250 vs 300

I can’t comment on 272 pairing 250 or 300 , dr. But had 300 dr and now 250 dr.
300 dr has more authority, bass, and open soundstage, a bit more details.
But 250 dr, in my system, is quicker, more agile, and more foot tapping too.

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I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again! Your 272 is way out of its depth with a 300. At the very least, upgrade it with a PSU, or move to separates if you can handle the extra boxes.

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The reason you don’t enjoy it so much is probably because you’ve upgraded the wrong way round. 272/555/250 will be better than 272/300. The 300 is simply too much for the bare 272, which is now out of its depth.

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So a 555PS DR on the 272 working with 300DR will calm down the treble and upper mids and give back some PRAT lost with the 250DR? All I read is the 555 improves but rarely any details on what it improves. So what I read here is that Naim most likely tuned 272 against a naked 250 and 272/555 against the 300. I mean, you cannot tune all naim products to work with each other. Some combinations must create problems and some will just snap in place.

What about the DIN XLRs between 272/300DR. Can I calm down the system a bit by getting say the Witchhat Hatpin 4x. I don’t need more details and treble right now.

Hi Slamdam, this is clearly an example of ‘ The rule of system balance’ not having been applied. I don’t think doing anything but getting a 555 PS will help. Peter

As Nigel and Chris have pointed out you need a 555 dr psu…if you do not like your current treble and mid range, changing the leads could actually make it worse not better. I think you need to borrow a 555dr psu if you can, if you still are not happy then a rethink about separates like a 282 or better , is in order.

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I’ll try to find a used 555PSDR. A new one is out of my radar. Problem is they are pretty rare on the used market but it’s not like it is a panic situation here. It sounds great indeed but the more you invest the more picky you get…

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That sounds a good idea. If you are patient then you should be able to find one for around the price of a new XPS DR which is what I did.

Remember you will need the Burndy too. The 555DR doesn’t come with one.

The servicing requirement on the 500 series is longer so even a 5 year old model won’t need a service for 10 years.

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I presume this is a classic example of upgrading something in the chain which upsets the balance, thus forcing the upgrade of another weak link in the system to restore balance. I went through an almost similar experience but it’s speaker rather than an amp change.

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It’s simply a case of doing things in the wrong order. If the 555 had been added before the 300 there would not be an issue.

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I have a NDX2, 252/SCDR and 250DR. Does that mean my upgrade order must be 555PS first before 300DR? Or in my case, either can be done? I am thinking which one to tackle first haha. Tks for advice.

I am also secretly thinking of NAC 552 to replace the 252/SCDR. Weird thinking I must have. I see that Richard was paring a 552 with 250DR, so this has me thinking maybe getting a 552 might be fair bit more significant as compare to both 555 and 300DR together.

These are good examples of not getting the most out of the exisiting electronics before upgrading the amplification.

No,
All about above is of the nac272 as a pre amp.
I can only confirm above, i have a bare 272 with a 300 non dr.
With the 300 it was above a 250dr. But it is not in balance.
With the 300 you can hear that the 272 is out of breath without external psu.

In your situation you have 252 and i can tell you it is more then capable to lead a 300. That wil not be out of balance.
But off course a psu on the ndx2 make also a difference.
That wil be more notacible with a 300.
But that has nothing to do with balance anymore.

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I think you can be pretty sure that if Naim ‘voiced’ the 272 to work in any particular system, it would be 272/XPSDR/250DR. That is certainly what they used in demos when it was first released. I would suggest that using a 500 series power supply, along with using cables designed for Statement, is more of a forum trend than a Naim attempt at providing a balanced system.

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Interesting comments and experiences.

With Naim gear, and with most serious brands, you get what you paid for.

And this makes sense, obviously.

The NAP300DR is 10’000 euros, the NAP250DR is 5000 euros.

In terms of performance, the NAP250 DR simply can’t compete with the NAP300DR.

It would be absurd, and wouldn’t make sense from a commercial point of view.

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Generally speaking, you are right. However, there’s no getting away from the fact that better downstream components will expose any relative weaknesses in upstream electronics, and in that respect, the 272/300 system in question is well inside ‘mullet’ territory in my books.
In addition, the extra power in a better amp may expose issues in the room acoustics that can, in some cases, make things sound worse.

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Chris, you seem to have it in for the 272 for some reason. I’d agree that the 272/300 would be a mullet but with the 555 in place it most definitely is not. I know a mullet when I see one, and the 272/555/300 is not one of them.

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Chris, can only very strongly second HH words.

Of course. Balance between the elements of a system is essential. This is clearly implied throughout the Naim range.

I’m sorry but I have to disagree on that. This is a common misconception.
Just like the speaker size for instance.

If you look at the science behind that problem (e.g. room modes) it has nothing to do with speaker size or amp power. Not at all!

It is related to room size only!

Of course, a small two way speaker will be rolled-off in the lowend. No low end, no room problems!

Same logic for power amps. If the power amps isn’t able to push the speaker in order to produce low-end, the low-end will be rolled-off. No low-end, no room problems. Easy.

The problem is always the room, not the amp or speaker size.

This video explains it in a simple way :
–> https://youtu.be/2rbTLwPlz-4

Using smaller speakers and/or less capable amps could be considered as a workaround for room problems because they are less capable to produce low-end. In that, smaller speakers is like using a DSP to cut off the low-end to prevent/reduce room mode problems.

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