many years ago and my Naim CD player three years ago I have never bought so many CDs as I currently purchase.

The strange thing is that since my ND555 was installed I'm playing a lot of my older ripped CDs than ever before the speed and ease of looking through my 900 odd CDs on the iPad is so easy and convenient and you can be listening to music in seconds.

The Genre of music I listen to since going the streaming route has increased by a fair margin mainly thanks to recommendations on the Forum if you see something that you may like you  can be listening via Tidal in seconds and if you like what you hear you can purchase it.

Everybody to there own I suppose but Streaming has certainly been a revelation to me in both my increased musical enjoyment and ease of access to the available music.

I stream from my iPhone to my Bose mini link 2, awesome. New music on tap awesome. The added advantage is I can take it with me on a picnic too????????

Sounsfaber posted:

I stream from my iPhone to my Bose mini link 2, awesome. New music on tap awesome. The added advantage is I can take it with me on a picnic too????????

That must sound awesome.

nigelb posted:

Sounsfaber posted:

I stream from my iPhone to my Bose mini link 2, awesome. New music on tap awesome. The added advantage is I can take it with me on a picnic too????????

That must sound awesome.

Indeed it does. Would highly recommend one of those little boxes to find new music.

Sounsfaber posted:

nigelb posted:

Sounsfaber posted:

I stream from my iPhone to my Bose mini link 2, awesome. New music on tap awesome. The added advantage is I can take it with me on a picnic too????????

That must sound awesome.

Indeed it does. Would highly recommend one of those little boxes to find new music.

I have Tidal for that and it is too cold for picnics.

Sounsfaber posted:

I stream from my iPhone to my Bose mini link 2, awesome. New music on tap awesome. The added advantage is I can take it with me on a picnic too????????

i hope you are not only listening to mp3....  what the main system if i may ask?

I’d go with a second hand iPhone and stream.

French Rooster posted:

Sounsfaber posted:

I stream from my iPhone to my Bose mini link 2, awesome. New music on tap awesome. The added advantage is I can take it with me on a picnic too????????

i hope you are not only listening to mp3....  what the main system if i may ask?

Nope just high res Spotify premium, I get it for free via our telco, yes I know I know, if it’s  about the music it’s just fine to discover new music. Then I buy what I like on cd. Streamers are something I’m trying to stay from. I don’t like that somebody out there knows more about what I like more than me etc.

My system is on phased mana , and all serviced olive boxes by a naim certified agent.

NAC52 Pots 8 (6 phases under the main rack), cds2 (9 phases under that baby), 135 nac 5 and some VERY lovely 08 sl2 speakers. Hiline and the biggest meanest main spur ever. Piggy backed wall sockets (its totally legal here) My wife just loves it some much in her lounge she’s going to let me put the boxes into another room. I’ll run nac 5 under the floor. This will allow me to go active (space issues) and lp12. She doesn’t know that bit yet.???? 

I could have a streamer and dr and powerlines and a fraim. But I like what i have. It’s not better,but I like it. Took me forever to collect. Wasn’t easy. I’m very proud of what I have achieved, just like all you people reading this. One of the hard parts was to get John Watson to make me new mana and send it to New Zealand. Boy the UK customs are completely anal.

 I hope that satisfies your curiosity Mr Rooster ????

I used to have a 300/252 combo - in the days before dr was introduced.  There has always been a bit of a split vote on the merits of the 252.  I was very much in the camp supporting this combo and I suspect that the advent of dr has only improved all round performance.  I found the two worked tremendously well together and produced a lovely sound through either cds3 or lp12.   The big positive, if the 252 works for your ears, is that both cd and lp replay benefit from the upgrade.  My personal recommendation would be to audition the 252 at home and discover if it works for you.  I suspect that you may find it an irresistible fit with your system!  If not, you can return the pre-amp and go hunting for a cd555.  That would be my approach in your situation.

Peter

I would agree with that Peter, a good plan. It’s only flaw is how hard it might become to get a good CD555 down the line.

Stu

I don't think they are flying off the dealer shelves as a used item ...there still circa £5k plus a 555ps if you don't have one ... So even a good demo trial with a 252 will still leave you plenty of time to find one at a fair price

As an owner ...I think the 252 is a great pre ... especially with S/cap Dr to power it .. but still think you would be better just buying the CD555 and seeing how you go ..it might well be everything your looking for in itself

Of course a further consideration is you don’t get the full benefit of a Supercap dr with a 282.... you need a 252 to reach optimum potential....

saw a CD555 head unit go for less than 3700 recently. a real bargain.  if i had my time again i would have continued to enjoy my 282/SCDR/300 and skipped my 252 on the way to the 552. no disrespect to the 252 if that was my endgame it would have been a very fine place to end up.  An excellent vallue CD555 head unit now will bring musical bliss short term, a little more saving and a pre loved 552 will be a heavenly combination  full stop

rackkit posted:

hungryhalibut posted:

If it were me, I’d get a CDS3, which is to me more musical than the CD 555 and thrives with the 555PS, and a nice used 552. 

Good luck trying to find a used 552... 

I got one a couple of months ago. I had been looking for almost a year. I'm glad I persisted.

CORRY,

congratulations on finding a 552....you must be delighted 

wenger2015 posted:

CORRY,

congratulations on finding a 552....you must be delighted 

Hi Wenger,

It's early days, and I'm still getting to grips with it, but no question that it's a big step up from my 282. Being somewhat prone to upgraditis, I'm glad I held out, and I'm relieved to own what is likely to be my last pre.

