I’m using Linn Isobariks with 3 NAP250DR. Sounds great to me since I changed from NAC282 to 252. I’ve not experienced the oft described “maturity” of sound with the 252. To me it gives more of everything over the 282, much as enjoyed that previously. My take is that the DR is better in pretty much every way to the 250.2, but I enjoyed that too!
Spendor D-7 whith my 252\250
Going back to post 7, the OP’s response to the suggestion of active speakers, I started watching the posted video, and gave up 1’49” in (why oh why do people produce such videos, let alone promote them on here - if written I could read the whole thing in the time I spent - actually whoever the biased individual is, his searching for “reasons” to grasp was quite visibly just that, searching).
I couldn’t stick with it past that point, when he was still listing reasons why it was wrong for the amplifier to be physically attached to the speaker box. I couldn’t stick with it past that point, when he was still listing reasons why it was wrong for the amplifier to be physically attached to the speaker box. Most of the opinions he had in that regard were fundamentally wrong because, certainly in the case of ATC, and others including PMC, the amplifier is not inside the speaker box as he presumed, clearly not knowing: rather it is bolted on the back. He was right in one respect, namely that in the event of needing repair, the whole speaker may have to go away as it may not be possible to separate the amplifier: but in reality repair is unlikely to be necessary, likewise it is unlikely that any servicing of the amplifier will be needed for many decades, by when it is just as likely that the capacitors in a passive crossover would require consideration for renewal.
Whoever this “reviewer “is, he is clearly just biased against active, and I do not have the time to waste to hear another eight minutes of his views. Perhaps if the OP were to list the objections to active speakers, people with relevant knowledge or experience would be able to respond.
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It was a truly strange and uninformed rant I agree.
I just want to know what the 252/250-people prefer as loudspeakers.
Thats all.
Thank you for posting.
To all of you actually answering my question - thank you wery much, I higly appreciate it.
I had PMC GB1i’s until about 3 years ago - then purchased my current KEF Reference 1’s. Changed the cables from NAC A5 to Chord Epic Signature at the same time. Delighted with both set ups, but to my ears (at least) the KEF’s have more of everything whilst having a similar presentation.
Not a 250 user (I have a 300) but I’m using the excellent Shahinian Obelisk. They are really magnificent when placement is a bit of a concern (my room is 13m x 4m.
252/250 in my small system in Perth. ATC SCM19
My 282/HCDR/250DR drives PMC Twenty5.26 (beautifully).
Highly recommended
My 82/Supercap/CB250 Spendor A7s. 
Don’t know about 252/250 but I’m auditioning a pair of Neats at home with my 272/250 and enjoying. Lots detail and good bass.
Aerial 5b, Harbeth P3-ESR, two pairs of Spendor LS3/5As. I switch them around depending on my mood.
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3off ‘olive’ NAP250 driving Linn Isobarik’s - you may need to wait a while for a suitable pair to come up on the market but an awful lot of speaker for not a lot of money and a lot less than a pair of 808’s.
Regards
Richard
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Summary:
Had SBL (upgraded to) MKII, they sounded fine (not fantastic) in my living room, but was a disaster in my listening room (attic, light walls)
Tried Dynaudio Focus 160. To dark, narrow sound, not enough details.
Then the Dynaudio Focus 340. Better, mor dynaimcs, more details, but the sound was a bit “all over the Place” - not tight enough.
Tried Harbeth P3ESR. Dark sounding. Not dynaimic (to my ears)
Tried Dynaudio Contour 20. God detail, Dynamics and the best so far. But they also soundet to much closed in.
Finaly:
The ATC SCM40 is in da house.
The hunt is over.
Might not be everyones cup of tea, but this speakers are really good.
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I have active Naps 250-2 with Nac 52 that sound excellent with NBLs. Olive Nap 250s also sounded very good with a bit less bass. I also had good results with PSB T-6 and passive 250.
Never had a 252, I skipped that one. My NBLs earned their place when I had a 282/Hi/250 set up. They’re still there now and will only be replaced if damaged (I may be moving in a year or two and don’t have the boxes). Not sure they’re a good recommendation what with the lack of spares at Salisbury these days, you could still get tweeter last I heard. At 5 1/2 cm from the back wall they don’t take up as much space as even a modest free space speaker.
PMC 20/23 with 282/HCDR/250DR. Originally purchased with SuperUniti with which they sang. With upgrade they sing even more. Delighted. They are in an awkward position in a bay close to wall; despite that they do real bass, not boom.
Funny, the whole argument Steve Guttenberg has against active speakers is simply not relavent to the way that naim do active. No amps inside speakers or dsp’s for that matter, and no compromised amp designs used either. The only way to move forward beyond what everyone else is doing is naim active, many many gains in sound quality, the only downside is the extra boxes. But at this level, cost is not an object. The only thing I cant understand is why the naim focal merge is not producing active speakers to push the boundaries of musical replay forward.
Mario
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In the Summer I upgraded from SBL mk2 to ATC SCM40 passives and my amplification is NAC82/HICAP/250 so not too unlike your NAC252 combo. I’ve posted extensively on other threads on here but suffice to say the ATC’s were a gigantic leap in sound quality from the SBL’s with staggering levels of insight, impact, speed, bass extension and palpable imaging. Last night my wife and I sat listening to a range of music I selected on the NDX from my nas including Simple Minds acoustic, The Cure, ZZ Top, Big Country and the Rolling Stones and we both just sat there with our jaws on the floor having not heard many of those tracks on the ATC’s before. The sound was just so much closer to sounding live than it used to be, she turned to me and said ‘these speakers just make everything sound great - so real’.
That statement was very true - many of those recordings e.g. the Big Country tracks or some of the Rolling Stones stuff used to sound fairly horrible on the SBL’s, sharp, lacking in bass with the music feeling trapped in the speakers but now even those create much more of a palpable sound of a band in a room. I’ve been fortunate to have had experience of sitting in a couple of big name studios listening to multitrack playback through big studio monitors and what I am hearing now in my home has taken me closer than ever to the master tape.
The ATC SCM40’s driven by the NAP250 are the single biggest upgrade I have ever made in my 35 years of pursuing fidelity and the sound in my room is now the sound I have been chasing in my head all my life. Having spent several years reviewing for magazines I know how rare it is for a product to really blow you away but these absolutely do in my room at least.
Jonathan
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Running 252/250dr from RP10 and Macbook to Chord Qutest. Tried Focal Sopra 2’s, B&W 804d3, PMC Twenty5.26’s, B&W803d3 but finally settled on B&W805d3 prestige edition being the best combination of sound quality, practicality and price, and in my set up I think they won on SQ !
I did change the configuration on racks amongst all the tests, and some cables so perhaps if I had them all again I could reach a different conclusion.