Email from signals: end of NAC-N 272

No arguments from this end!!! And I’d thought that mine was bl00dy good…

Anyway, we should get back on topic…

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My initial post was a question, not an exhortation to terminate a thread as that privilege remains within the purview of the moderator.
I could have been less succinct but prefer to get to the point.

So if you’re concerned about the demise of the 272, there’s nothing to stop you buying one now at an advantageous price.

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See you on fleaBay! :laughing: :laughing:

Seems odd to announce the discontinuing of the 272 without announcing the replacement, not very good marketing.

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To be fair, it was basically an announcement to Naim’s dealers to keep them up to date and let them know of the imminent discontinuing.

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What kind of “question” is that in polite discourse? I call BS (to continue the impolite acronym use).

Given the current state of the 272 vis a vis the rest of the lineup, the consensus is that its streamer front end obviously is now a generation behind, and that given the overall performance of the unit, a refresh with the new streamer front end would be most welcomed. And yes that buying one on the used market can be a fabulous value.

A refresh of the streamer end in the 272 would be an upgrade of it. But Naim said that the 272 can’t be upgraded. So they can’t do better than 272 as one box streamer / pre.
It’s my understanding.

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Ah well, I’ll just settle down for the evening with a glass of wine and some music from the CDX2… in the safe knowledge that it cannot and won’t be updated - how long will the 372 last without needing a major update? :wink:

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No it doesn’t actually, certainly with my ‘phones… I think it’s more suited for driving a preamp in my experience.
I guess your Hugo experience might vary with different headphones…

Headline is the best headphone amp I have tried. Sorry to see it go.

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And the Focal option they recommend doesn’t even have system automation with a Naim system…

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These sort of topics highlight the shortcomings of balancing convenience with obsolescence.
The more you integrate technologies in to one place the more certainty there is of parts of it reaching the end of their serviceable life before others.
It’s also worth taking a look at what the wider market is doing, there’s a trend towards multiple boxes which separate out functionality and in doing so allow for configuration flexibility and ease of upgrade in the future, a transport and a DAC as obvious examples.
If you want convenience or a low box count, you have to expect that this comes with compromises.
If you buy a Uniti Atom today it’ll be old hat in 5 years time, it’ll still be a great amp and sound nice, but probably won’t do all the things in software newer products can. If you bought a Unitiqute 5 years ago you’d have been more than happy with it then but you’d think twice if you had a suitable budget to buy one now.
If I bought a 10 year old NAC, apart from a service maybe, it’s as good now as it was when it was made.
I would hope that Naim would bring out a new standalone DAC and the NP800 streaming platform in separate black boxes and a optimised Ethernet Switch as a half width or even full width black box.
All supporting external PSU’s and with supporting cabling.
I’d get a lot more excited about those things than a streaming preamp personally.

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So maybe, and I know this will be considered as heresy…Naim should stick to what they do best, which is analogue electronics (and cough speakers cough) and let the young, more agile, upstarts handle the digital side.

Discuss

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They do digital as well as many of the best out there, offering separate subsystems in parallel to integrated products is what’s lacking/missing.
There’s demand and a market for both. Naim sell a lot of one box products at healthy margins but I’m sure of those that want more, if they brought out a streaming transport, DAC and IP network product they’d sell well even at a premium price.
They could also sell a remote management/diagnostic service that integrated to these products to ensure system setup and integrity and to give an enduser performance metrics through the Naim app, as an example of things they don’t do today but which are technically possible now and most likely supportable in the current products too.

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And the Arche is 2.5 grand… :dizzy_face:

Tempted to grab a Headline 2 for the future.
If I ever leave SN3 I’m gonna need one.

ps I had to look WG** up! Useless at these codes!

I don’t think the Headline did either, could be wrong, my Stax use their own “energiser”.

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Had a few tonight, Jonn?

Or are you going round all threads about which you do not give a f~#K writing WGAF?

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Me also, but my olive HL was sounding exceedingly fine this afternoon…

And it would be yet another black box, spreading like a well-known virus, in my beautiful olive system… :crazy_face:

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If, I’d say IF there is to be a replacement for the 272.

Naim still make the ND5X, NDX2, the 202, 282, 252 & 552. Perhaps they’ve decided not to replace the 272 in order to increase sales of those other products?

Naim have competitors in the marketplace who provide a 272 type product, why would they run the risk of losing market share and profitability by not updating the existing 272 ?