Hello!
I really need your advice.
I’m from Ukraine. I crawl Google translator, therefore, I ask you to forgive me in advance for my English)
The story is that in the search for my sound, I have long been. And only relatively recently, I found him in Naim. What is very happy. Finally, the music began to give emotions.
I started with Nime XC\flatcap, Supernait 2\hicap, olive 72\140 and olive 82\250 and two hicap, as well as 152\155 XS\flatcap
Naimdac\XPS Source.
And so I recently decided to go on a black classic series.
For me it is all very expensive, but I had to)
Now we have:
NaimDac (2010) XPS (2010) Rega Jupiter (CD transport) NAP 250 (2014)
Hicap (2013)
AC Xavian Giulia
And now, I’m looking for 282 for this kit.
And found! Unfortunately this is 2004, but in perfect condition.
But his age is certainly embarrassing.
And then I remembered about 272!
But what if you sell a hicap, XPS, Naimdac, and buy a 272 with 555PS?
What do you think?
Can the dac in 272/555 reach the level of NaimDac / xps?
Can the 272/555 preamplifier reach the level 282 / 2hicap?
The 272 is a fine product but ultimately having all that circuitry in the same box will involve compromise. So can it work at the same level as the nDAC and 282 answer no.
Do you want to use the CD transport with the 272? Also do you want to do streaming, using the 272 as a streamer player? The 272 is more than a preamp; it’s a streamer player. If you want that feature, it can be very good value for the money.
I can tell you that the 272/555PS is a fantastic pairing both in terms of the preamp and streaming/dac capabilities and with a 250 a wonderful 3 box set up. I had that setup for about 2 years although with a 300 amp and completely loved it. I then had great opportunity to move up to a 552 and ND 555.
Yes it is better in every way but not by as much as one would think for the staggering increased cost.
When I compared the 272/XPS to the 282/HC and bare NDX I couldn’t convince my self there was a difference with a 250 for both.
The 555PS puts in another league in my opinion.
I assume you mean 555 power supply for the 272.
Yes I would guess that a 272/555PS would be better than a 282/hi cap and a bare NDX possibly even an NDX/XPS.
I have a 272 with 555PSDR and it is indeed amazingly clear sounding and powerful and musical.
I haven’t heard NDX with 282, so cannot compare it to that.
But logically, the reason the 272 with 555PSDR is so good is that the excellent PSU powers all 3 parts of the 272 - the streamer, DAC and Preamp. And the 272’s internal PSU is switched off, removing a source of EM noise.
And the various parts are tuned to work together with no need for interconnect cables and multiple external PSUs.
Not. If I chose 272, I would give up physical media. Although I literally switched to CD two years ago. Prior to this, the source was a regular PC. And even the figure is both there and there. The sound from the CD is smoother and more fun.
Thank you very much! This is very valuable information.
Of course, such a review is very tempting to switch to 272))
Only NDX is still not NaimDac. Especially, naked NDX.
And the naked NaimDac without XPS sounds frankly gray.
That was probably the case. Nevertheless, the quality of the source at Naim decides a lot.
Oh yeah! I also suppose, but the situation is in fact, invariably))
If you are right, then of course you need to take 272/555
In short, ideally, this is to hear this combination at home. But there is no such possibility.
In 282, I am also confused by the fact that he was in 2004.
While 272 is the freshest device.
Do I need a 282 service? Well yes. Officially, yes. And in fact?
This device was hardly used.
Well, they offer me a price for it in the amount of $ 2,000.
Tomash, that’s a good price for a 282. No, I don’t think it absolutely must be serviced - the Hicap you would power it with is more likely to need new capacitors - but if you have the 282 shipped to Class A servicing in Sheffield, they’ll do great work for a reasonable cost.
However, if your only source is computer audio, then perhaps the 272 makes more sense.
Thanks for the answer!
Apparently, Google translator crashes and my messages are read with difficulty) Sorry.
I do not speak English. I’m from Ukraine. Kiev.
Yes, it’s good news that for the 282 preamps of 2004, service is optional. There really are very gentle modes and no heat.
Yes, for a cap, of course, service is important, but I have a cap in 2013 and I think everything is in order there.
The problem is that for 282, ideally, you need TWO caps to unlock the potential of 282. And even better, a super cap!)
And this again is money. I do not have great funds unfortunately.
Of course, I am very tempted to switch to 272. It is cheaper and only three boxes. But what about the sound? I can’t even imagine.
Yes, my only source is this CD! Not a computer. The computer was in the past.
In the future, vinyl is planned. But in the very distant future. For even the second-hand Naim forces to take off the last pants))
Thinking about it too!
Such small capacitors. In old devices, blue capacitors were used, like from Panasonic.
In newer devices, already yellow from Kemet.
Replacing tantalum capacitors in 282 is not a problem.
It is important to understand whether there is anything else to change …
Only Naim service can know that for sure since they test stuff to see if it is in spec. Any old unserviced Naim gear should have a price that reflects the cost of an impending service.
I bought a used 2008 282 in 2012 for $2650. I paid $625 for service last year (including the NAPSC). Net price $3275 (plus shipping both times). They seem to be going for closer to $4000 now. I think I did pretty well.
Tomash, with 82 the power supply plays a huge role as you have discovered. The 82 pre is optimised by the olive Hicap(s) so you have got a great sounding system.
The Hicap and 250 you have right now are (presumably) a non-DR version. If that’s the case, it may be worthwhile to have the units converted to DR if feasible. Based on experiences from others who have made the switch, the Hicap DR is quite an improvement from the earlier versions of the Hicap. You might not need 2 Hicaps with the 282 if it is a DR as sound quality is excellent even though it’s only 1 connected. Similarly the 250Dr is reported to be a rather significant improvement from the non-DR.
Have you tried connecting your PC to the Naim DAC/XPS and compared it to your CD player connected to the same Naim DAC/XPS?
No… as said earlier, the 272 is ultimately constrained by the spacing of its more dense circuitry.
Naim believe decoupling (including separation and spacing) is an important ingredient in their higher end audio components.
The 555PS will give a low impedance external power-supply to the 272, and given the 272 density, an external PSU could well have a significant effect…so the 555PS might well maximise what the 272 can bring.
However a NDX2, feeding a 282 say powered by a HiCapDR, is going to most likely for many people sound potentially more insightful and musically satisfying…albeit for an increased cost.
Despite this the 272 / 555PS might be the perfect source/preamp for you and your system… synergy with your amp, speakers and room.
@Tomash as others have mentioned the 272 and 282 are different products
272 is a very good streamer with a good pre amp selection so if this is your journey plan, as most 272 owners have done look for 555 which takes the source of the 272 onto another level and if end plan is 3 boxes 272/555/250 is a very good and mucical set up
I could of gone that route but to my ear told me seperates, so I first went 202/HCDR/200 and then 282/HCDR/200, box count was never an issue, the 282 will deliver suberb music to your system, slightly forward presentation, but in saying that a lovely pre
so for me it depends on your end plan if 272 or 282, and as a foot note if in time add a SC to the 282 it takes it onto a whole new level
