250DR not quite doing it for me

Volume levels. The 272 has a digital volume readout.

No problems there, Pete.
I love low volume listening at night.

With my 50watt NAP150x that I bought new in 2004, and had serviced by Darran a couple of years ago, I can get a really good performance in that very low volume range.

The 150x, though, is bloody awful above 43 on the 272, or 9 o’clock on the 252.

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Ah. There’s no such display on the 282. But quiet, late at night, yes. Better with the SN2 for sure

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This is strange. I had a SN2 before adding a NAP250DR to it and thought the uplift in sound quality was very noticeably at all volume levels.

My speakers back then were pmc 20.23s, not the easiest to drive

Hahaha. Different strokes for different folks I guess. Those were the speakers I had with a 282/250.2 and when I put in the 250dr and discovered all the bass had gone missing and everything was thin and reedy, the blood nearly drained from my face.

My dealer suggested I let it settle and get used to the the “more correct” sound. I never did get used to it. When the 25.23s arrived, all the bass came back. Nearly the same frequency response but much sharper roll off was able to let the more linear extension on the 250dr shine through.

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There is no doubt that the 250DR is way better than the power amp section of the SN2. I have used my 250DR with a 282/SCDR, 252/SCDR and now a 552, and the 250DR has just got better and better.

Although I am unfamiliar with your speakers I cannot see a reason why the 250DR wouldn’t dive those speakers better than the SN2. In fact, the 250DR could be doing such a better job that you might need to reposition the speakers and listening position. Worth a try but I am not convinced that the SN2 matches the PM1s better than the 250DR.

The introduction of the 250DR could be demanding more attention to set up. By this I mean speaker positioning and support, equipment supports, cabling, your home network etc. The REL Quake might need better integration or could now be getting in the way of, rather than enhancing, the bass.

I had the opposite, I’d had my Royds for years and always thought they lacked bass and while not totally disappointed thought I was missing something. My original NAP200 never did it for me, I tried a sub and lots of other tweaks but it still lacked that bottom end. Once I connected the 250DR the bass magically appeared. I’ve not looked back.

The only disclaimer was I did add a XPS DR to my 272 at the same time.

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I don’t think I’m going to have to worry about not liking a 250DR with my Ovators.

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Please correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like all was well until you swapped the 250DR into your system. If that’s the case, you may want to try a 250.2 (the previous model) and see if that suits your preferences better. The older amp has a richer/fuller presentation than the DR model.

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Would recommend selling your 250dr and picking up some 135 amps. Blows the 250dr out of the water and some.

Hi @stevot .This is a bit of a side track, but I have an SN2 as well and have been planning on adding a 282 in the future, and I wondered if it made a huge difference over the SN2 preamp. I was thinking it would.
Thanks for your opinion on this.

It’ll be great. Consensus is a rare bird, but I don’t remember anyone on the forum ever saying that Supernait to 282 was a bad move! I went from an SN1 to 282/250.2 and have been delighted with it.

I was planning on a half-move to 282 but still using the SN2 as an amp for a while. I wonder how much better that combo is than just an SN2 with an outboard PS.
You have my ideal system tho. My NDS would sound great thru your 282/250.

try to connect the ND5XS analog outputs to your 282 via din cable, and set the ground switch to chassis (if not already done) - even if you are using the Qutest as a DAC.

the 282 needs a signal earth connection.

@david1111

While I have no experience of the SN2, I was ( to my surprise ) very impressed by the 282 compared to my SN3; even using an XS2 as power, the SQ was a lovely step up.
It is possible the SN3 was faulty, as it had to go back to Salisbury to fix a noisy right channel, but I still had months of previous listening to it very happily, before I had the 282.

Adding the 282 in place of the SN2 preamp was a fantastic upgrade

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The REL was interesting - when I first connected the 250, with the REL fed from the speaker outputs on the amp (as I’d done with the SN2) it was really disappointing. I disconnected the REL - better. Then Iwired the REL into the speaker posts on the speakers themselves as is recommended - better still. But, for me, not as much fun as the SN2 sadly. I’m limited in what I can easily do with the setup, but I can definitelyhave a play with the speaker positioning next time I have the energy to swap the 250DR back in (at the moment I just feel like listening to some music!).

I am guessing here but maybe what you are believing to be a lack of bass just stems from the 250 having more control over your PM1’s which it has tightened everything up. :man_shrugging:

Not sure how you have things configured but try having a play with speaker positioning.
I find the 282 prefers to be on the very top level of the rack also. I keep my HiCapDR and NAPSC on the very bottom as far away as possible also.

All worth a try.
:+1:t2:

I’ve often felt that an upgrade reduced the fun factor on first listening. With greater control everything seems to slow down. On greater acquaintance you can hear more and get closer to the music. Usually of course. Some people simply don’t like some amplifiers. It’s odd, as the 282/250 is a classic combination and should be considerably better than the 282/SN. Using the SN as a power amp seems rather wasteful somehow. Maybe it’s worth trying a 200 if the 250 really doesn’t work for you. You wouldn’t need a DR version, so it wouldn’t be expensive.

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Thanks @Analogmusic , I do have it setup that way.

@popeye it is 282 at the top, then going downwards it’s ND5XS2, Qutest, NAP250DR, Hicap and NAPSC (the latter two on the same shelf). I do use a mains conditioner which I’ve read doesn’t generally work well.

Thanks for all the replies. Something is obviously not right and I’ve now lots of ideas on what to try. I think I’ll approach them in the order of playing with the speaker positioning, removing the mains conditioner, altering my expectations, trying some new speakers, changing the amp, and investigating cabling, support etc. No-one has suggested that the 250DR might be faulty so that’s great to hear!