Not sure why ypu suggest a 252 would be louder than a 282. Surely it’s the power amp that makes the volume difference?
The power amp really doesn’t either, the gain of the power amps is listed in the specs and it’s more or less the same for all Naim amps.
The pre could make a difference depending on its gain and if the volume pot differed, but the whole story in this thread never made any sense to me. There is a lot of evidence on the forum regarding the volume pot positions people tend to use with the 252, and I can’t remember anyone ever saying after a 282 > 252 switch that the 252 was significantly louder at the same pot position.
My 252 is certainly in line with what all the other people are saying, which is around 9 with some variation depending on speaker sensitivity, room, and preference. Mine is usually at 9-10 with the NDX2 but my speakers are only 86 dB.
Neither would the running-in of the SC have that effect as @ckcage79 guessed a few posts up.
I have no idea what was going on here, but none of the proposed explanations made sense to me
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In the last twelve months I have had a 282,252 and 552 in my system without any volume problems if anything I have to very slightly increase the volume control on the 552 compared to the 282 and 252.
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Selling a 252 and going back to the 282 because of the volume control is a big call, especially since they have the same gain and volume pot……
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I’m not certain I completely understand the ‘usable range’ issue as discussed here, though I have read about it on this forum for quite some time. Nothing in this regard has ever bothered me, I’m afraid. In the past year, I have gone from SN2 to the separates route of 282/250DR to the ultimate for me in the 252/250DR. It was noticeable from going from the SN2 to NAC282, for certain. I believe I’ve documented the noticeability in loudness going from this, but it certainly caused me no strife. Between the 282 and 252, it might even have shifted a bit more in perceived loudness if I go to 9:30 comparatively, but it is certainly not discotheque loud. It is ‘loud’, though. Between 8-9 is pretty ideal for my Spendor D7s, which if I remember correctly are 89db sensitivity.
True, I always wondered why there would be such obvious differences between preamp volume control, but it is not something that has ever remotely taken away from my enjoyment of its contributions to music-listening. I’m just not getting the hang-up. I feel it is quite extreme to sell off a world-class pre to go to another (in this case, the 282) within the context of this thread; but then again, I am not in the OP’s room. I’m pretty much with @Svetty and his commentary here, not that going to the 282 is bad, because that pre is amazing; I just think it is rash, unless it really is that bad.
Anyway, no matter which pre (including the one in the SN2) I owned, I wouldn’t have gone past 9:30 in my room, which I suppose is pretty sizable, anyway with any of them.
For the record I have travelled from a 72, 102, 202, 282 to 252 and never had an issue with the volume being too loud.
As a number of posters here have said, there should be no apparent difference between a 282 & a 252, they both have the same input sensitivity spec, as do all the classic pre amps, right up to the 552. Its only the integrated amps that have a higher input sensitivity/a bit more useable volume range. If this lower sensitivity is a problem for you would mostly be down to your speaker sensitivity /room size. As said, the pre’s were designed when all the inputs were analog, so with the higher digital levels, this limits volume range.
Personally I use a Sonnet Digital DAC, which has a nice feature of a volume control that you can lock in place, which allows me to match my TT level with my digital input.
I have been from 202, to 282 & now to 252, & as expected all volume controls gave me the same levels.
I don’t think the issue is getting the volume to loud. It is about finding the right volume. What it is a bit challenging is doing small adjustments. A little up and it gets too loud, a little down and it gets too low. It takes time to master volume adjustments. Learning to do double tap is of great help.
It took me time to learn using the 252 volume control appropriately.
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I don’t know, but the OP in this thread said that it’s too loud at 9 o’ clock with the 252, and acceptable but loud at 8, while they had no such problems with the 282. That’s the odd part that doesn’t really sound like the usual complaints about useable range and not knowing how the remote works.
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It depends in many factors. For highly compressed music 9 o’clock could be a killer depending on room side, distance to the listening position, sensitivity of speakers,… I normally listen Qobuz at 8 to 8:30, but BPO digital concert hall at 9 or even 9:30 sometimes. This is very dynamic music, low pianos and strong fortes.
I also notice some variations depending on the source. I watch a lot of music, mainly classical, via YouTube. My computer HDMI goes directly the TV while the audio is routed via the USB → Audiophileo → NDS. Depending on the level of the recording, I need to adjust the 252 volume up or down a bit.
Many variables involved assuming it is not a malfunction of 252.
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Yes I know, and of course there are variations depending on the recording and the source output level, that’s obvious. The odd part is that the problem was said not to have occurred with the 282, there is no explanation for this so far. And “acceptable but loud at 8 o’ clock” with the 252 seems too high, taken at face value, if this also did not occur with the 282 and nothing else changed.
When i had 252, 300 the volume was way too high i could barely go above 7.00 . Using spendor d7.2 made the situation worse
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Very strange. Many note the Spendor ‘hot’ tweeter, but I have absolutely none of that anymore. Initially, it took quite some break-in, but at about 250 hours, it is smooth as silk and incredibly extended. There is zero harshness. This, I believe, simply comes down to room interaction and placement for this speaker. I love mine to death. It is the most engaging and resolving speaker I have heard in quite some time, with bass response that just floors me at times at how quick, deep and agile it is.
Well I suppose unless the simple explanation is that the knob is mounted off-center on the pot. (In this case the LED would move farther to the left than to the right.)
I get the feeling that some folk are just perturbed that the degrees of rotation from 10 o’clock to 5pm are ‘wasted’ and not generally needed for listening. It offends their sense of ‘rightness’.
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This is an interesting point.
it is a verification that has been done, led moves always more to the left than to the right, it is another question asked to naim, and naim confirm this asymmetry like normal. Without commenting the sarcasm (on many previous posts) that I honestly don’t understand, because on this forum we are to help each other, the two strange situations are:
the first: the 282 does not have the same behavior;
the second: the person who bought the 252 finds this behavior abnormal, especially because two years ago he had another 252 that behaved exactly like the 282 with the difference that it was able to act more on the volume maneuver because it was qualitatively better,
We have written an email to official naim support because we want to know if is normal this situation.
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It is indeed normal that the volume knob is not 100% centered, see here:
However, I was wondering if it might be so far off center in this case that it would explain the high volume. I.e., because the knob’s LED might show 9 o’ clock although the actual volume pot under the knob might actually be in a position that would be equivalent to 10 or 11 of the LED on a normal 252
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I think you are right Svetty, certainly for those new to Naim. After 30 plus years of Naim ownership it seems normal to me.
A point sometimes missed is that going to a 252 from a 282 you can play louder while perceived volume is the same. This is due to reduced distortion on the 252. I would imagine that this is the same going from 252 to 552.
I dunno, I had a Rotel pre and power amp before and the usable volume range was more or less the same as now