I still think the 82 sounds ”fresher” than the 282. Faster and brigther. More open in away. The 282 has a more layered sound stage but sound closed in or veiled compared to the 82.
Now does anyone know what would be typical in the sound of a 282 that’s ”off”?
Most forumites commenting on this in other threads simply says ”a bit off”. What exactly does that mean?
Is the 82 brighter and more open sounding with more details than a 282 given they are as they should?
I also know we are supposed to go by the recommended service intervals which in this case says it’s due. And if the 82 hasn’t been serviced ever, it’s way overdue.
Your thoughts would be very helpful
The 82 is at the same time a bit too aggressive as it stands right now but still more enjoyable than the 282
Would a ”muffled” sound be typical for a 282 being ”off”?
It would be interesting to know if I simply prefer the 82 presentation or if the 282 is in need.
Hi Lucifer, I bought my NAP 300 used and un-seen (unheard!) and on first try I was very disappointed, in my system it sounded like ‘Naim’ but with the upper treble missing. A call to Naim technical dept. indicated that my 13 year old amp had not been back to Naim for servicing. I gave it a chance to ‘bed-in’ over two months but it didn’t improve so I sent it off for a service. I decided to have it DR’ed at the same time so I don’t know which made the greater difference, but it did sound better on its return.
It can manifest itself in different ways. However, the usual sign of a pre-amp needing a service (barring obvious faults) is that the sound is a bit flat and lacks a certain tension and engagement.
My 282 is now 14 years old and has never been serviced. To me, it still sounds ok, but of course over time it’s difficult to notice a steady decline in performance. Most days it sounds great, but it (or the system) seems to have occasional days when things sound like you describe, although so far I’ve just put that down to mains quality/me! I’m holding out for a bit as I need the money for other reasons but hope to address this later in the year. Sorry that’s not really any help to you but if you do send your 282 for service, I would be interested to hear the results/change in performance when you get it back.
I seem to remember that a ‘rule of thumb’ rough guide for the service of classic range pre-amps was about 15 years (unless anything else manifests as an issue before then). Not sure where I’ve got that from, but that has stuck in memory and I’ve kind of planned for that this year (or a change up to a 252 if funds permit and It appeals!)
Yes that’s about right. However the 82 I have here outperforms the 282 in musical satisfaction. It’s just more natural sounding. The 282 sounds veiled in comparison.
I’ve never had the opportunity to compare the 82 and 282, but perhaps that’s an indicator it needs some attention? I would expect the 82 to sound a little more lively, the 282 perhaps a little more refined but not veiled.
I reinstated the 282 last night and thought, maybe something else is wrong. Since I recently watched the videos by Jesco as recommended in the thread about room accoustics I focused on that. One video in particular, caught my attention. It´s a video where he talks about the effect of thick drapes. As it happens I have installed thick velvet drapes to absorb first reflections from the side walls.
In the video he says that it does work but comes with some problems. To cut it short I removed 2 of them and the sound from the 282 became much better. I haven´t tried with the 82 yet but I suspect the mid/highs were too dampened. Which leads me to think the 82 now would be too bright. As it happens these drapes/curtains were installed while I had 202/200 and didn´t have as much of a negative efffect then. However the sound was in a way problematic in the same way as with the 282 albeit less obvious.
