Was thinking about the NSC222 and wondering how much the gang in Salisbury considered the 172/272 in the NC200 series strategy. Think they look back on the integrated streamer/preamp as a big enough success to pin the entry level offer on that approach?
I recall talking to a local dealer when I was getting back into the world of Naim and telling him I was considering a Superuniti. He told me that was a bad idea as mixing digital / analogue in the same box was bad, doesn’t sound great, blah blah blah. Guess things have moved on.
It’s very common now. Not sure if 172/272 were early adopters. But it certainly paved the way to what we have now. Also power supply restrictions seem to have been partially solved ie there’s onboard power in a preamp now.
The new rega preamp will have digital inputs but still no onboard streaming from them.
My former 272/555PSDR on 300DR was such a great system that I many times wonder how much of a difference my current much more expensive system really is.
Was never interested in either box but spoke to my dealer and several at shows who were of the view that Naim’s initial market entries were poor in comparison to others because they didn’t build in the ability to upgrade the platform etc. View was that a move needed to be made to be in the market but it was the second generation stuff which did build that in and got lots more right besides.
My 272/XPSDR/250DR gave many years of pleasure. When the ND5XS and NDX were upgraded to the new streaming platform, I was disappointed that the 272 did not enjoy the same fate and ended up moving to a non-Naim pre-streamer. Had a successor such as the 222 been around I’d probably still have Naim in my main system.
I was not alone in regretting the absence of a 272 upgrade when the 272 was discontinued, at least if posts on the forum were anything to go by. By Naim standards it was something of a bargain, too. In my biased opinion Naim sprinkled a good helping of their magic fairy dust on the 272.
You’re right, few higher end manufacturers put the streaming and pre into the same box. Naim certainly weren’t the first first but it was a very successful implementation, especially with an external power supply.
Given that new mid-range Naim gear has exclusively moved onto that platform, I think you have your answer as to how successful and appealing that format was for Naim.
Maybe too successful to be honest. It’s less boxes to sell and many compatible upgrade power supplies were already in the market.
