I find that adding a 2nd Hicap increases bass and tightens it, but also sharpens the treble. Overall I think one Hicap sounds less “digital”. I prefer it to two.Has anyone else experienced this?
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By a small margin I prefer using 2 Hicaps on the 82. Bass and treble don’t change that much but I hear a better separation of voices and instruments with added width and depth of the stereophonic image. Despite this, it doesn’t compete with a Conrad Johnson preamp.! 
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Two Hicaps (Chrome bumper when i had them) were brilliant on an early 82. Gave a 282 with late Hicap a very hard time, and eventually the 282 went. The early 82 just played better music.
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I prefer one hicap. Two was more hifi and yes, I could hear things that one hicap couldn’t pull out of the music, but one hicap was just simply more musical, and I got a better connection to the music.
Having said all that, a supercap is a different level again. All the benefits of two hicaps with the musicality and connection of one hicap.
I recall that step, it was quickly followed by the supercap, the 52.
Have 82, started with one hicap, added a 2nd and big difference. Changed to supercap bigger difference. Kept getting better!
I bought my 82 in 1993 and used it with a single Hicap, a few years later I demoed it with dual Hicap and with a Supercap. I felt the twin HC offered a lift in immediacy and pace which I liked, and the SC took it up quite significantly with greater tonal richness and improved timing, but also decided that I was happy with the single HC and spent the money on music and Burgundy.
Last year I treated the 82 to a Supercap as a 25th birthday present, and it was a significant upgrade, but a few months later I swapped in a 52.
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Mate imo, all it’s doing is showing your source for what it is.
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I went from one Hicap to a Supercap. Even with one SNAIC on the Supercap it sounded better. Then I fetched my second SNAIC from upstairs 
And it then had a Service at Class A 
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For me, going from 1 HC to 2 HC was a big improvement. From 2 HC to a SC was an improvement but not on the scale of 1 to 2 HC.
OTOH I could tell my SO that I had indeed reduced the box count…
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52+Supercap=$$$$$$.
My findings exactly.
Not it’s not, it’s $$$$ only. Very good value for money. I found that buying a 82 before the 52 cost me more than going straight to the 52.
52 is a completely different league than a 82. Probably only bettered but 252/552 imo
. A 52 if one can found will fetch 6000 USD! 
The 82/250 was my favorite Naim amp I tried it with one Hicap, 2 Hicaps, a Dual non Naim PSU, Olive Supercap and Supercap 2 and enjoyed them all my favorite though. was the SC2.
Again I say… SC2=$$$$$$$$$
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Why is it that when I ask a question often times the answer is to upgrade??
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Your opening post did two things:
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It invited a discussion. Your statement was discussed, and as with all discussions, it exceeded the initial boundaries. In this case, it evolved into including the supercap and it’s benefits, and upgrades routes taken by others.
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It asked a closed question. Closed questions invite closed answers, i.e. yes or no. That would make for a very dull thread.
I thought the answers were quite informative and I have gained from it.
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I preferred one hicap. I tried the 82 with two. It was a bit too intense. Plus, the tangle of cables was obscenely.
You say that adding the 2nd Hicap ‘sharpens the treble’ - is this the ‘fault’ of the 2nd Hicap or is it highlighting say a tendency of the speakers which hasn’t previously been that obvious or is it a new sound you need to live with for while before making a final decision ?
Is the “sharpening of the treble” simply the second Hicap or is it highlighting something say with you speakers or even the room itself?
Long considered wisdom has been that 2 Hicap’s would be better than the one and that a Supercap would offer a further improvement.
I accept there are people on here with widely differing finances but I would look to “cut out the middleman” and go for a Supercap direct.
Here in the UK the average price on eBay for the last 10 Supercap sold is circa £1400. In your case assuming you currently have the two Hicap’s you could offset the Supercap purchase price by selling them. The average price of the last 12 Hicap sold on eBay was £325 and assuming a worst case you end up paying eBay 10% and then lose a further 3.75% to PayPal you still make £280 each so £560 in total meaning your Supercap would “only” be costing you £840.
That’s my way of looking at things.
I’ll shortly have a NAC82 c/w Hicap DR for sale to offset the cost of the NAC52 c/w Supercap I’ve just bought…
Regards
Richard