An excellent choice.
I’m not familiar with the Achtung. I really stumbled into the SL interconnect. I was going to order a new Hiline when a second hand SL became available, so I went with that. The improvement was astonishing to be honest, as much as adding the XPS DR to the NDX2. There are other options that many here use successfully. I prefer to stay with Naim as I think they provide some good frequency synergy, like it does with the Powerlines.
I went to a 282/ 250DR from a SN2 and 250DR. It was one of the biggest jumps in quality I have experienced in my system, presumably because the pre-amp was so much more revealing. Having said that, the SN2 was no slouch, but I really appreciated the increase in clarity and bass control that the 282 brought to my speakers (Dynaudio Contour 1.4LE). One of those “Wow!” moments. The 282 controls the 250DR much better I found and is much more revealing. The next huge improvement was going SL full-loom, but that is another story…
The electronics in the pre-amp can’t improve on what isn’t delivered from the streamer via the interconnect though. This is where the standard approach of box upgrades is limiting. Yes, a better pre-amp has the potential to perform better, but the signal has to be delivered. Without a better interconnect, this is the limiting link in the system, not the pre-amp. Using a SL on the SN2 will demonstrate this.
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Congratulations on your decision and look forward to hearing about the system once you have everything in place!
Could you comment on your experience with the ProAc D48 with your SN2 and HiCapDR?
Thanks…
the financial outlay is quite steep too
from a bare SN2
add hiCap DR = GBP 1400
add NAC 282 = GBD 4500
add NAP 250 = GBP 3500
reduce revenue due to SN2 sale = - GBP 1500
so the overall outlay is GBP 7900
and an increase in box count by 2
and for that sort of overall outlay - the NAC 282 + NAP 250 DR had better be really good.
GBP 7900 might not seem a lot to many but it is steep money indeed.
For GBP 7900 or less - what alternative options could you look at to improve the sound in your room ??
The NAC 282 pre amp - can do only so much and much escapes the listener is the room is not treated.
The proac D48R doesnt need too much power as well.
Just a thought…but…YMMV…
regards
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Congrats, as much as I love my SN2, I am sure 282/250 will be better in every way, it should be. An interesting comparison would be between both power amps, the one in SN2 and the 250, fed by 282.
What alternative path could I take to improve the sound from my current SN2 + Hi-Cap DR + Proac D48R + NDS system?
I found the best combination in adding 282 + 250DR.
Is there a better alternative to improve the sound while keeping the cost down?
Actually I should also add Superlumina between NDS and 282.
It is probably also a second Hi-Cap DR at 282.
Future upgrades would add 252, Supercap DR, NAP 300, Superlumina for the speakers and a Superlumina also between my Cambridge CXC CD reading mechanics and the NDS.
And maybe change the reading mechanics of the CD and take a single piece to read CD and SACD (the SACD output should have HDMI output to convert the output to digital and feed it to NDS).
I borrowed my dealer’s demo SL interconnect and tried it between my NDX and 282, and to my ears it did very little, and certainly not enough to justify the price. Other people’s findings are different, which is fine, but I would never spend that amount on a cable without a home demo.
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Mike, you can argue, it’s fine. However if you listen and compare what a 282/250 can bring vs SN2, I think it will jump at you. I just heard these different electronics at home and dealer price .
202/200 vs SN2 is not a big difference, but clear enough.
You will hear the difference with an nd5xs old streamer as well as your source.
Unfortunately there is always better and the preamp is probably the most important component.
Once you have entered the world of true Hi-Fi you want to go deeper and deeper into this world which gives pleasures and emotions unknown to others and which you cannot do without.
Surely real music with a real Hi-Fi system is a positive drug that improves life.
Those who listen to music in a “flat” way with low quality systems, take advantage of only a small part of the pleasure, listening only to a minimal three-dimensionality, depth and sound scene, as well as few details.
I had started with a Nait 5si, a Naim CD5Si player and a pair of Sonus Faber Liuto speakers and I discovered the “real” pleasure of music.
So I went deeper and deeper.
I purchased a Supernait 2 and a Naim DAC which gave me beautiful pleasures.
But you don’t get used to pleasure and if you can go further and enjoy even more why not do it?
So I bought a Naim NDS and Proac Response DR48 ribbons.
This set of electronics greatly increased my pleasure compared to the previous configuration.
With Proac, more revealing and open speakers, and NDS music has become more silky, more refined, greater sound scene and absolute enjoyment.
Surely therefore the transition to Proac and NDS was a leap forward in listening to music, great upgrade.
Now I am in the process of ordering Naim 282, Naim 250DR and probably the Supercap DR and selling Hi-Cap DR.
The next future step will probably be Naim 252, perhaps Naim 300 and a future change of speakers with something even better, in addition to Naim Superlumina cables.
It is an expensive pleasure but too good to give it up in our only life available, if it can be done.
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Yes you are 
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I wouldn’t argue with my French sweetie 
. We’re just agreeing that as you go up the range, things improve. It’s just a question of what order to make changes in. I’m just saying that at the SN2 level, the amp is good enough to show the benefits of source and cable improvements, and they carry forward with the box upgrades.
