Have to say if I ended up in this position I’d have to try active ATCs with the 552.
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This makes perfect sense to me. The climb itself is instructive and fun and we hear great music along the way. I think it’s human nature for many of us, after a period of time, to ponder, “what else?”
I love our 500 series and in our current home it fits the large room. Next home . . . maybe somewhere “out west” . . . surely will be a bit smaller. At that time a smaller footprint hi fi will be a requirement.
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I would love a 500 series Naim streaming pre but suspect that will not happen. I do expect the next 552 to have a built in headphone amp which would reduce cables box count.
I did sell my Nap 300 and super lumina cables a while ago and now have a 552 into active ATC’s with NDS/555dr - sounds great and less boxes etc. but would still like a smaller footprint…
Gary
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Been in the same process, but unfortunatelly still ahead of selling the old property and preparing for the move. To remove the footprint of the hifi, I decided to build up just one fraim tower. 552Dr/ Superline directly from the pre, 552PS and aquired a 2nd hand 200 Dr. Packed down the 500Dr and the Superline-Supercap into the storage. The whole process started with a holiday pause, so 6 weeks without music before building up the tower.
Listened to music since the summer on this combo and must say it was really satisfying and engaging. After 2 month, an opportunity came up and a friend gave me his Dartzeel 8550 with a riaa on board for some days on loan. This golden fellow was really fun to listen to and didn’t miss out to put a smile on my face. A butter-smooth presentation with tight slam in the lower octaves. Astonishing fast too. Independent of genre of the music the Zeel was amazingly engaging. One box in the size of a 500Dr head unit replaced 4 boxes on the fraim. I rate the pre-section of the 552Dr/Superline maybe bit higher, but the 200Dr definitely stand no chance here. So altogeth this golden box may equals a 252/superline/supercap/250Dr or 300Dr ? Which would be quite of an archivement in such compact size.
I wanted to know, so last week I brought the 500Dr and the Supercap DR back into the game and installed it on 2 fraim towers. Seeing the 500 head unit in it‘s pure form is always a joy. What a masterpiece of industrial design, far beyond it‘s pure function as an amplifier, build by people with visions. Maybe I just forgot within the last few month what this objects were able to do 
From the first notes and even still cold, it was obvious, what a 500 set is able to archive and far more then can be simply expressed in hifi attributes.
A Dartzeel Integrated doesn’t necessarily replace a 500 set for me, but I still would feel privileged to own one. Beyond I assume the sell of a 500 set right now will unfortunately not generate enough funds to cover the costs of the enormous new investment. But I guess one need to be prepared to pay some tributes in this transition process, if it is really so necessary to go into this process right now.
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The soundstage is bigger overall and more revealing in bass midrange and treble. The Progression has more power at 200 watts into 8 ohms and also 400 watts into 4 ohms. The Wilson’s love current. Avoided upgrading the 300 to 500 because of the cost and also wanted to reduce the number of boxes and cables
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After 20+ years a new found desire to:
to see less boxes in the room
less mumbo jumbo of cables
no more listening to the 24/7 sound of a hornets nest of buzzing transformers
lack of interest in annual cleaning cable connections
lack of interest in Fraim rebuilding and dropping balls
lack of interest in putting it all back together and the art of cable dressing/Burndy flexing/snaic shaking
and finally
a desire for simplicity, a change, and something new
the belief, that for me, my new system sounds better than my previous 552/500 across a multiple of different metrics
Let’s face it - at the level of 552/500 ownership there are a number of alternatives and Naim does not have a monopoly on totl end game sound. At this level of gear, for the most part, they all sound great. A great Super Tuscan, a legendary Bordeaux, a Chateau Yquem desert wine, you must admit they all taste great and represent the best on offer.
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Indeed, but as someone not susceptible to “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” syndrome, nor prone to major changes in my desires and likes, what intrigues me and prompted my question is how seemingly for a good number of 500 series owners that system had been something they have built up as a major goal, greatly prided themselves on having, in some cases spent a lot of tweaking to perfect, and in quite a few cases spent a lot of time on this forum saying how wonderful it is - yet now it many seem to be almost itching to dump it.
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I use the Classic amp with Kharma DB7’s Bart.
I live in an apartment building, so can not rattle the walls like someone living in a house. I love the sound mine produces with a Lumin P1 front end, specifically low volume listening is a joy.
Keep in mind you can flip a switch on the back of the Classic amp, doubling it’s power, to use it as a monoblock.
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Well I for one did not denigrate it or say it was not wonderful. I still consider the 552/500 to be in the company of many other totl end game systems. I listed my particular bucket list of reasons why I made a change. I am sure others have their own reasons as well.
