Exactly so.
I made a reference to my old 250.2. That apart, everyone has been talking about the NC250 launched last year.
OK, so today I had my 222/300/250 vs 333/332/250 demo. Speakers were Spendor D7.2. Demo room is larger than mine, so I have booked a home demo to follow next week.
So, with my old (66 years) ears (plus annoying tinnitus) I could certainly hear the difference, more so on tracks with percussion and/or complexity. The 300 series just sounded more believable even on heavily āproducedā tracks. There was more separation between instruments and voices - less blurred if you will.
However, since I only have budget right now for 222/250 without creating ādomestic issuesā - with a speaker upgrade already planned for mid-year - Iāve opted to go for the 222/250 without the NPX 300. If I succumb to āupgraditisā down the line Iāll take another look at the NPX 300 and/or 333/332. For now the additional Ā£6k/Ā£10.1k upfront just puts them out of reach.
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Btw, I really liked the Spendor D7.2s, so they are on my home demo list (together with Kudos S20a). I much preferred the D7.2s to the A7s I heard in a previous 200 series dealer demo. As my room is quite small (3.5m x 4.7m) Iām hoping the downward facing port on the D7.2s will help with positioning.
It might not matter but the bass reflex port of the 7.2 is not downward firing. Itās a regular backwards firing port with a special design to the port they call linear flow.
That said I love my Spendor D 9
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Clearly thatās my misunderstanding. Thanks for the correction. That said, I believe they arenāt fussy about placement (according to the reviews Iāve read) which is a positive in a small room.
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I havenāt heard the 7 but the 9 are one of the best speakers I have heard. However, in my room, they need a lot of space and are placed baffle 182 cm from the front wallš±. I think the room has a big impact on where you can place your speakers though so give them a try.
The bass from the D9s would be greater which likely makes placement more of a challenge 
.
I mainly find the perspective in depth and width becomes constrained when the speakers are close to front wall and side walls. It becomes less airy and the sound doesnāt ābreathā in the same way. Mine are also 113 cm from sidewalls to center of speaker cones. So close to walls seems constrained and far from walls breathy 
Iāve owned bothā¦ I had a 222/250 NC when they were released, then 222/350x2 when the 350s were available. Now a 333/332/350x2.
The 222 is a wonderful piece of gear, and frankly much more usable. Itās a step backward from a usability perspective with the 332/333. The optical link does most things OK, but the analogousness of the controls of the 332 donāt completely play nice with the 333 software based controls. Had I not first had the 222 or previous naim gear this wouldnāt have likely bothered me.
As for the sound. The big win was moving from the 250 to the 350x2 amps. Massive overall improvement in the dynamics of the music. The 250 was no slouch, in fact it was really really good. The 350s are just different league entirely.
The 333/332 is certainly a big improvement, but I would have been quite happy just saying with the 222. To me the differences are most pronounced in the micro-dynamics and nuances of the music and imagining. Itās just more detailed with the 333/332. But not remotely as wide a margin as the 250 to 350 amp swapā¦
The best bang for the buck in my humble opinion is the 222/350x2 combination.
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Yes, nice summary and may be the case especially with your speakers.
I am guessing with the speakers/room being the same across all configurations, they likely have little to do with the differences between the configurations of Naim gear. But, for what itās worth they are Dynaudio Confidence 20.
yes, noticed you seem to have the Confidence 20, hence my comment
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Iāll just have to see how they work then. My current speakers are 60cm from back and side walls. I could increase the distance to the back wall, but they are already quite close together (just under 2m apart) so I canāt do much there. I do have them toed in to point directly at the listening position which helps with side wall reflections.
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Wow, youāve certainly flashed the cash in 2023 . Iām sure your 333/332/350 system sounds awesome! Pity my pockets arenāt quite so deep!
Itās interesting what you say about the usability of the 222 compared to the 333/332. Iād have thought they would operate very similarly.
I think I saw within the thread that you are going to try Kudos S20A as part of your home demo. I currently use a pair of these attached to 222/300 into NC250. I have them positioned just 10-15 cm away from back wall with no detrimental impact on SQ that I can hear (YMMV). They have a downward firing port which fires onto the bottom plinth so I believe that Kudos have tuned the port to operate at that distance. I also have the speakers on Gaias which I feel further enhances SQ. Floor is concrete with engineered wood on top.
Whilst I consider what would I change I suspect that in reality it will not be anything as the current boxes provide sounds that suit both myself and Mrs O and cost to improve gets significantly higher (note to self - must do lottery ticket 
). Music is fairly wide ranging - classical, blues, very light jazz, prog rock, female vocal (folk/indie/country), piano, nothing too heavy from a rock perspective.
Good luck with the auditions and do keep us informed as to how it goes.
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Sorry for thread drift but that is interesting. Have you tried them out of the room boundaries? Maybe a meter or so out from the walls depending on your room dimensions?
Unfortunately not possible due to furniture and consideration to aesthetic requirement of Mrs O.
Link to image.
I see. Then you probably shouldnāt try them out in the room. It just might sound so much better you need to sit down and negotiate the layout of the roomā:sweat_smile:
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Ah, good to know about the downward firing port on the Kudos S20a - I was sure one of my shortlist speakers had one! Iāll certainly be giving them a home demo. Thanks for the info.
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