The cables from the 552 to the 300/500 are mono and left-right specific. So if you don’t hear anything you may have the XLRs in the opposite channel of the 300/500.
Couple of numpty questions.
Which DIN input should I use for the turntable (the NDX2 is in input 2).
Can I use the RCA inputs 8 & 9 as outputs to my headphone amp (I currently use erotic RCA cables from the NDX2 to my headphone amp).
I have a spare Powerline now, should I run that on the Uniti Core?
Then don’t give it another thought. The other mystery to uncover is if in the future you prefer the 300DR to the 500 or the 500DR. There are a few camps of opinion and I would just say if you cross that bridge get an extended listen.
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On the 252 did you have a StageLine? It gets connected to the dual din connector.
If you had a superline + sc then that can go to any 5-din I believe.
If you have a StageLine it looks like input 7 to power it.
Also not all the inputs are enabled. So you may need to factory reset the inputs if the buttons on the front don’t make sense when you try changing sources.
On the headphone amp it sounds like you need to get a 5-din out to rca cable if it is not a NAIM headline. This is not a normally found cable so you may want to talk to your dealer.
Also the signal direction on the cable if you got 5-din to RCA would most likely assume RCA is the source and din the destination (preamp).
You would need source being the monitor out pins on the 5-din with the cable direction toward the RCAs as destination.
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It’s a Rega phono stage. I just had on one of the Aux imputs on the 252, so I’ll just try those. My dealer is on stand by to make up a lead for my Heed Canalot, I was just wondering whether I could use the RCA plugs on the 552 - it wasn’t possible on the 252.
Then you are set with the Rega as any 5-din will do.
Glad you have already talked to the dealer on the pre to headphone amp cable.
One thing to try when you want to go insane (seriously). Connect only one source cable to the 552 and leave the unused sources disconnected. Even on a S1 you may notice that when the other sources are connected it is a touch less lovely.
Also they should prescribe Zanax with all Naim gear because it is definitely a topic of much OCD for me.
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That’s a very cool set up you’ve got there now…
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Interesting, I don’t recall that analogy but it seems apt to my experience with the 200 and 250. The 200 was such a forgettable amp for me. As well as the SN1. Worst Naim products I’ve owned.
Do people really consider the 300 thin? That’s pretty remarkable based on what I’ve read but I read a lot of positive reviews about the 200 as well.
If you look on the previous forum circa 2004/2005 there were many references to the 250 being phat and same with the 500
Ok maybe not thin, but certainly not phat
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Isn’t it also often many claim non DR is more “fat” than DR which is more transparent and “fast”? 250.2 vs 250DR for example seem to have rather different presentation as do 500 vs 500DR etc. I know some that prefer non DR since they think they sound warmer and more “analogue”.
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I honestly don’t have experience of DR’ed naim stuff. I had the chance to do the DR upgrades but refused because of the cost. I just did the service and recapping. Can’t comment about the DR effect but I would say that it lowers the noise floor but does not change the character of the amplification but of course I could be wrong
The thin phat thin phat could also be cast in phat = flat-earth and thin = round-earth (aka hi-fi)
Personally I have had a 52/SC + 2x 135 which was very nice.
But before I sent them in to get serviced I moved to a 252/scdr + 250.2 (later DRed).
I felt the new gear blew the older olive gear away but in fairness they were due to be serviced and the gap would have been closer.
Setting aside PRaT, it was the increased transparency of the new gear that caught my attention. I had a similar experience when the 250 was DRed.
For a short while I had the 252/SCDR connected to my 500DR and that was a pretty amazing improvement even though the 500 is effectively a bridged 300.
With the ND555 into the 552DR + 500DR into Quad ESL57 (SL cables end to end) I have hit a place where it now just listening to music and not a space race to the next purchase.
In a couple of years I will get my 552 and 500 serviced and I should be set until at least 2037-2040.
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Well I’ve just wrapped up a listening session with my brother on Christmas evening, he wanted to test how loud it could go. The back story is that this brother introduced me to rock music and hi-fi when I was a teenager. So, here we are some 30 odd years later, which is wonderful.
We watched some of Roger Waters “Us and Them” blu-ray, had an interval to play some pool, and then pull out some live Neil Young and Crazy Horse (Rust Never Sleeps and Weld). The later we had up around 11, as my brother likes to be absorbed in the music. Well, the system was just amazing. Honestly, the 300 was pumping those Forests with ease and the presentation with the 552, you really felt like you were at the front of an immense 70’s rock concert. Breath taking stuff really, the attack, timing and control was superb. Simply delighted and very grateful to have been able to get to this stage with such a quality system. Much credit goes to the great friendship and support of the forum to build knowledge and have confidence with what, in my case, was a blind purchase.
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11 is pretty loud…….still did not wake me up.
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Interesting your choice of the Quad ESL 57. They were designed in the 60’s , 70’s ? What so specific do they have vs other speakers? First time I see someone with such system, full 500 series into ESL 57.
And why not ESL 63 or some modern Martin Logan for instance?
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It is indeed, but one needs to feel the air moving 
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I went from a 300 to a 2003/2014 serviced, 500. It was the best VFM upgrade I’ve made but… I’m councious my 500 will need a service in a few years and who knows what it will be worth then?
However, I was never fortunate enough to try a 300DR. It was a very close call for me which way to go and looking back I think I only went 500 because the right unit came up at the right price first.
I loved my 300, and I’m sure I’d have loved the DR even more. I think it’s hard to go wrong with Naim at this level.
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I think you have a perfectly balanced system Mike, and that’s a great place to be. Every component optimised to its fullest extent
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