Is there any news about new pre/power amps?

Rumours have indeed been running rampant for replacements of the 200 series of naim pre-amps and also amplifiers. They started being circulated about 15 years ago :wink:. The only way you can be assured of a new line coming out soon is to buy a bunch of the current line. Then and ONLY then will a new line be announced soon (it never fails does it?). Anyone who has followed naim for some time has stopped waiting for a new line and just decided to pick and choose from what is available now. Of course at some point newer models will come out. In the mean time just enjoy the music!

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+1

call me naif, but i still like/love the effect of surprise, like a child on Xmas day. The ā€œi need to know everythingā€ is a little bit ā€¦ mehhhhh

This has been discussed many times! Other than the obvious question of whether the N272 will be replaced, the others are mature designs so what is there to change, other than perhaps modifying preamps to offer lower sensitivity for the digital inputs, or pointless cosmetics for the sake of it. Of course, Naim might have been working on a range of Class D power amps and accompanying switch-mode powers supplies to make a major changeā€¦

Naim has improved the SN recently, from SN2 to SN3. The sound is more open and refined. However perhaps less grippy.
So why not conceive that other components like power amps or pre canā€™t be improved ?
Every brands, some with longer history than Naim , are still evolving and are updated and improved.
Naim would be the only brand to have reached a perfect point of non upgradibility in the analog domain ? Among thousands and thousands of other brands?

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In Berlin, my dealer has been groaning under the workload as people stared at their stereos too much, like myself. But yeah, expecting Naim to launch in the middle of the pandemic - no

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Barcelona trip became ndx2/xpsdr
Trip was,just a weekā€¦
Still would have liked to go

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Well said that manā€¦ this is a perennial debate on the forum whenever a few retailers cycle their demo stock :blush:

I found it interesting pre Covid times on two factory visitsā€¦ it was always the NACs I saw being built in the workshop., so presumably working hard to keep up with the demandā€¦ and I know from personal experience how difficult that is with the current restrictionsā€¦

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I didnā€™t say canā€™t be improved, but I think improvements are far from certain and likely to be far between (DR was not long ago). 1000s of manufacturers may release new amps frequently - but actually how many of them are actually improvements, even on their completely different models let alone an evolving model? Many simply produce things simply to put something ā€œnewā€ on the market - it doesnā€™t mean it is better than whatever they had before even when they claim it is (nor necessarily that it is different internally!). Some of course will have developments gradually improving the product over time, and some will have brand new designs inside genuinely seeking improvement. But I suspect the number of those will be small, and the better the original product the less the improvements.

Bryston is one of those a bit like Naim: E.g. their 4B power amp was first introduced in about 1976, which I think is a year after the NAP 250. It has had about 5 major revisions in that time, building on the original design, the last about the same time as Naimā€™s DR. I guess they may revise it again, though I doubt it will be soon.

If something is good, and successful, why change it? Certainly not for fashion or for the sake of change - though there are many marketing people who would do that (which is not so good for consumers).

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There are some good deals going at the moment with stock turnover as Simon mentioned.

You only live once Cliveā€¦

Iā€™m not sure that youā€™re really helping here, James!

Iā€™ve not heard them at home, but have done so a few times at Cymbiosis. I might have a read of @TimOopNorthā€™s thread againā€¦

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Sorry - I had mine made to order :grin:

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I think thatā€™s what makes investing in Naim amplification a safe bet compared to a lot of other manufacturers. The long product lifecycles, serviceability and the next step without starting again upgradeability makes them very attractive. The Naits go through shorter lifecycles but this seems to be driven by market forces (Eg -the addition of the on board phono stages for the XS and SN3) that donā€™t affect the separates so much. Without a major change in topology (possibly driven by regulations) I doubt there will be much change in the core amplifier products.

Steve Sells is a very clever chap thoughā€¦

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I think some people are forgetting the terrible damage caused by Covid. Businesses ruined, people unemployed/bankrupt etc. And some think this is a good time to launch new products ?

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I do hope thereā€™s no preamp change soon as Iā€™m expecting a new 282 to arrive in a few weeks!

The 282 history goes right back to 1992 when the 82 was launched and I quite like the idea that not much has changed apart from the case and a few tweaks along the way, why change?

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I had one 282 until 2014. It was powered by a HC. I liked it to the bits. I even preferred it to the 252 I bought afterwards.

So donā€™t worry. Stay calm.

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I guess thatā€™s why you had to buy a 552ā€¦ :rofl: :rofl:

Some people downgrade. I went up the ladder and sure the 552 sounds better than the 282 :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Still some companies launch new products during Corona

Japan has hac the pandemic much, much better under control than most other countries. And this being an anniversary model, they had additional incentive to release on time. I believe we can agree that in general itā€™s not be best time an launches have been sparse

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Ha! I had to wait 5 months for my Luxman amp due to international supply chain disruptions. Iā€™d not say Japanese manufacturers are having an easy time.

From what Iā€™ve seen of other stuff here, products for all sorts of things are being ā€œlaunchedā€ but not supplied. When I went shopping for new home appliances, nearly every model was shown as both New and ā€œout of stock indefinitelyā€

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