I talked to my dealer this morning and was told a SuperLine is shipping out today from Focal-NAIm NA that I will use for home audition.
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You and I now have something in common. I have Bart’s 252. 
Did you get a SuperCap too?
I already had a SuperCapDR I bought for my 282 previously.
Aha! Where’s Bart’s SuperCap? Can’t have a 252 w/o a SuperCap unless you get a clone from Isreal.
I don’t know where it went! But you know who to ask 
Nor do I know, or remember, who owned any of those before I did.
I bought my SuperCap DR on an auction site from a guy in Indiana. It was barely a year old and hardly used. I also bought a Fraim level from him.
Hallelujah!
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It goes to show how much value @Richard.Dane and this forum bring to the table for Naim customers. With his assistance I think management at Focal-Naim NA came to understand my desire to audition a SuperLine. By Monday morning my dealer called to let me know he and the rep had a long conversation, with the result that a brand new SuperLine and SNAIC are on the way. I am welcome to a home audition and if I like it I just keep it as mine, or send it back if I don’t.
Edit: I had some factual details wrong and corrected.
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I’m still waiting for word on the overdue shipment of my new NAC 252. I just told my dealer I’d buy a new SuperCap if he can get a committed drop ship date.
From what I can gather no one is happy with how things have gone since the ownership change in January.
That’s for UK customers and doesn’t help us here in the US and CA.
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My NAC 252 is supposed to be drop-shipped from Montreal to Arizona
Is that a new policy or are they doing a one-off for you? They (prev owners) did something similar last year, by shipping a NDX2 directly to me while my dealer was in Munich for the show.
They are shipping the SuperLine and SNAIC for me to my dealer. It’s probably just as well since I have their Boulder phonostage to return.
I have a couple of items ordered and they will be drop-shipped to me from Montreal. I’m in the U.S. (Arizona). I thinks it’s an option that your dealer can select.
Nice. Too bad my dealer didn’t ask on the SuperLine. I would have preferred drop ship.
Joaquim,
Just because I am curious. I know you were using, and still use probably, the all tubes design Herron phono stage.
Have you thought about an upgrade in the tubes design, or you want a solid state now?
Have you heard Manley Steelhead, Nagra VPS, Lamm lp2?
No, and not really interested, but thanks for the suggestion.
I am not dissatisfied with the Herron, and Keith Herron even wants to customize it for me. My motivation for auditioning the SuperLine is thus. I have the top shelf products of the classic range. Only the SuperLine is missing. There is much to be said for the synergy it might bring. It’s a reasonable thing to wonder.
If the SuperLine is equally good or better than the Herron I can make the change for a minimal out of pocket investment. That also positions me to move from a $4k phonostage now to a $12k phonostage in the future by adding a secondhand SuperCap. That’s not my plan, but at least it’s on the table if I get a windfall, and that has happened before. Whether or not my phonostage is tube or solid-state is largely irrelevant to me. Tubes are not why I chose the Herron.
As for the other stages you recommend my dealer doesn’t carry them so I don’t know that I even have a chance to listen to them. This is really just about can the SuperLine compete with what is already satisfactory, to complete a unified and cohesive system. Does that make sense?
What do you think…isn’t that Manley Steelhead the ugliest damn thing. I would have to hide it away from my beautiful Naim casework.
I can understand your arguments. However I prefer personally good tubes phono stage for my tastes. It gaves body, textures, tones, colors, nuances…that I have never found in a solid state phono stage. And I have heard a lot.
The reason I use my Ear 912.
Anyway I was just curious as I wrote, so you answered me.
Do I find the Manley ugly? Absolutely not.
LOL. It’s too busy for my taste. I could probably audition one if I wanted to. Acoustic Sounds carries them and I have a relationship as a very good customer with them. However, it’s well out of my budget in any case, more than double the price of a SuperLine.
Whether or not tubes are better is an argument for another day. I won’t know how the SuperLine – with solid-state design – compares if I don’t audition it.
I once considered a Aesthetix Rhea, but I never got a chance to hear it.