252/300 is where I would happily stop if I decided to take the UP again. But I’ve conjured up a way to stop where I am: my Naim PSU is ‘officially’ upgraded but it’s sort of unique piece, it’s unsellable and I won’t sell it anyway. So I’m happy with a visually and technically matching Nait XS. And the rest has to be adequate in value. So here I am, cunningly arrested at a level where the PSU dominates the system. 
2 Likes
@Blacknote i started a nordost thread awhile ago 
1 Like
We shifted a lot of them in Hi-Fi Experience in Tottenham Court Rd. Unfortunately far too many of them came back with problems that were (mostly) fixed under warranty. Lovely amp though. Great with Pink Triangle record players too. We liked it with Monitor Audio or Proac speakers and LS3/5as were also good.
Now back to the thread…
1 Like
Sometimes people misunderstood that the more you pay for a product compare to current owned product in terms of $$, that is consider an upgrade. I demoed an integrated amp double the $$ of SN2 side by side once , but it doesn’t sound better than SN2.
2 Likes
Where should one stop? Why, at one of the Naim sweet spots of course. There is usually a substantial investment (!) to get to the next. And it’s not as if you haven’t got to get the children through university, sort out the car, and organise care for your parents.
4 Likes
Well done!!! I’ll post something there 
I’ve heard more expensive products than the SN2 / SN3 and, with my surprise, they were a disappointment in many cases. So it’s not always about money indeed, even though good equipment is far from being cheap (unluckily).
3 Likes
Naim pre power and their integrated amp can go very far in terms of the sound and its potential . I tried w cables of different level and it’s proven that it can unleash more of everything. I did w other makes but not all shows that much of a potential… weird somehow.
And this makes me wonder- what’s the max potential of naim product and how to tell that it’s been max out .
Hearing starts to decline aged 30-40 so stop upgrading around that age.
2 Likes
Welcome. Raw intelligence and physical capability also start to decrease at the same age but that doesn’t mean we stop learning more and improving our appreciation of something, or playing a game of badminton and buying a better racquet.
4 Likes
I bought some 20 year old IMF RSPMs secondhand for £500 in about 1990. Nearest new equivalent today at least £10k. I changed those speakers when I was 62, and could hear the difference between them and PMC Twenty-26, EB1i and MB2. They were better than the Twenty-26. That was 8 years ago - then a few weeks ago I heard them again against EB1i and could still clearly hear the difference. Although not quite as good the as the EB1i I had replaced them with, those ancient speakers still sound great, and I would not be unhappy today had I not moved on. But my primary hobby from teenage years has been hifi and music listening, so the opportunity to reach the pinnacle at which I am was the logical path to take, but bar failure forcing, or a lottery win, that’s it for me!
3 Likes
But for the majority of people financial resources are the limiting factor, so at that point in age an affordable system fir most is nowhere near reaching the ear’s limiting potential, which is why most people don’t reach their top level systems until ears are well into decline…
2 Likes
Well it doesn’t necessarily have to be Naim. Any balanced system you are happy with and can afford is a good stopping place.
One golden nugget of advice I have though is get what could be your final system before you have kids… Because it might be. It probably will be for 10 - 20 years for sure. You’ll always be short on time, money, or both. But if the system was tip top before you got on that rollercoaster you will have a refuge to run to.
5 Likes
The problem here is comparing apples with pears. For me the upgrade path is Naim only, otherwise cost is irrelevant. How do you compare an expensive apple with an expensive pear?
For me the cost benefit is always the limiting factor. I have a 552 in to a 300. I have no room for a 500 but even if I did I would not find the 20k plus for the expected benefit in this room. On the other hand if I had the spare cash I can see exactly how a full statement system would fit in with my preferred streaming source. Stop when you run out of money to spend on hifi.
Hi bruss… may I know… the 552 to 300, what improvement does it do to the system ? For sure the 552 will unleash the max potential of the 300. 
Try both, and ask yourself if you could only eat one of these for the rest of your life, which you enjoy more?
Being now retired it seems I have missed that boat!
U have a great system . You didnt miss any boat! 
But it’s not finished yet! I’m still ‘struggling’ to justify my spending plans for better speakers and an NPX 300 to my FCO. Maybe next year. After all, I don’t want my kids to have to pay IHT on their inheritance .
1 Like
You will get there for your 300 . A matter of time only what speaker you after ?
That’s too absolutist. I like both.