300DR to 500DR - any regrets?

Hi-Fi Corner
21

Getting mine this Wed, hopefully is a wonderful pairing even for my Special 40 :laughing:

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22

Verdict?

23

Well, it certainly is better than my previous 250DR. But to be honest not by a wide margin. Thus a bit disappointed. But it could also be due to my speaker which is a quite cheap (in comparison to the rest of the system) Special 40. So I might not be doing anything justice to the 500-series I currently have now.

I am for sure saving up for a speaker change as well as upgrade to full Fraim from Friam Lite.

Also want to improve my network switch to better ones as streaming seems to be a bit hit and miss.

Overall after spending these much on all 6 Naim boxes, I canā€™t say I am terribly happy. But it could just down to my other optimization not being done right. :man_shrugging:t2:

Who knows this game is abit hard to get right.

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24

This would be my guess. Good as special 40ā€™s are, there are quite more special loudspeakers around. Youā€™ve the ideal source / amp stage so Iā€™d start enjoying the fun of trying different loudspeakers.

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What is the general consensus on the following 2 options if only 1 of them is achievable?

1/ NAC 252 ā†’ NAC 552

2/ 300DR ā†’ 2x NAP 350 monoblocks

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Option 1 IMV.

It lets far more information through and provides a far greater insight in to the music.

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27

If you subscribe to Linnā€™s ā€œsource firstā€ reasoning, then it has to be your first option.

(But I donā€™t see any need to ā€œupgradeā€ from my NAC52 - which does everything that I could ever want or need.)

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28

Go for Nac 252 to 552 an extremely big upgrade,a jaw dropping experience.

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29

Truly exciting just to think of it. I will take my sweet time on speaker choice heheā€¦

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30

Well Ā£50k Naim amps with a Ā£3k speaker seems really imbalanced in my view. A while back I compared a Ā£10k increase on Naim amps versus a Ā£10k increase in B&W speakers and to me and my wife the the more expensive speaker option won easily. This was in the dealerā€™s demo room and my house. Recently I heard the Rega NAIA but with less expensive speakers and amps than my own at the dealers and the overall result wasnā€™t as good as my cd system and this with the NAIA being one of the very best sources available. So in my view with your fabulous source and amps a better full range speaker would be very worthwhile.

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31

I didnā€™t make the move from 300DR to 500DR but I made the step still in non DR version. And last year moved up from non DR 500 to a DR500.

But talking about the move from 300 to 500. I still remember my first reaction when the switch happened, I got really tears in my eyes. So much more, so much better tonal accuracy etcā€¦ while moving to DR it was a further move into refinement, extension and soundstageā€¦., but the move from 300 to 500 is magical. Canā€™t imagine somebody would have a regretā€¦.

Only regret might be why didnā€™t I do it beforeā€¦.

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32

To join in with the other contributors your system, not just the 500, deserves a speaker of something like Dyna Confidence 20 or Kudos 505s, at the moment itā€™s making all that wonderful music that isnā€™t getting through to you.

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Understandable. I upgraded my Naim boxes in earnest and just leave the speaker there unchanged with each iteration. Not complaining though. Now I just need to decide which speaker to go for. Save up for my 2025 speaker year. No more purchases for me in 2024.

My shortlist as follow:

  1. Focal Scala Utopia
  2. Kudos Titan 808
  3. Marten Parker Trio
  4. Wilson Audio SabrinaX
  5. Dynaudio Confidence 30
  6. Magico A5
  7. Stenheim Alumine 3

Welcome more suggestions :drooling_face:

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34

2024 has only just begin, okay like me you did all the damage on 2023!

Neat Ultimatum XL10.

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35

As everyone says speaker preferences are highly subjective. I have heard most of the speakers on your list and didnā€™t really like them or thought they didnt go well with 552/500.

Some other possibilities for you:

Audiovector R6 Arete
Wilson benesch Act 3Zero
Vimberg Mino
TAD Speakers (the highest one you can afford)

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36

Good to research on. Tks for your listing!

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37

Indeed 2024 is my saving year. All damages is some year ago which I cannot recall :crazy_face:

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38

I had the same idea. Itā€™s been 2 days into the new year and Iā€™m already looking at a Nait 1. No use for it other than to display and marvel at its beauty.

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39

I agree with @Ardbeg10y . The Dynaudio special 40 are more suited to an XS3 or SN3 amp, rather than 552/500 dr. So itā€™s not surprising that you havenā€™t heard a big uplift when going from 250 dr to 500 dr.
You have a wonderful system which deserves just better speakers.

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40

Nice!

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