Currently happy owner of a SN3/HiCap DR combo.
Will swapping the SN3 for a 282 give an improvement in SQ, when used only with the NAPSC and HiCap?
Obviously adding the SN3 as power amp, or a Nap200/250DR will be a big step up, that is not in question ;).
I did the same pgrade and uplift was big. More soundstage, more details, even more volume as 282 has better gain than sn3. Sn is a good machine, but 282 plays a different league. Than I sold the sn and bought 250 dr, there was a further uplift, but smaller than the 282 one. You won’t regret
There are other threads worth reading - try the Search function.
FWIW, I think the consensus is that 282/HC/SN (as power amp) beats SN3/HC as preamp into 200 or 250, though both beat SN3/HC and all 3 are beaten by 282/HC/250.
Where that doesn’t hold true, I’d guess it’s because of demanding speakers. In any event, it’s ideal if you can listen before you buy, your opinion may not be the same as mine or consensus.
Good luck!
Thanks guys, interesting but not an answer to my exact question. Anyone has this exact experience?
If you SWAP your SN3 for a 282 you won’t have a power amp. So nobody will have heard that exact experience. Literally 
So the posters above have covered the usual upgrade routes.
If you get a 282 use 282 as pre with SN3 as power amp.
I was told that the HiCap can also act as power amp. What i do not understand. Hence my question.
No the Hicap is a power supply only.
It is not a power amp.
You can use a 282 as a preamp connected to the power amp in the Supernait if you want to. This may be useful as an interim upgrade, but then it is cheap or possibly no cost to trade in the Supernait for a 200 or 250.
I added a NAC 282 to a SN 2 a few years ago and it was and excellent upgrade. I had a HiCapDR on the SN 2 and just moved that to the NAC 282. No long after that I did trade in my SN 2 for a 1 year old NAP 250 DR that was being traded in at my dealer. I did demo both the preamp and poweramp at home in my enviornment prior to making the purchase. So demo in your room with your system with your ears to be 100% sure it is worth what you are paying.
I have no regrets and happily enjoy my system for a portion of every day that I am home.
Good luck with your decision…
Thought this might help ?
Just a couple of relevant post from a recent thread…
You are welcome to read the whole thread. Or, at least the section (in time) where we used 282 + HCDR → SN3 (power amp only) → passive speakers. As there maybe other related topics of interest to you, for your journey.
In answer to your OP, the 282 separate pre amp is generally regarded as a better pre-amp than the one used in the SN3 integrated amplifier. Our own experience certainly agrees with this consensus. In the above posts, the differences are highlighted. Also, might suggest the power amp section in the SN3 is actually really good and would have been more than happy to continue to us this, if we stayed with passive speakers.
Hope all that helps. Good luck.
R
I can see how the confusion might arise if English is not your first language, since the Hicap would power the preamp, much as an unregulated Naim power amp would. Then again, empathy is often in short supply on the internet.
Thanks all. Case closed.
But then you got a supercap…
252 incoming
The SuperCap DR decision was made quite easy when NAIM announced they were discontinuing the product and my dealer provided an additional discount with a lovely trade-in allowance for my HiCap DR.
Being that I am now in my mid-seventies and I have not seen any used NAC 252’s come on the market in the Seattle area I doubt I will move up the ladder any further. Never say Never, but if I was to purchase a 252 I would need to have time with it for a demo to insure that it works in my room with my system with my ears.
Nigel please a little tolerance doesn’t go amiss, particularly when English may not be the first language.
not a good story for my bank balance!
There is a whole world of information at our fingertips and pictures of the back of a Hicap are independent of language. We can all do a little investigation I’m sure.
JanW appears to be Dutch and the Dutch appreciate directness.
I wondered whether the forum would be able to present a flag, or something similar, to indicate our first language. It is often impossible to work out that someone’s may not be English.
