I think the forum is rarely this consistent in its advice and I agree too. Give it some time to settle down both from cold and it’s service. Stop listening for improvements, open some wine and kick back with some tunes. If you enjoy your sessions more in a few weeks then all to the good.
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Thanks all for your helpful replies and support.
I think I’m on to something having made some small adjustments yesterday, today has been a good day!
I’ll post in a few days when I’m sure.
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No, not speaker placement. To correct bass I would need to go closer to the wall and the S20’s are quite close as they are.
I powered down and redressed the Burndy allowing the SNAIC to lightly touch in a couple of places.
I also tidied up the mains cables as they had become a bit untidy and bunched from where I took the NAPSC out.
I also discovered that a small switched mode power supply that provides power for my Logitech Harmony Hub had fallen forward from the corner and was touching one of the 555ps Burndies.
It’s been running all today at lowish volume and bass seems to be back even when playing quietly. I have been working in our home office across the hallway but the music keeps distracting me in to the sitting room for a quick listen!
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To me the 252 gives the Naim sound detail drive pace etc with the refinement. I have hsd various amps supernait/hc hd dr to an 82.
Even with a bare NDX the 252 for me was much better than the NDX on an 82 with XPS2.
The DR supercap is well worthwhile but I have stuck with the non DR 250 which works better for me.
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This is silly, sat here all morning playing music
( from Sinatra, EST, Weber, Elgar and now Underworld ) with the 252…and I find I’m delaying unboxing the 282 etc because I’m loving the sweet effortlessness and richness of it all. How on earth could my 282 be more preferable than this…
Sheer self-indulgent laziness.
Um… I’ll do it tomorrow.
Back to having honey poured into my ears…
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I’m feeling better already 
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Lol
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Thanks to everyone for their support and comments.
Another week on and things are much different, thankfully! I was actually starting to make phone calls enquiring about used 282’s in case I felt the need to go back.
I did tinker with the cables as stated above which made me feel better and the system has been improving over the past week and it does seem to be getting better every day. I now have bass!
The transformation is actually quite incredible. Another forum member privately pointed me to this posting from the old forum which describes exactly what I have experienced https://forums.naimaudio.com/topic.php?oid=15504822849405908&coid=159503632588890
I have since seen a recent post on another board where somebody auditioned at a dealer a 252 vs 282 and quickly concluded the 252 was far better only to be disappointed with the brand new 252 that was supplied. Run in for them took approximately 6 weeks.
The sound has changed quite significantly, vocals that were cold and sterile now have body back in them and the system sounds much fuller at low volumes, something that had largely disappeared when the 252 was introduced. I no longer have to avoid certain recordings which I was doing for the first week and a half.
I’m hoping there’s more to go but I have to say that it is now a most enjoyable listen. There is much more insight and instruments sound so much more real, the piano and cello are especially delicious! The system sounds less impressive before, but in a good way. It’s certainly not dull.
The 282 sounds a little crude and forced in comparison but is still immensely enjoyable but I’m now at the stage where I wouldn’t want to go back.
It’s been an interesting upgrade journey. I have upgraded from a 282/HiCap DR/250DR in 3 stages over a few months to a 252/Supercap DR/300DR with the 300 being done first, then the Supercap and finally the 252, yes an odd order to do it in. In order of magnitude the 300 was the most significant, 252 second and Supercap last, quite surprising really as I would have expected the opposite really.
Time to sit back and listen, I think I’m done for a while now!
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Great to hear that.I thought it would eventually work out in your favor. It is very disappointing when an upgrade such as that doesn’t meet expectations. Been there myself.
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This sums it up really for me. The 252 is a class act and I have had mine since 2004. It still leaves me speechless at times…
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I’ve recently gone from 282 to a 252 which had been back to Naim for a problem that occurred when initially setting it up.
At first I thought the 282 sounded better than the 252. The emotion had disappeared and the system didn’t have the same appeal.
In the following few days more detail appeared and the emotion gradually returned.
I’d now say that the 252 is a considerable improvement over the 282.
I just love the sound that is emanating from my system. More detail, better definition and bigger presence, just wonderful.
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The 252 is a real class act. With the proviso that the cable routing and connector tightness needs to be correct, otherwise achievable performance can drop off. Get it right though and it is magnifico !
I had the benefit of the use of my dealers 252 during January and February, whilst waiting for my own new 252 to be delivered. The 252 sounded sublime in my system. My own new one arrived early March and out of the box had little of the engagement of the dealers 252. Was difficult to really connect with the sound being produced.
Fortunately, having had my dealers 252, I was able to appreciate what was lacking in the new one and what it would be doing once I’d given it time.
It took about 4wks to really come on song. But it justifies the patience.
Massaging the Burndy, as advised by Richard Dane in one of his posts earlier this year, does seem to help btw.
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It’s been a while since I posted an update, thanks for the recent contributions which have served to remind me.
My 252 has continue to improve, about 2 weeks ago there seemed to be another step change with the return of the deep bass that I gained when moving from the 250DR to 300DR. It’s bass that you hear even at low volume. and I’d kind of lost that when I introduced the 252. I’m now at 8 weeks and it seems to have stabilised.
The dealer who sold me the 252 did say that you need to wean yourself off the 282 and I do agree with that. The 282 has some instant appeal that is very appealing but scratch the surface and the 252 does provide so much more insight.
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I should have added that I followed the advice regarding the cables and routed them together using three pieces of pipe insulation.
Same here, my new one had to go back due to a silly issue and it was difficult to return the dealer’s demo (he offered that I can keep it) but I am happy that I did and could enjoy it coming on song
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And it DOES cone on song.
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indeed 
Hi Tricky,
It’s been a while since I owned a 252, but remember having a very similar experience to you. I also questioned the purchase but after about a month it started sounding clearly better than my previous 282. I’m only posting because IMO the improvements continue, it may sound crazy but for me it took around 6 months to fully open up, there was an obvious moment when everything just fell into place and it transformed from what was already good to something really special. Hopefully you have a similar experience, something to look forward to!
Cheers,
Loks
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