To the best of my knowledge they are by far and away the longest established Naim dealer in the county. That’s not to say there is anything wrong with the guys at Martins or Sevenoaks but in my experience they are just less Naim focused.
I run a Graham Slee Accession, with the Enigma power supply. I fully support buying from dealers if they’ve helped me audition equipment. In this case I bought it used, from eBay, for < £800. I probably waited a month or so for one to turn up.
I bought it without listening first, purely on reputation. It replaced a Stageline N, which I enjoyed and was very similar to the phono stage on my XS3. I was running a Roksan Corus cartridge (a Goldring derivative) with 1042 stylus at the time of the replacement. The Graham Slee is a very nice improvement. Looking forward to the results if you can audition a GS stage against some of its competitors! I now run a Dynavector DV 10x5, which I absolutely love together with the GS.
I have a NAC282 powered by a non-Naim power supply.
In terms of a phono stage I use a Trichord Dino mk2 with Dino + power supply and cable. This or the Mk3 are available second hand only I think now, and I recommend without reserve. I recently tried the Vertere Phono 1 mk2 and it is very good too, and is a nice one box solution - if I was tempted I might be persuaded to part with my Trichord but really only for the sake of change - I think both are great.
The best-sounding and most flexible phono stage that I have heard in recent years is the Dynavector P75 mk4 (not the early versions). It is not as good as a Naim Superline and is to most ears beaten by a Rega Aura - but look at what those options cost!
The caveat is that I have never done the comparison with the Graham Slee, Lejonklou or even Chord options.
My suggestion is to hear options at dealers. If that means too many trips, then buy cheap on eBay, listen carefully at home and sell on eBay if what you buy is not pleasing.
You’re a fan of comparisons I think? I wonder if you’d be interested in putting the (ok, “my”!) GS Accession up against your DV? I don’t want to stretch forum rules, but I don’t think facilitating that sort of thing is against them - I wouldn’t be loaning it, just visiting with it X) Totally understand if not, and I’m in no place to do anything soon, but curious if you think it’s an idea. Apologies if this does stretch the rules, I’ll rescind completely if so
…unless your DV stage is in Tasmania, that might be awkward
The DV is with a friend right now, as is the Cirkus/Kore/ L4/ Ekos1/ Krystal LP12 that goes with it.
Debates on shipping it to Tas (and coping with suspension myself, or fitting it with mushroom-oids to remove that issue, or swap it for an un-suspended P10 or Vertere) or not continue.
In any event, the DV will be back is SW20 soon, and I’d be happy to do a comparison when it is.
Ok, if you remember (only putting it that way as I’m sure we’re all busy and want to be careful expressing any sort of commitment!) give us a nudge when it is and we can double check arranging a shoot out between them is within the rules
Just an update. Have got the 282 set up with the power amplifier in the Supernait 3 and I like the improvement. More detailed, more open sound with a bit more bass extension. Also managed to buy a bargain Lejonklou Gaio 2.4 MM phono amp which sounds better than the one in the Supernait. Am relieved that the turntable, CDX2 and streamer are good enough for the 282. I am very happy it has all worked out well.
Some time in the future I will look for a NAP 200 DR and a hi-cap DR but there is no rush. If a preloved Sipsik or Accession phono stage becomes available at a reasonable price I might upgrade. But I am playing Horace Silver’s Song for my Father album as I type and it is pretty damn perfect.
Thank y’all for the advice and help.
Congratulations. I hade the Gaio before the Goldnote PH10. It’s a fine RIAA.
I had the PH10 but sold it because I decided to stick with MM cartridges!
I think it is a very good phono amp but I did not buy the power supply for it.
I don’t have the ps either. It’s very good on its own but one of these days I’ll try it with the ps.
But I don’t get why you sold it. It works with MM and I found it a lot better than the Gaio. As it should be given the price differential.
Personally, I highly recommend setting your sights on a 250DR, not a 200DR. The 282/HCDR/250DR is a really sweet spot of the classics range. With a 200DR and a HCDR for the 282 you won’t even take advantage of the DR part of the 200: it’s not in the amp section, it’s in the PSU section for driving a preamp, but you’ll use the HCDR for that instead.
I had a 282/HCDR/250DR and it is really quite nice.
I am unsure I completely understand this.
282 with 200dr: the dr in the 200 affects the 282 pre amp as the 200 is powering it.
282 with 1 hicap dr and a 200/250: I thought the hi cap powers the 282 and the 200/250 is powered directly through its mains plug. Therefore 2 drs are needed. Or does the hicap power both pre and power amps?
Hicap power up preamp only.
If you use Hicap and Nap 200 or200DR with Nac 282, the power supply for preamp inside Nap 200 is not in use.
Nap 250 does not have build-in power supply for preamp - hence Hicap is necessary.
Thank you. So a NAP 200’s DR affects the preamp supply and not the power amp supply.
That’s correct, but in my experience the DR within the 200DR does not match up to a FlatCap XS, let alone a HiCap.
And very good it is.
Fredrik in Sweden is creating some great stuff and have done for years based on LP12 and other Linn kit.
IME he often managed to create better kit than Linn - his customer support is often better too.
I have a Slipsik 6 myself, a stunning stage that is going nowhere.
Not sure I understand your questions about Nac 282 and PSU and poweramps.?
Any separate PSU power up preamps as classic analog preamps contain no PSU.
Nap 200 and most lower poweramps contain a miniature PSU to power up preamp, fx Nap 200/Nac 202.
Maybe read through the marketing blurps and owners manual, free online, to get a wider understand how things work.
Even you got a 282 at a stunning price, the logic upgrade path from SN3 is HCDR.
Not sure I’d expect much better adding 282 to SN3, but never tried myself tbh.
Hi, will definitely get a hi cap one day. First thing is to get a Naim power amp and sell the supernait. Obviously I don’t need its preamp or phono amp any more.
Even with just buying the 282 and the Gaio my system sounds a lot better.
I used a NAP200 to power my NAC282 for quite some time; it worked very well. I chose to add an XPS to my CDX2 before going the HiCap on the system as a ‘source first’ philosophy, as many will claim is the optimal route. For me, it certainly was. I ran it for many years and was happy with the system as it was. The trick here is not going and listening above budget If you don’t do that, you will generally be quite happy with any upgrade you make
Is a HiCap (DR) and NAP250(DR) going to be better? Sure it is! It ought to be, as it cost about three times as much when it was new. That said, the NAP200 is a lovely musical amp. It’s not the most powerful, but very lively.
A lot of the decision between using a 200DR and a 250DR also comes down to speakers. I don’t think the 200 would have worked so well with my Dynaudios (Contour) when I had a 250DR that did. Now with my more recent Dynaudios (Confidence), they need a 300DR to really shine.