So after many years of saving and slowly collecting bits on eBay (I would never have been able to afford it otherwise…), yesterday I got a NAC252 delivered and I am so happy!!! I now have the following:
ND5 XS2
NAC252
SuperCap DR
NAP250
Sarum interconnects
Sarum T streaming cable
Reflex Ultra G3
MCRU ‘The First’ mains cable (into the G3)
MCRU Excelsior DC blocker (between G3 and NAP250)
Powerline (into the SuperCap DR)
MCRU #75 mains cable (into the ND5 XS2)
I also have a Roon Nucleus and English Electric 8 which I am feeding off a different mains block after reading some advice to keep these separate on the forum (and also due to the Nucleus PSU being ridiculously short…).
Apart from bragging , I was hoping for some advice on what order to place my boxes. At the moment I have gone from top to bottom - ND5>NAC252>NAP250>SuperCap DR.
I am finding it VERY difficult to (a) keep the interconnects and power cables from touching each other, but also (b) struggling to let them hang loose unfurled. In particular, I have Sarum 5 pin DIN to XLR from the 250 to the Supercap which needs to be quite tightly coiled to fit given they are above each other…
Feel free to direct me to a previous post if this has been discussed before and sorry for bragging but I am SOOOOOO happy
Thanks Chris, I think am nearly there getting them in the right order but I need to put some foam padding around most of them so they don’t touch the walls etc. The two areas I am struggling with is:
DIN/XLR cable having to be so tightly coiled to fit between the SC and 250
Burndy/SNAIC cable - I’ve got them nicely unfurled and running beside each other without touching but my fraim is not tall enough to avoid them sitting on the floor at the bottom.
I’ll keep on playing around with it and try the preamp first as you recommend
ps. I have mixture of fraim lite and fraim full shelves which is probably why the Burndy is just touching the floor. Must be designed to hang exactly loose and unfurled with a 4-5 box setup on the full fraim. Makes sense given the 252 is high end.
Agree with you on the med and high ones not looking as neat.
I have a lite base and my first shelf is also a lite with three full fraim shelves after that.
Changing the lites will clearly help but it is going to be a while before I can do that after the 252! I’ll just enjoy it now I finally have one Some amazing deals to be had on ebay right now as more and more people seem to get the upgrade bug
My Sarum cables in particular were a great buy (although still expensive even then!).
No I did, lots of fairly decent hifi before I got my first Naim product; but since then it has been a journey to get to where I am now. I started with a second hand Supernait 3, added the ND5, then a HiCap and then a 200DR.
After that I started upgrading the cables one by one, then the 250 and after a long gap I swapped to a SuperCap. Now, after an even longer gap I have made it to the 252.
My wife is bewildered by it all; but is definitely worth doing it in stages like this. I’ve learnt so much about the system as I go and it is really, really nice to hear and appreciate the sonic improvements each change makes.
The Supercap and the 252 have been the biggest step up. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the difference good power cables make, although I know there are lots of doubters. Highly recommend MCRU on this front and nice to support another UK business.
You’ve spent a lot on fancy leads and mains block, and yet your source is ‘just’ the ND5XS2. With the 252/250 you really should be looking at an NDX2/XPSDR at the very least, or alternatively adding a really good dac and keeping your current network player. I’m sure you’ve learned a lot on your journey, but the chapter covering the importance of the source seems to have been skipped over. No amount of fancy leads can make up for what isn’t there in the first place.
" that much on cables or isolation stands or other HiFi fluff which is almost certainly doing nothing except providing a cooling-mist for audiophile neurosis (but how can I have £10,000 speakers without £3000 cables?!) is ridiculous in the extreme, whichever way one looks at it. There are few sub-segments of a hobby so utterly devoid of financial reason than this."
I hear what others say above on the cables and leads; but as I said originally they were all purchased at very good second hand prices so I thought why not!
I would of course like the more expensive streamer; but to be honest, the sound from what I have is so good to my ear, I really don’t think I need to go any further. I’m sure it will only get better with time as well
Again not that high in the range; but I need 6m so they are perfect at that price point and sound fantastic given how thin they are (which also makes them very easy to work with).
I’ve been very impressed having tested them against both the NAC A5 and Chord Clearway X and Epic X.
It is all personal preference I have come to learn. Play nicely everyone, HiFi can definitely be very divisive
Great to hear that you are happy with your system. It seems that you have been on a journey and managed to get a system that sounds great to you. Great job
I remember going to pick up my Supernait 3 from the guy I bought it from on eBay. He had moved onto a fully fledged Naim system with the 300, NDX2, 252 and Supercap etc. and bet me I would do the same eventually. I thought he was nuts at the time and yet here I am nearly on a par with what he had
, I was hoping for some advice on what order to place my boxes. At the moment I have gone from top to bottom - ND5>NAC252>NAP250>SuperCap DR.
Some amazing deals to be had on ebay right now as more and more people seem to get the upgrade bug 
Who’s contradicting now?
