I’m currently using a 282/200DR combination and I’m thinking of upgrading to a 250 or 250DR. The price of a DR’d version is significantly more on the used market than a straightforward 250 so not sure which way to go. What I save by getting a 250 means I could use that money towards a service of the 250, if I thought it might benefit from it. What’s the considered opinion on here? Is the DR significantly better than a non-DR? I did go from a 200 to the 200DR and, although it was a while ago, I don’t recall hearing a significant difference. What can I expect from upgrading to a 250/250DR?
You’ve already got HiCap, so easy swap (sometimes people forget about the 250 not powering preamp!).
250DR is a fabulous amp, highly recommended. Your ATCs will love the grip. Everything will sound sharper and punchier, better bass extension. Better overall speed/response.
The 200/200DR differ only in PSU to pre, the amps are same (or little different) which might be why you heard no difference. With a HiCap you’re not even using the DR bit of the 200.
250DR is a different beast altogether, in another league compared to 200. There is a price difference non DR/DR, but 250DR are available at really quite low pre loved prices (sub £1500) - bit of a bargain compared to final RRP.
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I’m probably going to get the 250DR but I hadn’t dismissed the idea of a straight 250 on the basis that there seems to be more of them about and they tend to be a lot cheaper than a 250DR. I fully expect it a significant step up to a 250 or 250DR. What I’m wondering is, is there much difference between a 250 and 250DR.
Can’t help you there from personal experience as we only had DR. Forum search will provide loads of results.
DR wouldn’t need a service yet either.
We spent 18 happy months with 250DR before upgradeitis bit.
Well you’ve sold me on the 250/250DR anyway. I’ll just keep a lookout for what’s available from the usual suspects now. I thought the used price of a 200DR might be £500-600 but seems that they are still holding up quite well ~£1k so the upgrade to 250DR isn’t as much as I first thought.
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Yes, good 200DR are still in demand! Good luck with the search.
Yep. I thought the upgrade was going to be ~£1k. Probably more like £300-400. Game on.
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I would rather have a NAP200DR to listen to than a blackbox NAP250. I just do not like the sound of the NAP250.2. However, a NAP250DR is streets ahead of the non-DR model and worth getting in my view. To me, the DR 250 is far superior.
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I upgraded a SuperNait 2 and added a NAC 282 and thought that was a lovely upgrade. A couple months later a lightly used NAP 250 DR was traded in to my dealer and I added that to the NAC 282 and felt it was a wonderful upgrade to the system.
My room, my ears and I found it to be a wonderul uplift. I had the oportunity to demo in my environment prior to purchase since I worked through a dealer.
Good luck with your decision.
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Yes, if you do some searching on here you’ll find they are sonically very different amps, with the majority preferring DR vs non DR. If you have a very bright sounding setup that’s on the rather lean side, you might prefer the 250, otherwise the 250DR is generally considered vastly superior.
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Considering the cost of the upgrade being less than what I envisaged it’ll be the DR route. What will be a comparison I would like, once I’ve taken that step, is to try the power amp out of my second system. That’s a Primare Pre35/A34.2. In combination it’s great but it’s class D and may not work very well with the 282. Thinking about it, I’ve never tried the Pre35 into the 200DR but not sure either combination would be ideal. I’ve always found, from my Musical Fidelity and Linn days that keeping the separates from the same stable always seemed to work best.
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250.2 is a lovely match with the 282. Much crisper and deeper and more detailed than the 200 and with greater punch. Really good at low listening levels too, although aided and abetted by the Supercap. The 250DR is all that again, and then some. But, make sure it’s serviced. My 250DR went for a big flat-faced sulk until I realised that its caps were well past their use by date. My newly serviced 250.2 absolutely wiped the floor with it.
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While the 250dr is clearer, it is a substantially different presentation. It’s not “a 250 only better”. It’s fundamentally a different amp.
A person could easily find that they prefer the 250.2 with one pair of speakers but the 250dr with another. So any indication that a 250dr is a “no brainier" is simply untrue in my view.
Unless the sale is through a dealer allowing you to try with your speakers, you may just need to roll the dice a bit.
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Feeling_zen could probably explain better having compared both 250 DR and non DR. Nevertheless, based on what I gather,
250DR - tighter and more defined bass, overall more controlled
250.2 non DR - looser and less defined bass, smeared and more enveloping
Perhaps do a poll. Ultimately it will depend on the speakers and listener’s preference.
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If you prefer listening to someone mumbling with their hand partially over their mouth, get the 250.2. If you prefer people speaking clearly get the 250DR 
a bit contrarian view - I own both 200DR and 250DR, with a 282, I would say it isn’t really the way I would go. 200 DR is really that good. of course 250DR better, but I would rather spend the money on upgrading the source or the preamp.
That’s me though, but since I owned the NAP 200 and upgrade it to the 200DR…. it is a very good power amp. The NAP 200DR is a different beast than the older NAP 200.
I once did a demo of the old NAP 200 with a NAC 282, against NAP 250DR, while the NAP250 is better, it wasn’t a instant convincing win for the 250DR for the person who wanted the demo, we both thought the NAP 200 could work quite well with the NAC 282 (and is considerably cheaper), and of course the NAP 200DR is considerably better the the older NAP 200. Not only because of the DR regulator, it has some other improvements.
I also remember upgrading from my own NAP 200 to NAP 250DR, yes everything sounded better, but I could have easily lived with my NAP 200 and would have rather spent the money upgrading to a NAC 252/SCDR.
I also remember a forum member saying in the good old days that that the Olive NAC 52 was paired with a NAP250 and that NAC82 was also traditionally paired with a NAP 180….
In my main system currently maxed out source, cables, speakers the main bottleneck is my NAC 282/HCDR, not the NAP 250DR.
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I have the distinction of trading a 250 dr for the 250,2,simply because I prefered the fuller,warmer sound. of the latter.
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I would add that I spent most of my time with my 202/200dr/ napsc with chord quest Dac and super lumina speaker cables
I never think would it be more engaging with an amplifier upgrade… just so engaging as it is
sorry for another post : the 282 gets a lot of love on this forum, but knowing what I know now, I would have gladly skipped it for a 252 or a 552, while keeping the 202/200DR for AV duties
It appears to my ears that the 282 lacks resolution compared the bigger brothers 252 and 552 and which is required with my Chord Dave and Dynaudio C2 confidence speakers and full loom superlumina.
I never got over a comparison of NAC 552 vs NAC 282 with Chord Dave and NAP 500DR, with Superlumina speaker cables and DIN XLR.
200, 250.2, 250DR: all will work well. I know, because we have all 3. But, max out your source and power supplies for your NAC first to get the best resolution. 2x HiCaps is a game changer. Supercap takes you to the first division.
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