Nac 552 or 252?

sure - but if the power amps is expecting it - the performance of your power amp won’t be what the designers or manufacturers intended - which of course is not the same as saying you won’t necessarily prefer it :slight_smile:

Well i guess every manufacturer is going to stay for best results you need to do this or that, but my findings are what they are.
Said many times now it certainly shocked me.

Isn’t all this talk of music reproduction confusing.
Yes highly transparent holographic sound is not necessarily musical and transmit the full experience of a great musical performance. Personally, as long as something makes the hairs stand up on my neck (I don’t have any on my arms and not many on my neck :wink:) and gives me goose bumps then it reaches the parts that it should reach. What ever system is doing that, then I would say that it is doing the right job.
For me, this comes from the performance and no HiFi can transform a poor performance otherwise.
Some serious musicians appear to be against recording and believe that it does not capture all the elements and experience of a performance.
Believe it or not, with my favourite music on CD or LP, the systems I have can sometimes achieve this. Good job really.
In the end that is what anyone has to look for in a hifi system whatever it is

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Sure can

Yes, as you say, some use no pre with the Vivaldi. But some have pre and find the sound is more enjoyable for them than straight into the amp, and those have sometimes only one digital source. I can’t mention here where you can find these members reviews, but I have seen you there. There is the term best in the forum name.

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I have no doubt that Dunc system sounds very very good. I would be glad to listen to the Thales/ top Allnic combo into the SI30.
My comments were more in general point of view, I was not referring to his system, but saying that better in hifi terms is not forcefully more enjoyable. And absolute neutrality is not the goal for everyone. I am happy to have my coloured Ear 912 and coloured Nds.

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Yes, I agree. I woudn’t call Dunc’s system neutral - whatever that is!

Unfortunately the Allnic wasn’t fully on song when I was there, although I did take a few albums.

Your use of the word coloured made me smile. A friend has the Luxman 900 amps, and damned fine they are too, unlike to 700s. A friend of his was trying to enthuse him about his Bryston amps, when he listened to my friends Luxmans he damned them by saying they were coloured. Much like you his comment was that he likes the coloured output; as do I.

On a personal note: My aim is to get a system that will play superb files well while allowing all the poorly recorded music, that I love, to sound as good as possible. Not jab me in the eye.

M

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By now we got the idea that your system is the best thing since sliced bread… :yawning_face::yawning_face:

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I am glad I made you laugh, as it was a bit my goal.
But Dunc was the first , in above posts, to employ the term coloured to describe the 552. So I was referring to his previous posts. I prefer a bit coloured sound than strictly neutral.
Can’t say which I would prefer, the Bryston or the Luxman. I am sure the Luxman sounds very nice and rich. But I fear it can sound a bit dull. It was the case maybe 15 years ago when I heard one. But not heard modern Luxman.

That’s a bit rude. Akin to telling someone to shut up.

Dunc has an interesting perspective and experience of a wide variety of Naim and other hifi. His posts add to the forum whether you like his conclusions or not.

.sjb

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My choice of the word "coloured " may not have been right, or maybe it was? It was the word i used for what I was hearing. Coloured, hampered, skippered, whatever you want to call it.
I don’t need to repeat myself, nor do you you need to read it again.

Cheers all

Its nice, but i have heard bette, but its not achievable for me, unless i fall into a swimming pool full off £20 notes.
But its nice to try and get somewhere near, and dream.
But until then i guess i am happy to slum it with what i have to listen with.

Not being able to afford the 552, nor liking the demo 252 all that much, I believe the 282 is the second best preamp Naim has in its offer. After the 272, bien sûr. :grin:

My friend has a number of amps. His main two sets are an ARC75se fed by an ARC6 & the Luxman 900s. The former he would describe as having a degree of extra timbre/richness than the Luxman that include a tad more detail and dynamic whack.

When he was going through a full upgrade cycle, not that that seems to ever end, he had in the Luxman 590 Class A jobby, I was in love. Yes, the 900s have more beef, yes they have that bit more detail, but the eye watering increase in price just shows what a stone bonker bargain the integrated is; if anything can be for that sort of money!

What I loved about the 590 was its ability to allow you to keep playing music and enjoy it. Session just extended.

Neither are dull, but undoubtedly bend to the warm side of neutral.

M

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I’m enjoying the thought of you pottering around Paris listening to some uber systems last year @frenchrooster. Lovely! What an image :slightly_smiling_face:

I see that you’re getting into production and sound design @Simon-in-Suffolk. I have to dabble in sound design for work (only scratching the surface), and it does change my thoughts on playback devices and amplification. What’s your main listening rig these days @Simon-in-Suffolk. For playback listening pleasure I mean, not working on the sound itself (I must talk to you about your studio some time)

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I agree when you get involved in production and mastering it does tend to mean you listen to audio in a specific way - and you can hear the tricks of the trade being applied :slight_smile:

My main listening is still eclectic - 80s/90s punk, Opera, choral and the romantic period orchestral are my favourites.

I am into music production as well - and my goto genre is chill out / electronic. I love playing with audio textures and sound scapes to dance rhythms.

I tend to enjoy my Dave DAC driving Empyreans and my ATC speakers via Chord amplification - but I go for bursts of travel for work - and I enjoy my iPhone driving my AirPods Max - which once burnt it - and boy they took a long time - open up beautifully.

Studio is currently modest. Scarlett DAC driving Yamaha actives.

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Aye. Tricks of the trade. Especially apparent in electronic music of course.

I too have eclectic tastes - weird soundscapes, techno, dance, electronics of all kinds, classical, jazz, world music…hard to say what I don’t like really…I do enjoy the BBC3 New music show and BeeB’s The Late junction of course.

Upstairs I run an even more modest Scarlett 2i4 and a second hand Mytek Brooklyn DAC+, avec ATC scm 7’s into my ancient Exposure X integrated for very near field. Strangely, the relatively forensic Mytek Dac works well with the 7’s via the Exposure X - even though the 7’s need more drive.

Which ATC speakers do you run? SCM 19s? And do you still run your Naim streamer into the Chord DAC? I seem to remember you talking about the NDX2 some time ago…ATC and Chord must make a very resolving and clean listen? I say this because I’m starting to move in that direction, with Naim Streamer for a source. I notice that the SPL brand seem to be making very strong inroads into the domestic arena…

Hi, yes SCM19s, and my trusty NDX2 takes care of streaming duties.

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Interesting. Thanks. I asked about the 19s because to me, they seem to do so much right for relatively little outlay.

I have a couple of questions for when you get a minute if I may - no rush…whenever…

  1. Do you have a Naim Power supply for the NDX2?
  2. have you ever been tempted to go ATC active?
  3. Do you place your 19s on stands? If so which ones?
    1. Your Chord amplification - which model/s do you use?

As ever, grateful for your time @Simon-in-Suffolk

I agree with this. I cannot comment on the 252 552 debate. I own the former and havd never heard the latter. However whe I first purchased a full Naim set up in 2008 i was astonished by thd difference betweeñ the 282 and 202 into (and powered by) a 200. The dealer (Audio T) told me that the 282 was able to drive (control?) the 200 much better and it’s superior design allowed it to have a higher gain than the 202 which made it far more dynamic. Similar improvements - with the 200 still in place - were very obvious as i later went to one and thèn rwo HiCaps. The pre is more - in my opinion - than just a source selector that should then attempt to disappear. Its ability to drive, and be a good match for, the power amp is crucial.

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