NAC52 & NAC52PS, A way forward?

Which ones?

See Richard’s answer above regarding early models…

An NAC52 with Supercap is much better than an NAC52 with 52PS, otherwise there wouldn’t have been much point in Naim developing the Supercap.

Use the Supercap to power the NAC52 and, if you have no other use for the 52PS, it’s heavy enough to use as a rather stylish doorstop - and a certain conversation piece at that!

Whatever purists may think, the NAC52/Supercap is perfectly able to power a Prefix, and there’s little (if any) point in adding yet more Olive boxes to the system.

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While I agree that the Supercap is better than the 52 PS (I had my 52PS converted to a Supercap as soon as the option became available), another reason for developing the Supercap was to create a general-purpose power supply at the level of the 52 PS that could be used for powering other components such as other preamps, phono stages, and active crossovers.

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From a desktop PC, I was able to fix the typos in my previous post. I had to wait until I had access to a PC because the UI for editing posts on a mobile phone is abysmal. After the length of the post exceeds the length of the editing window, you can’t scroll, so you’re basically editing blindfold.

A complete stab in the dark here but I guess you’ve never heard a Prefix powered by a Supercap?

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No, but the Prefix has the same internals as those used in the phono section of the NAC52. So there can be no improvement in the sound by taking the electronics out of the preamp, and putting them in an external box.

A major difference would be the Prefix being much closer to the source amplifying those super low signals. And being isolated from other electronics is always a benefit. So one cannot just look at component level IMO. Instead look at the complete design setup/system.

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Yeah, also I think the quality of power supplies might play a small but important part in sound quality otherwise why would Naim have bothered with taking a power supply, beefing it up and putting it in a separate box? It’s is puzzling isn’t it? But maybe I am in danger of sounding facetious? :blush:

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I have tried in real life and for me the Prefix is a big improvement, you can also remove the internal phono boards which make the sound even better.
A dedicated Supercap for the Prefix is a marvelous upgrade, in my opinon.

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I would say, from 35 years Naim experience, the PS plays a much bigger part of overall performance
Martin

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