Eventually there will be a 500 series replacement however, imho, this is still a ways out. If Naim were to consider a single box super uber integrated, or at the most an integrated with an optional ps (which I am sure most would go for), then I am sure many will be tempted. As for myself the days of multiple black boxes, SNAIC’s and Burndys, many glass shelves and fiddly balls, etc. are over - for me. For others YMMV.
PS
still not leaving the Naim universe. It may be time to take my Allaes out of storage and connect them up to my restored Nait 2. I may have to break down however, ditch the NACA, and replace it with some bendy Kudos KS1 cable. Easier to get around the corners 
I don’t have a 500-series system, but I do have a top shelf Classic system.
If I got an insurance check for the full value, I wouldn’t replace it because it’s all now discontinued. My Naim dealer is mostly interested in carrying the lifestyle products and has little interest carrying the NC stuff on demo. However, they are also a Boulder and Simaudio dealer. I would consider a Boulder system to replace what I have. Otherwise, the new Simaudio North collection looks like it has promise.
I would look at sourcing similar 500 series components. Don’t have a 500DR but at some stage (when everyone else has ditched theirs for a NAIT 50 !) I will possibly add one in.
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Linn 360 w/Klimax …. ? Active route …?
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Innocent bystander
For me a few things glevethan has said are also true for me.
I had been the loyal naim owner for many a decade and worked my way up the boxes till i reached 500 level. But i could probably blame my hifi dealer for where i am now, as up to a point i didn’t even bother looking at anything else at all. It was only when i wanted to make the jump from NDS to ND555 that things changed and if i had found that to be to my liking then i guess i would now be still with a full 500 system or maybe even have a S1.
But i am not and that’s it really.
100% anyone with a 500 system should be happy with it and i was. The price new off this now isn’t great i feel but then almost all the prices are the same as in not great. It’s just that there are many ways to do these day’s, i also feel that you as a person change and want to hear thing’s differently and naim has in the past had it’s own sound and it was this that first got me into an olive system. But these day’s that sound isn’t for me, the new gear has certainly moved in a direction that is more like everything else but still a bit naimie but now for me it really isn’t what i am looking for maybe the new 500 gear will be.
But even if the new 500 smashed it out the park, i would not want to go back to a 4 box amp and pre amp as i have enough boxes already and a one box supper integrated like what i have is more what i would be interested in.
But i fully get why people want to build up to a full 500 system and i hope when you do it all work out for you as sometimes fulfilling dreams isn’t what the dream was like.
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You moved on It is good to go new ways to archive progress.
In my opinion, the 500 set, and even at it‘s price tag today, is still a bargain in this class though. Your new Dartzeel separates are at least twice the price. The large HD Nagras cost even more ( The classic Nagras looks amazing, but doesn’t really replace the 500) and by the way also at least the same count of boxes.
Linn, Gryphon, Vitus, Ch Precision , Solution etc.? Really? Maybe Kondo and Air Tight though. But here the price tags are even worse.
I really understand, why you went with the Dartzeels.
The dressing of the fraims and cables took me 1-2 hours. Not that I shout out for it, but it’s part of the hobby. Peace for at least 1/2 year from now
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The “answer” lies in your first words . . . I don’t know if we could call it “personality” or just “how we’re wired” or what . . . but there clearly is a broad spectrum that ranges approx. from “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” to “I wonder what else is out there.”
We know people who take the same summer vacation every year; they rent the same home on Cape Cod for the same two weeks, and by all appearances they love it. My wife and I are not wired that way at all. Cannot fathom it.
IMHO truly enjoying something and investing significant money and pride in it is not antithetical to wanting to experience something else. Because the “M” in IMHO means “my” and that’s how I’m wired. Life would be boring if we all were wired the same . . . and I appreciate and sometimes am jealous in a way of people who are wired like you. It would save me a lot of $$$!
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Good to hear! As I wrote earlier, there is a lot I like about the Nagra lines . . . it’ll be a contender whenever “next” occurs.
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I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying their 500 system. But so many of us arrived there over many different upgrades over time. I didn’t go from zero to 500 in one lick. I think that’s how so many of us ended up with 7 boxes or more for one source. Starting from scratch with a nice budget, I don’t think many of us would immediately go the 500 route with all the wires, cables, frame, etc., that we have now. I wouldn’t for one second.
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All the various responses to my query are interesting and informative.
As for holidays, I’ve very rarely been to the same place twice… As for my hifi, it does it so well for me that there’s a good chance I’d get as close a system to it as I could if I were to suffer the OP’s scenario - though I guess that if I had the time I’d listen to some alternatives before committing.
Where can I see this video. Link please