"nac-n 372" + nap 500 dr

When I close my eyes I see ‘blimey!’ & ‘Swiss army knife’. Useless phrases maybe?

Took my aging Ford Focus to my local garage today and said that my 1.6 lt diesel was sounding a bit asthmatic, but still going well.

The mechanic (I think his name is Del Boy) at the garage said that he has a mint 5.0 litre V8 engine (pre-loved) that would slip right in to my old Focus, although he admitted I’d be lucky to make use of all the power and might only get 10mpg.

I said that it might be a bit too much for the old girl, but he said that Ford might bring out a new chassis and body-shell that might suit the massive V8 a little better, although there was no launch date or even a press release in this regard.

I must admit I am tempted. What do you guys think?

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Ford sucks. Lol. Sorry about that but I couldn’t help myself.

Do it , and get a nice Mustang sticker for the boot, no one will be able to tell the difference. Its what Del boy would do😉

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At least it will work better than before even if not at it’s full potential :smile: That’s what car tuner do all day long… So I will summarize you: you would suggest me to buy the NAP500DR ! :wink:

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The golden rule is listen yourself, if you like it, thats all that matters. Whatever you do, somebody on the forum will tell you it was the wrong thing to do, should have done X. Its your ears, and your money…enjoy your music.

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Thanks again for your advice. That’s what I already said to you some comments above at the beginning of the discussion. I will try to listen to a 272/555/500 setup as far as it’s possible :+1:t3:

@arekey, I apologise but I was being somewhat sarcastic in my previous post, but now I will temper that with some self-deprecation, another important element of British humour.

In possibly stretching my car analogy a little too far, the approach I have taken is to hold onto my superb 1.6 lt turbo diesel (250DR), although it has power limitations, and put it into a racing car (552). Now i have a vehicle that handles superbly (the control), but it could do with more horses under the hood (the power). If and when funds permit, I will see if there is a highly tuned V8 out there (500DR) that would give my racing car the power it deserves. In the meantime, I might upgrade the tyres and brakes to give me even more control (DRing my 552).

So if you have got a few grand burning a hole in your pocket, then I would go for a balanced pre-loved pre/power combo (e.g. 282/HiCapDR/250DR), if they exist where you are based, but you would of course have to buy a streamer to feed them, so I accept this is a costly route and increases the box count

In my experience ‘control’ always trumps ‘power’. You can’t have too much control but too much power can have you spinning off the road and ending up in a ditch!

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Bit harsh. I love my Focus.:wink:

A second on that, which led me to the NDX2/SN2 two box system over the 272/250 (or 300) option. Control before power.

But to be fair to the OP this is all conjecture, nobody posting appears to have tried the combo, so it will not harm the OP to try…we all might learn something.

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Indeed, control starts with the source. Which is why I have a NDS and hanker after a ND555.

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I am sure the OP will notice an ‘improvement’. But is it a wise way to spend many thousands of pounds……? Umm, I am not so sure.

This car analogy isn’t really that helpful. It’s best to keep things simple. I’d say that control comes from the power amp. It’s information that comes from the source. What’s not there at the beginning cannot be heard at the end.

The question is whether a 500 is too much or a waste of money with ‘just’ a 272/555 up front. Some would say that the 272/555/300 is a mullet, which it is a bit I suppose, but it works well.

I won’t repeat what I wrote previously because it seems that the idea of getting a bargain is winning over the concept of building a balanced system in the OP’s mind.

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If i liked a 272/300, and a 500 sounded better and i was being offered an ex dem 500 dr for the price of a new 300 dr…i know what i would do. The main problem is there may or may not be a 372, and he is stuck with it on the end of a Nova…which would not be an ideal way to spend that money.

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This would appear to be a bit of a fatal flaw. I had thought of awaiting for such, but decided to go for the NDX2 with the SN2. That along with the Core, gives me the source, control “limited” (of course it sounds very good, as it should at that price point) to the limits of the SN2. Heaven forbid, if I wanted more control, I have a solid base to work from. If the OP has a bigger long term plan and the 500DR features it, then one has to weigh up whether to take it whilst it’s there.

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The OP is ‘restricted to a future box count of four black boxes’.

HWell yes, but on the basis of speculating on a product that doesn’t exist. So going for the 500 is risky if a 372 doesn’t land I suppose? I was in a similar situation (well not in having an option for a used 500) but in wanting to limit box count and needing a headphone output. So it was 272/250 (or 300) versus NDX2 and SN2, both with PSU upgrade options, or wait it out for a 372 (if it comes?). In the end, it came down to choosing the newer streamer technology to lock in the source side and accepting that going higher, later, involves trading in the SN2. I’m happy with my current set up, PSU’s may be an option ahead. But with needing a headphone output, separates just gets to “boxy”.

I have to agree with Mike_S. IMV, the OP should wait to see if a 372 actually appears, before investing in a 500. A 272/500 paring simply makes no sense to me.

I do understand that good pre-loved 500s are a rarity, and I understand the temptation. If the OP has longer term plans involving the purchase of say a 552 and a top notch source, then a keenly priced 500 now would make some sense. But, and I say this with all sincerity, buying a 500 in the hope that a 372 (or equivalent) arrives is a huge risk.

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Only a joke. We Americans love our cars but tend to side with Ford or Chevy. You can guess where I fall on that. Lol

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