500 series replacement imminent?

I would have thought so. A DR upgraded NAP250 should be just like a 250DR inside.

I donā€™t know.
Me and my mate vic would go in and just dream lol.
My first ever naim system came from there back in the day. Ā£5000 for amp, pre, cd 3.5, and 2 power supplies. Had it for over 20 years.
I loved going in and looking about, only a small shop with a nice naim demo room. But it was my favourite shop to visit when we went shopping back in the day to Northampton on a Saturday.

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My goodness I remember Listen Inn, I got my Linn/ARO and XX2 from them with Armageddon and Prefix, sounded great.

I donā€™t remember Peter Swain there, but this was circa 2001/2.

Tim

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Does this thread now answer the query nc 350 or 500DR? Naim not replacing the 500 just changing the look to suit the NC range suggests the 500DR is still the daddy.

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Summed up quite nicely I think. I spoke to Jason at the Bristol show and he confirmed that there was no immediate plans to replace the 500 series. A 552 and 500 rule unless you substitute the 552 for an S1 me thinks.

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To be fair they wonā€™t tell you anything different.

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Iā€™m down at the factory in a couple of weeks. Iā€™ll let you know if I see anything interesting but Iā€™ve known Jason for about 20 years and heā€™s always been pretty straight with his answers, so Iā€™ve no reason to doubt him.

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Indeed - and I did that demo and the S1 Pre was an amazing upgrade to my beloved 552 DR that I figured Iā€™d see-out my retirement with.

My experience, and it seems that of my Dealer too, is that people that hear it and can do so will aquire the S1 Pre and use it with 500DR Amps as they have a wonderful synergy.

The DR update to the 500 Amp was far larger in my system that the DR update was to my 552 Pre. The ā€˜gapā€™ between 552DR and S1 Pre is huge whiles the gap between 500DR and S1 Power Amps is just ā€˜largeā€™ but obviously still worthwhile if you can afford it.

The alternative path is Active with 500DR which I took as being less expensive than Passive with S1 Power Amps and to me giving superior results - S1Pre - 3x 500DR vs S1Pre - 2x S1 Monoblocks.
I discussed this a few years ago with the Statement designer while at a show and he agreed that the S1 Pre running Active with the lesser 500DR Amp was better than Passive with S1 Monoblocks with a given speaker. I donā€™t think it is a huge gap in performance but there is in price - and the music emphasis was different Active in the way I have come to prefer, so that was my choice. The S1 monoblocks will obviously allow a wider range of speakers to be considered as most are offered Passive only - and the the extra scale the S1 Amps bring are obvious. You get the scale and effortlessness also Active with just a differnt signature as I hear it.

To my point - The 552 will probably get the update ahead as there are more things in it that will lift performance, like the improved volume control, whereas I think the 500DR is already now an excellent enough amp in any system that you only need look further if you want to drive very large speakers into large rooms.

DB.

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Just have to ask, who is Jason?

Itā€™s a pointless conversation to have. Jason was also still traveling and demoing the old 200 and 300 series while he full well knew the new products were about to be released. Naim isnā€™t going to tell anyone anything that would hider sales of a current product. I believe the 500 series will be the last line replaced, but he still wouldnā€™t say anything either way.

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Then maybe you can answer my question Sf?

Jason Gould. Group area sales manager for Naim. Heā€™s the most well known rep.

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Thanks :+1:

Vehemently deny :laughing:

As above, Jasonā€™s a sales rep, his job is saleā€™s, no need to say anymore really.

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I do not believe there is any imminent refresh of the 500 series planned and hereā€™s why:

I knew about the 200 and 300 series months before release, in fact I was invited up to the factory to hear them and was obviously subject to a press embargo. Jason thus has trusted me in the past with future release information in confidence. At Bristol he was very keen to make it clear that thereā€™s nothing ā€˜in the wingsā€™ as far as 500 series goes and in fact part of the reason for the change to white lighting on the 500 series was to reinforce that point.

Like any company keen to remain competitive you can bet that R&D will be busy on future design and development work, but I believe Naim when they tell me that thereā€™s nothing arriving anytime soon.

Naim themselves believe the 500 series exceeds the capability of even a fully loaded 300 series system, something they demonstrated quite effectively at Bristol.

Of course they donā€™t tell me everything! I was banging on about how they should release a shoebox sized Nait and streamer combination when I was up there a couple of visits ago and they didnā€™t let on that they had the Nait 50 waiting in the wings. They told me later that they were trying not to giggle the whole time!! :wink: I plan to keep nagging them for a NAIS (Naim Audio Integrated Streamer) as I reckon that it would sell like hot-cakes!!

JonathanG

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It may not be imminent but i dont for a second believe they havenā€™t already got it sorted.
Naim would have worked out itā€™s road forward years ago.
They would have started working on the complete new range, 200, 300, 500, etc from the start. Worked out where each will sit, etc.
Like i said you donā€™t start from the bottom and try and work up.
Unless they donā€™t plan on doing another 500 series at all, but then they must do, dont they?

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Jason is also a Naim brand ambassador.

Quite apart from that heā€™s also a great guy, as Iā€™m sure anyone here who has met him would agree.

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Multiple people have used this as a buttress to the argument, but conveniently happen to leave out the fact that Naim used the S1 preamp and not the 552 during the audition. So it wasnā€™t really the full 500 series being auditioned.

Personally, I agree with you and also Dunc. They clearly were making a point by changing the LED lights on the 500 series white and discontinuing the green while leaving all of the old classic integrated amps and streamers green. However, I believe they are well into the 500 series replacements and know exactly when theyā€™ll be released.

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Iā€™ve got a second 500dr due in a week and a third on order to go active with the same amp combo that you use DB. Iā€™m moving my hifi into our 20ft x 13ft lounge shortly (my wife took some persuading but itā€™s the only way I can facilite three FRAIM racks etc). Iā€™m strengthening the suspended floor the week after next (Iā€™m an experienced Construction Joiner) and running all speaker cables under the sub floor. Also Iā€™m running 4 x dedicated supplies via 4 x 6mm cable for the system. My question to you is would you go with double unswitched sockets? I agree with you regarding the 500dr having its own socket I have been running everything else into a Chord M6 block. Iā€™ve read a few of your previous posts with great interest. If you have any relevant advise it would be gratefully appreciated.

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