Hi Their does seem to be a considerable investment upgrading from my 282, 250dr and 2 hi caps. These sound great to my ears with my turntable and phono stage and used by me by far the most. But I do like the ideas and comments in this forum and the variety of opinion. My dilemma is do I invest more in something I am happy with overall. My system is by no means light in bass or control but the comments on more control at low volumes does appeal. I suspect I can achieve something similar upgrading the turntable but cannot audition with my own set up.
Agreed. In my book the 282 is the sweet spot and gives you a slice of high quality Naim sound at a fraction of the 552ās price. Itās as good as endgame if you canāt afford the 552.
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Old post but I would agree with this.
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It just isnāt - the 252 is clearly betterā¦
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Just one more opinion.
I was happy for years with olive 82/ Hicap/ 250, and found the 82 preferable in fun & liveliness versus 282. I upgraded to 2 X Hc and then a Supercap (both ok, but not great). I then got an old 52 (serviced and with POTS8), which was a considerably bigger uplift.
From what I have heard, my swapping to a 252 would be more different than better - noticeably better would require a 552.
The reason for mentioning it is that I recently swapped the old 250 for a 300DR. It turns out to be a great upgrade, and IMHO the olive 52/ SC work brilliantly with the added finesse and grip of the 300DR.
300DR might well be a bit more āmatureā than a 250DR, but it is at least as dynamic and as much fun as any 250 while out-performing in most hi-fi areas (if you see what I mean). I would not say that of a nonDR 300, which I never found that involving.
Iād say that you should listen to an option or two. However, for me at least: -
- 252 or 52 beats 282 or 82 by a lot.
- A 250DR is plenty good enough to make the most of a 52 or 252.
- I would expect a 252/ SC/ 250DR to be more enjoyable than a 282/ 2HC/ 300DR.
- Given the costs involved, the option of an old but serviced 52 should be considered.
- Saving money by getting (but not servicing) 10+ year old SC or a non-DR 300 is probably a bad idea.
- In a well-balanced system, the conventional wisdom is I think - if in doubt, start at the front. Itās not always right, but itās a good start.
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I completely with @ryder clearly the 252 is ābetterā but Iāve always resisted as I know a 552 is really where Iād want to be.
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My story is I had a SN2 playing into Proac DT8ās. Bought a 282 250dr to get me to a better controlled sound which they have. I replaced the brilliant Proacs with Neat xliāsā. I believe this to a well balanced system. Shall I stick or twist? The improvement from SN2 to 282 250dr was worthwhile but say 3 times the price does say a lot about the naim integrateds. I suspect a 252 is the way for me to go but there does seem to be divided opinion. If I sink the same cost into my turntable I have a hunch I might hear a marginal improvement but not much
Iāve previously described the 282 as visceral, the 252 as mature but neither exclusively so. But the 552 does both and a lot more.
For a whole lot more.
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I went SN2 to a 252/250. I was planning a new 282 as I had a hi-cap, but a great used 252 came up, so her we are. I havenāt heard the 282, but the 252/250 is wonderful, and I prefer the boxes all being the same size.
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The 282 is an excellent pre. There is no reason one shouldnāt pair it with a 300, especially if the speakers in use are power hungry (like my Dynaudios for example). I do have a 252/300, but I had a 282/250 before that, and knowing what I know now I would not hesitate to pair a 300 with my old 282 with my Confidence C2 speakers, and think it might be a better choice than a 252/250.
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Thereās a lot to be said for not having half width hicap plus a little napsc in the mix to rack. This was one of the reasons we went for 252 not 282. Aesthetics do matter to SWMBO.
Never quite understood why the 282 wasnāt designed to use the digital power snaic from SuperCap in the same way 252 can.
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Mike, I have followed a similar amplification journey to you, and now have 252/250 which I am absolutely thrilled with.
The full journey was
SN1,
SN1+HicapDR,
282+HicapDR+250DR
282+Supercap +250DR
252+Supercap + 250DR.
I canāt quite understand how the 252 divides opinion. I does everything the 282 did, but is so much more revealing and also more controlled, especially in the lower registers.
Paul
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Okay, few would doubt that 202>282 is a game changer. 282>252 an improvement but not all see as a game changer. However, most would agree 552 is a game changer.
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Having owned all those pre amps, that nicely sums up my impressions too, Lindsay.
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Thatās a very worthwhile point. With some speakers (like yours or some Shanhinians) a 250 is not quite enough, so 282 to 252 upgrade may be less helpful than 250 to 300DR.
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Its called market/price positioning. The circuitry in the 282 is identical to the 252 aside from the power boards/connections
Is it really? Can you point me to the information that confirms that is true? This is the first Iāve heard that claim made about the difference. Iāve had both 282/SCDR and 252 with the same SCDR and it was a very significance step up to the latter.
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Donāt recall the summary, but a thread about it, with pictures
Richardās post is good
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Different voltages used on the digital sections between a NAC282 and NAC252.
While they may look superficially similar under the skin from a casual glimpse, look further and youāll see plenty of key differences (see gthacks post and the linked post therein). Some you wonāt be able to see as well, such as more rigorous selection of componentry.
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