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Thanks. I got 282/HCDR250Dr
I wonder what’s there at 252/250, 252/300 and 552/500 but I’m happy with what I got.
It’s good to know you think 282/250HC is the sweet spot.
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Good to know this. Did you compare one Hicap vs Supercap on your 282 at that time ?
aristoweb,
You make a very wise choice of 282/250DR to go with the Hicap that you already own.
While the Proac D48R is not a difficult load for an amplifier, it is a very revealing one and will start to shine with a NAP250DR or better driving it. It is not a matter of more power but of better control that the 250DR brings over the SN2.
Naim electronics are sensitive to external vibration, so absolutely sound better when mounted in a purpose designed rack. If you don’t have such a rack already, then a Naim Fraimlite is a very good place to start. The Fraim is even more effective at vibration control but is more expensive (naturally!).
As part of its design philosophy, Naim also separates sensitive low voltage electronics (i.e. your NDS and the 282) from mains transformers in the external power supplies and power amplifiers that radiate strong electromagnetic fields, especially vertically . In practice this means never stacking the NDS or a 282 directly on top of a power supply or power amplifier. If you do buy a Fraimlite or Fraim, place the 282 as far up that rack as you can, with power supplies and power amplifiers at the bottom.
Once you have taken care of all these considerations, then by all means start to buy Superlumina cables. They are excellent cables but a lot of money and that money may be better spent on other parts of the system first. Once you do want to try Superlumina cables, I recommend the NDS to 282 interconnect first. Speaker cables can follow later, as NAC A5 is a pretty good place to start (I still have NAC A5).
Finally, which power supply are you using with your NDS? A better power supply here may deliver more benefit to you than Superlumina speaker cables.
I hope that some of this post helps.
Best regards, BF
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Thanks for the valuable advice first and your post was very useful.
For now for Naim NDS I use the two separate power supplies from the Israeli manufacturer.
I also use a Naim Powerline (not lite) power cord for each component.
I would like to ask you: would a Supercap DR give many more improvements than a Hi-Cap DR?
What do you think of the Blok Stax rack audio cabinet?
I would have thought of placing the components in this rack in the rack, one component per shelf:
on the first shelf with external support the Cd Player below and above the Cd Player the turntable,
then on the shelf below the Naim 282, on the other shelf below the Naim NDS, in the other shelf below the Naim 250 DR, in the other shelf below the NAPSC and the two power supplies for the NDS, while on the last shelf available, the lower one, I would like to put the Naim Hi-Cap DR (or the Naim Supercap DR if I decide for this, I have to make a decision today).
I would also like to buy a Superlumina to connect NDS to 282.
As a last question I would like to ask you: could it be useful to put anti-vibration feet under each Naim component in the rack?
And put an antimagnetic sheet under each Naim component?
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For the real naim sound you need to use the real naim power supplies
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Hi aristoweb,
Do you have a turntable and a cd player, as well as the NDS (with twin power supplies)? Does this mean that you have an external phono stage as well, to go between the turntable cartridge and your SN2? Which turntable, cd player and pho stage are you currently using?
If so, then I estimate that you may have 9 separate boxes plus the NAPSC (TT, phono, CD, NDS, 2 NDS supplies, 282, Hicap (or SC), 250)
Given the number of boxes, it would be ideal if you could fit in 2 racks. The turntable, NDS, phono stage and 282 (the “brain” components) would go on the left hand rack, while the external power supplies and the power amplifier (the “brawn” components) would go in the right hand rack. Naim puts the mains transformers on the right hand side of its brawn components, so placing all of these in the right hand rack moves the transformers and the mains supply cables as far away from the sensitive brain components as practically possible. I have tried brawn on the left, with brain on the right, but prefer brain left and brawn right - hence the recommendation.
The NAPSC should be placed as far away from all other boxes (brain & brawn) as the cable permits, probably on the floor in most cases.
When it comes to choice of rack, from a purely sound quality perspective while ignoring every other consideration, go for a Naim Fraim. However, real life is rarely that simple. In our case, we do not have a wide enough physical space to fit in Fraim or Fraimlite, so we went for Quadraspire. Hutter and Isoblue are also very good but were not allowed in the house for aesthetic reasons. I am not qualified to comment on the merits of the Blox Stax rack, as I haven’t heard a system that uses this rack. However, it will surely be better than no rack at all.
I haven’t made a direct comparison of SCDR vs HCDR on a 282 so cannot be definitive here. However, we do have a NAC82 in the family (282’s predecessor) and much prefer it with a Supercap. In your case, I would be tempted to keep the Hicap DR for now, as you are making a number of other changes already. Leave it for a later date. If you are keen to spend that money now , I would be tempted to put it towards a 555PS DR for your NDS, rather than on the power supply for the pre-amp. A 282/Hicap DR will be more than capable of revealing the benefit that a 555PS DR brings to the NDS.
Best regards, BF
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Of course I would like to upgrade to 555 DR but at the moment I would like to use the budget to move from Supernait 2 to 282 / 250DR.