The whole basis of upgrades is that more details, more layers should enhance the listening experience. Have you enjoyed a pop song on the radio but not enjoyed it so much on a good HiFi system? Some music seems better on less revealing systems. An impressionist painting can look great even though it is not detailed! However, unless it is a poor recording, eg many pop songs, good recordings should be improved by the better amp but each of us has to find what works best for us.
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I think there may be something in that. The 552 is much better than the 252 and I am pleased with it. I just wonder whether it is too much for the 300DR or as suggested my room. I donāt think it is the room as I am not hearing mismatchās, booming or screechy trebles or any obvious signs of such. I also need to be patient before jumping to any conclusions. I have a plan to goto a Naim streamer if they get the feature I want, and a Nap 500DR. The recent price rise announcement will probably get me to downgrade from new to previously owned on the 500, so if I donāt like the final set up I wouldnāt lose too much by revising my thoughts and selling on. I will give it six months of listening though.
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Itās not a downgrade. Naim kit run well for YEARS and then are serviceable and restorable to essentially as-new. If I could have found a 500DR gently used Iād have bought it.
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I would imagine rather well. Iād need to have a side by side comparison though. Iām also a fan of Naim and wouldnāt want to leave the fold without trying all possibilities within. So for me its early days to be even contemplating the thought. I think if I were an audiophile I would probably have gone down the route of having a listening room and treating it and any kit as a complete system to be tinkered with.
I do need to repeat the point though, that these are early thoughts about differences I am noticing, and not a thread about any dissatisfaction with the 552.
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Canāt you just borrow a better source from a dealer and see if things change. If itās restore a better and more balanced sound, you will know that the 552 has to stay.
No.
Hi Bruss,
Unfortunately nail hit squarely on the head. Iām still with my 552 and 135ās while my NAP500 is at the factory. And as good as the 135ās are it aināt the same. The 552 does bring out the best in them but the 500 has a power and ability to push stuff dynamically that is missing with the 135ās. Problem is, that itās this stuff that make the hairs on the back of your neck standard up. The musical realism with a 500DR is in another league Iām afraid.
As someone has already mentioned, you need a really good source. I get a similar drop in realism when I listen to my Node against ny CDP555. And Iām one of those that thinks the Node punches way above itās weight. The 552 seems to exploit all these little nuances in a kind of āsum of the whole is greater than the sum of the partsā kind of way.
Hang in there itās still early days.
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Thanks for that. I am thinking of xpsdr/ndx2 rather than the 555 pair though. Iād like to think though that my current P8/ hanna/ Gold Note setup is good enough for vinyl.
Always worth remembering that the 552/500 came before CD555 so a CDS3/XPS was thought to be a good match.
I run a ND555 into a NAC552 and a NAP300dr.
I donāt feel that the 300 is not up to the job. Much pleasure with.
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The 552 absolutely shows you everything that your source has and doesnāt have. Digital or vinyl. This is why these āupgrade loopsā get so āinsidious.ā The old mantra about āsystem balanceā is true.
Your system may be source-light and out of balance. The issues youāre hearing may be due to the source(s) not that 300DR. The only way to know is to spend some time with better sources in your home system. A few days listen with something borrowed from your dealer would be ideal.
I missed your vinyl set up . Much better. I think itās on the level, just enough.
I have no dealer in the back end of rural France. I know that my future listening source will be predominantly streamed content. I also suspect that my node/Qutest can be bettered, but I want the functionality built in. Naim doesnāt have that yet. I hear what you are saying re source but my gut instinct is telling me this extra layering isnāt about the source.
Richard Dane has the 552 with 250 dr. Simon S had the same combo. And recently Nigel B. And all were satisfied. So I donāt think your 552 needs absolutely a 500 dr.
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I donāt think I need a 500 but then I didnāt think I needed anything more that a Nait2 at one time. 
I believe that Naim have got their matching sets just about right though and just maybe the 500 would bring the best out of the 552.
I think my path is still to try a 500DR and then upgrade the streaming source. I will then know rather than forever ask myself the question as to whether I have found my personal Naim limit. No rush though. Iāve come a long way in the last 20 months and another six months or so isnāt going to be a problem.
Also 552/250DR here, for now.
G
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I didnāt find the 552 added anything to the sound, when I didnāt have it and used my rossini built in pre direct to the 500dr, but I did find once I got my 552 back it had more of a dynamic sound, but everything else was he same, or as far as I could tell. I havenāt bothered trying it since as it sounds so bloody good.
But as with all this, your system is only as good as the worst part and itās so easy to un balance it all, be it with a pair of very transparent speakers, pre, etc, it will start to show up whatās bad in the system, the good bit is get it all good and its fantastic, so much so you wonāt believe the difference
I ran a 552 / 300 for many years and its a fantastic combo. I donāt think the 552 needs a 500 by any stretch of the imagination but I agree with other comments about it needing a good source.
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The NAC552 shines even with a NAP110.
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