Pcd posted:

Filipe posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Sounsfaber posted:

 

As an aside, one of the kindred spirits I met on my 452 mile pilgrimage from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela told me travel is really good for the brain cells because humans evolved to explore their environment as a matter of survival. If we live in the same environment we don’t get this basic stimulation we need. Slow travel brought me alive and made me feel young again at 70!

Well I think streamers don’t encourage you to explore your music the way having physical contact with it does. Read my blog on Facebook via www dot robocap dot org dot uk to get an insight of my pilgrimage.

Phil

 

The strange thing is that since my ND555 was installed I'm playing a lot of my older ripped CDs than ever before the speed and ease of looking through my 900 odd CDs on the iPad is so easy and convenient and you can be listening to music in seconds.

 

We are beginning to find out especially in children and teenagers that having access to information and the answers to questions in seconds is actually effecting the way in which our brains develop because googling everything instead of having to work it out or having to go look for an answer is weakening our cognitive skills. 

Having algorithms think for us does seem like amazing science but personally I would rather think for myself and though I do use and love the simplicity of Tidal I do not take notice of its suggestions. I read an interview with the guys behind Spotify and Napster who were working on an algorithm that would read your social media posts and then suggest or play a playlist that reflected the 'mood' of your posts.

For me personally that old adage that it is the journey that is important is more relevant in todays world than ever and even things as small as thinking which music to put on and then physically getting up finding that CD or record taking it from its cover and playing not only adds to the experience it's also giving my brain something to do.

Bob you are talking my language. I tried hard to get on with streaming but in the end went back to CD. Owning a 555 or a Rega Isis is a goal of mine.

Ray

With regard to Bob The Builder, search engines like Google are fantastic research and directory tools. Other than for usually trivial or mundane queries they won’t directly tell you the answer but they will point you information resource options to research and analyze to provide an answer, effectively a far more responsive library index system .. 

I remember before web search engines, information was power then, researching took far longer.. now in my professional world research and analysis is so much more enabling using tools like Google.

If I am honest I really wish I had the web when I was an undergraduate but I was 7 years too early, ... when I started my career the web didn’t exist, all the internet had was terminal  based Gopher index system and the like... it was a help, but you still usually needed to know which database to search. When the web and Archie and obviously much later Google came along, it transformed the internet’s use as a research and library tool... I find it hard not to see the benefit of an online global library for all... and yes it brings with it new cognitive analytical skills to sift and interprete data.. .. as in this global library there is valid and invalid as well as non peer validated highly opinionated resources.

Obviously now the web search engines are used far more than for research (informational and navigational searches), and dominant searches are transactional e-commerce ones (online shopping!!)

Filipe posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Sounsfaber posted:

Great thing about a CD555 over a streamer is that, it will actually work when you press play! 

 

Now that did make me chuckle..... especially since I’ve just had to send my Qb back to naim!!!!

Been trying not to say that on the ND555 impressions thread. Of course my 800 CDs is still manageable without a streamer, and I can read the covers etc. Kept having App problems whenever I tried a streamer. Very content with vinyl and CDs.

As an aside, one of the kindred spirits I met on my 452 mile pilgrimage from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela told me travel is really good for the brain cells because humans evolved to explore their environment as a matter of survival. If we live in the same environment we don’t get this basic stimulation we need. Slow travel brought me alive and made me feel young again at 70!

Well I think streamers don’t encourage you to explore your music the way having physical contact with it does. Read my blog on Facebook via www dot robocap dot org dot uk to get an insight of my pilgrimage.

Phil

For me it was the exact opposite, streaming made my own music collection much more accessible and encouraged me to rediscover things I hadn’t listened to for a while, plus web streaming and iRadio provides lots of opportunities to discover new music. 

Back in the day, it used to be exciting to await the release of a new album, but excitement often sank to disappointment if it turned out to be a dud. No more wasted pocket money. 

I once walked from Darjeeling to Rawalpindi, but with hindsight I should have stayed at home and listened to more music;-)

I don’t see there’s anything in this CD or LP vs streaming argument. I no longer possess any physical media, but page through or scroll down my digitised collection in just the same way as I used to browse the shelves, only now I don’t end up with a crick in my neck from trying to decipher the minute text on CD spines stored at 90° to my normal viewing angle. I don’t use Tidal, Spotify or Qobuz. My buying inspiration comes from Radio Paradise, this forum or the album notes available via the Naim App. It still sometimes takes me forever to choose what to play, although not sure this counts as mental stimulation!

On the search engine front, I do feel Google and the like are fantastic tools when used correctly. You still need to know how to interrogate to get the best results (usual rule of GIGO applies). Like S-in-S I view the internet as a huge library, and search engines as an advanced indexing system. No magic involved, just advanced logic.

CD, Vinyl, Streaming...... it’s whatever floats your boat 

That said, the original question to this thread was CD555 or 252?

So should it be source first? Or is it better in my case to utilise the full potential of the Supercap dr and have it paired with a 252?

Get with it Wenger, you know perfectly well that what you need is an ND555!

(Just joking, no more thread drift from me;-)

252

Adam Zielinski posted:

252

Ok, definitely not source first then?