Been reading the other long thread on the SMC40a with interest.
Home demo notwithstanding, I plan to move to these next. Currently 272 as source, but if I upgrade that, what would people go for?
Ndx2/252/supercap dr is an option, but are there other (hush my mouth, maybe not even Naim) streamers I should consider? Views welcome, to draw up a shortlist from…
linn dsm, or kdsm. one box.
Chord Dave, fed by your choice of renderer or store/renderer, e.g. Uniti Core, Melco, Innuos, Mac Mini/Audirvana or as some people do, with the rendering section of one of Naim’s streamers, e.g NDX or NDX2, alternatively fed by a CD player of your choice.
272 more than good enough. I use a Benchmark DAC3 HGC which I bought because I needed to downsize when I moved out for the builders a couple of years ago . It’s an excellent DAC that I’ve kept longer than expected, I would like something with a streamer built in though .
Otherwise the Auralic Vega G2 is superb , I tried it here but the only thing I didn’t like was the functionality as you couldn’t change source through the app ( at that time) and no remote provided . I use my DAC for multiple digital inputs.
Obviously Chord Dave / TT2 and by all accounts the DCS Bartók into ATC is excellent at a price .
Also , you never know what Naim may bring out in the near future? I’m content to wait for now . I wouldn’t be in a rush to change your 272 .
I moved from 272 to dCS Bartok into active ATCs without preamp
Inferring your budget, the Bartok would be worth a listen
was the increase in sound important?
I agree about the Vega G2. That’s what I’m listening to as I type. I compared it with a 272/XPSDR both at the dealer’s and at home. Both sounded very good but for my taste in music the Vega had an extra level of realism and musical communication without losing the Naim virtues so I decided to trade in my 272 and PS for the Auralic (rather than wait for 272 Mk2) when I got the ATCs. The Auralic also has balanced outputs to match the ATCs, but I’m not sure how much SQ difference that makes. It’s possible to build up a full G2 stack (external clock, upsampler etc) but I’m currently sold on the one box + speakers setup and my bank account’s happier too!
BTW You can change source in the Lightning app now, but it’s a bit hidden in the menu. Auralic still don’t include a remote as the Vega can learn signals from any IR remote. And you can then use that to change source. Alternatively you can always ask your dealer to get an Auralic one for you with the Vega.
Roger
I’m glad they sorted the app out , I did send a couple of Emails to Auralic so I will take some credit for that 
.The Vega is a very nice DAC .
With the Vega does it stream straight from Tidal/Spotify or upnp disk and then straight into atc’s? Or dues it need a dedicated transport too?
dCS looks nice if expensive
dCS Bartok without headphone amp is just under £10K
NDX2, 252 and Supercap new would be £16K
Have you set a budget, xcentric?
Not used 
Bartok so new none on sh market. Ditto ndx2, but 252/super cap are.
But agree, essentially the same that route.
Anyone had both?
which would you go for by preference?
How about putting a 555PSDR on the 272?
I left naim in the form of 252/SCDR/300DR/ NDX, when I got my ATC 40a, for Auralic Vega G2,
Never regretted it for a second, not to knock Naim in anyway. Auralic was better than 272 by the way.
As always go to your dealer and have a demo !
If you like the general sound of the 272 then you would love it with the 555PS.best way to go in my opinion. Cost effective
hmmm interesting. Have a good opportunity to get a 252/supercap dr, but am thinking that the Auralic or dCS Bartok may be a better bet, as I’d still have to source an NDX 2.
Nice decisions to have. Guess I can resell the 252/sc dr if I need to…
(no, I can’t keep it for a second system :-))
Have you written off the idea of adding a 555 to the 272? It would surely be worth trying.
My main reason was a serious black box reduction and corresponding cables.Then when I discovered the wonderful sound of the Auralic, there was no gong back.
If your spending this amount of money surely you owe it to yourself to listen to some other options.But good luck.
A nice review here of the 272 with ATC 40 active , a very good place to start and as others say a 555 PS would be a great 2 box system.
Not written off the 555. Open to all options. But a good 252/SCDR doesn’t come up too often at a good price and recently serviced, hence the rush for views…
I use Linn ADSM with My SCM40A. Demoed around half a dozen dac-preamps (272 was one of them) and ended up with this. Linn has ”unfair” advantage with their space optimisation though. That was one of the main reasons why I ended up with ADSM.