I’d go for service on the 200, after 14 years its overdue.
But if you are moving to a 300, you should go for a more able NAC first, 282 at least or 252.
If you do go for new IC’s, go for a Morgana between NDX2-200, there’s not much to gain with the 202-200 SNAIC
If you’re in UK, forget the mains conditioner, you’d probably be better without it.
£1,000 of Christmas money! Wow. We had a £75 limit this year. The best thing to get is a Hicap DR, if you are aiming for a 250DR. If you are aiming for a 300 however, you really want at least an XPSDR for your NDX2, and ideally a 555PSDR, as well as a Supercap for the 282. So work out where you want to get to and plan accordingly. You can piddle about with fancy wires and conditioners you don’t need but none are a substitute for properly thought out and well matched electronics.
Hi Mike, I have a 282, but I’m not sure I would upgrade up to a 252?
The reason I thought about the mains is because I recently had a very interesting experience regarding my sockets.
I have been very happy with my system, until last week. My WiFi router was plugged into my 6x mains strip at the end. An electrician came last week, so I unplugged my HiFi but kept the router going. When I plugged everything back in, I moved the router to the first socket (don’t really know why). All week I was just not happy with the sound. It had lost some of its life? I have subsequently move the router completely out of the 6x mains strip and suddenly the HiFi is alive again, with much more midrange audible.
I can’t believe having a router in the strip can make such a difference! It got me thinking, what else can I get out of better mains conditioning or cables?
The main reasons for the nap300 is because I play low level music, and read the nap300 is great at this? I realise it could be overkill though, unless I upgrade other parts of the system?
If the OP doesn’t have a hicap on the 200 then he is missing getting the best from his system. I found it made a significant improvement for not much money in the grand scheme of Naim prices. So much so that I now feel that none of the Naim separates should be sold without a ps!
I suspect with a combination of the Tacima’s C&D mode choke & its associated X & Y capacitors, coupled to the BB Hub SMPS, the sine wave form was clipped or distorted.
You really are better of without a power conditioner on the Naim units, although you might get some benefit in having only SMPS’s on the Tacima.
The 300DR is really nice at low volume. In my stereo, room etc it was a lovely improvement on my 250DR for late night (wife out) listening. It brought other benefits too, but I now play much more music over speakers at night (when the stars and planets align) than before.
