Contemplating buying a nac 252, need advice

The nac is most likely a no-brainer but putting it in my Isoblue rack might be difficult given this forums advice and apparent sensitivity regarding placement and cable dressing. Now to my q: How would you solve putting a 252 and supercap in this rack? 202 and hicapdr will obviously be removed from the equation

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You could move the two stacks further apart. Put the SC where the NAP is now, and put the NAP beneath it. Hopefully that will keep everything off the floor.

NAC252 goes where NAC202 is now.

I’d put some floor protectors down on that nice wooden floor too against the Isoblue spikes.

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Thanks for for your thoughts on that. The floor isn’t real wood and very hard but that was very thoughtful of you. If I do pull them apart it might be nice with a plant inbetween hiding the cables in mid air.

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Is there any way you could move the TT off the top shelf (perhaps install a TT wall shelf) and have the 252 on the top shelf? In my experience the 252 was very sensitive to placement and much preferred it on the top shelf of the brains stack.

I doubt that would be possible because of the distance to the sidewall and the fact that the wall behind the stacks is treated. Maybe to one side of the diffusers/absorbers but that would perhaps make it difficult to use and not that estetic. The stacks are aproximately 70cm from backwall

It’s an interesting observation and suggestion. I wonder if that sensitivity would hold true for the 202 as well. I will remove the turntable and try it out for sure.

I do like the thought of a wall shelf for the TT.

I have never been able to put my 252 on a top shelf as my CDS3 resides there. In my experience this has not been a problem. I sometimes wonder just how big these marginal gains really are in real world living rooms. If I could I would but I can’t and it doesn’t bother me. YMMV.

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Fraim chips improve the sound when put between Isoblue spikes and wood floor, no matter how hard the wood. Also, Aralditing the threaded spike inserts into the legs makes an improvement too.

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The improvements you’ll hear by upgrading to 252 will vastly overrun any disadvantages of cable dressing problems. Maybe those who have tried foam or cable suspenders can speak to those solutions to keeping the cables off the hard floor.

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You can always buy a set of tall supports, to replace your standard height ones, for your Isoblue … job done! :smile:

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That, or spare shelves. :slight_smile:

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My 282 sounds a little better on the top shelf, with NDX below, compared to the other way round, so I would try the 252 (or even 202) on top if you can, although the difference was small to my ears.
Isoblue sell extensions in different sizes to increase the space between shelves, which may help with isolation and cable dressing, but to my mind, just adding another shelf might be better. I think it would look neater with two stacks the same height, even if one shelf is empty…for now!

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Getting a 252 and using it with a bare NDX is probably not the best use of funds. It’s also not ideal to have the preamp directly above the NDX with its transformer. A 282 and an XPS DR might be a better approach.

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That’s not a bad idea…thus my suggestion to add another shelf to the rack.

I tried the 202 on top can’t really say I heard a difference and if I did it was in the realm of difference in sound because of my different moods from day to day😁. And another shelf would probably get something to ”shelf” sooner or later so not a bad idea fueling my upgraditis.

Aha do you think an ndx would sound bad with the 252? then I might just as well buy the 555ps, the seller is advertising, at the same time. He is acctually selling a complete system with fraim, 555ps, cds3, nac252, supercap and nap 300. 555ps is about the same vintage a bit older. Serial 250 something.

Where to start?:grin:

No but on a more serious note. Thanks for sound advice. I got a bit excited when I saw the nac selling for 3714€. The 555ps is selling for 2786€

@Lucifer I can testify that bare NDX works really well with 252, I see no reason to change my NDX at present - I only use mine for UpNP and IRADIO my main source is LP12

best advice I can offer is try and keep the SC as far away from 252 so mine is on bottom shelf of FRAIM

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As usual, HH has provided a more thoughtful response.

If the “bare NDX” will be the source for the foreseeable future, the 252 is not the natural pairing.

To me, the difference with the preamp on top was small, so not something to worry about, but worth trying. As you climb higher up the Naim ladder, these setup issues may become more important though, so it’s always good to try.
I do think that a source upgrade would be worthwhile at this level, so if you want to take it further, adding a power supply to the NDX would be worth considering - or a DAC upgrade is another possibility that some of us have tried as an alternative.

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Yes and it probably isn’t going to be a bare ndx for long if it doesn’t suffice. But a nac252 might accually be for ever.

Indeed, it all depends on where or whether you see the system developing. If that’s a 250 you’ve got, the 202/250 is not considered a happy marriage so a preamp change is a good idea. Just be careful not to go mad on the preamp and then find you need to spend shedloads on the front end to balance things out.

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