Hi, my 282 is powered by a single HiCapDR, it feeds into a 250DR. I would be grateful if people could give me an idea of the scale of the improvement I could expect if I was to power it with two HiCaps instead of the current one.
Is the change in line/order of magnitude of moving from a ordinary Hi-Cap to a DR’d one or more or less?
When I made the move to a DR’d HiCap, while some of the changes were obvious after a short time, it took a much longer listening session to appreciate the full depth of the improvements. So I don’t think going for demo would help me work out if it was worth spending the money on.
I appreciate the best improvement would be go for a SuperCap but funds definitely don’t extend to the cost of that.
Thanks
Best wishes Amer
A search of this and old forum will reveal a lot of discussion on this. Views differ! I tried 2 HCs (non DR) but frankly wasn’t convinced and waited until I could afford the SC.
I have 2 Hicap DRs powering my 282. The addition of the second one was a revelation - simply because several forum posts had suggested only marginal benefits. In retrospect I think this advice reflected older non-DR units.
When I later auditioned a Supercap DR the difference over 2 HC DRs was marginal such that I didn’t proceed with the SC.
The second HC just makes the music more natural and effortless with better, tighter bass.
Thanks for these responses, from what Svetty has said, an audition would be worthwhile as I should notice a big enough difference to help me make a judgment whether or not going for another HiCap is a good move for me.
Incidentally, Svetty I have recently replaced the standard Naim interconnect between the amps and HiCap with Witch Hat Audio Moranga cable and found similar improvements as you describe with the second HiCapDR.
GraemeH, my source is either an early post Cirkus LP12 or the CD or radio section of the first model Uniti.
Best wishes Amer
I had a 282 and HCDR into 250 DR. I went straight to a SuperCap DR and sold my HCDR. That not only gave me a major lift and revealed all the bass definition I was missing, but I was ready to pull the trigger when a good deal on a 252 came my way. I have since gone on to 300 DR as well. Dangerous these upgrade itches are.
I had 282/HCDR and a NDX2/XPSDR. Changing the HCDR to a SCDR provided a big lift across the board, for NDX2 as well as analog playback. I would say it was at least as much as adding XPSDR to NDX2, but perhaps even more.
the 282 is very well matched by HCDR feading it, I did not go down the second HCDR route but went to SC (No DR) which i still use with my 252 - the differnce for me was transformative, and even more on my LP12 282/SC is a lovely and well balanced together
so for me two choices, improve the source, either external PSU on CD player or improve the LP12 (using the budget of HDCR) your choice on your main source and favour that one
it’s a little bit of a win win - improve the 282 and both sources get the benifit or improve one source which is your pefered source
from my history I improved my main source LP12 and then amp and pre - my NDX is staying, I dont want to spend £££ on a 555 PSU, I am very happy where I am
The 282 can only take power from 4 rails, the Supercap has 12. If the plan is to eventually get a Supercap there is sense in the SC on the 282 as an interim step but otherwise you are only using a small proportion of its capability.
Alternatively if the sound benefits for you are worth the outlay does it matter if 2/3rds of the SC are unused in this arrangement?
I’m starting to conclude that a 555PS on the source is the way to go rather than a Supercap on the 282. Currently I’m slumming it with a single non DR HiCap.
If that’s your only source then it’s a very reasonable approach, but I would consider service and DR on the HiCap.
In my case I also have analog source I use more, so adding a XPS-DR to NDX2 and SC DR to 282 was the better approach for me, since the NDX2 got a lift on two counts and the analog source also benefited.
When a SuperCap is used with a 282, the connection is via two DIN SNAIC cables, limiting the use of DC poser rails from the SC. But when used with a 252, the connection is one DIN SNAIC for the digital controls and the other is a Burndy that takes advantage of the DC rails the SC has to offer. That’s part of what makes the 252 so much better. I went from 282/SCDR to 252/SCDR and the improvement was very significant. My wife noticed it immediately, from the hallway outside the listening room!
The posting from Josquin covers it. The Supercap outputs 12 power rails. Using 2 Snaics to a 282 uses 4 of these.
When used to power a 252 via a Snaic and Burndy all 12 rails are used.
Probably not relevant as I’m an “olive” chap, but on my 82, I found that going from 1xHC to 2xHC was a significant improvement, but that going from 2xHC to 1xSC was less so.
The upside was that I was then able say to a significant other that I had actually reduced the box count in the stack…subsequently however, the spare HCs found gainful employment powering Headline and Stageline units, so the box count went back up.
