I’m not sure if this the right place for this so please feel to relocate if needed.
Just FYI I’m in the US. I bought a new SN2 last year about a month before the SN3 was announced. I’m ok with that, since I’m not sure if the 3 is even available yet here.
But what I’m not ok with is Naim USA’s decision to reduce the price of the 3 almost $1100. The 2 was $5695. The 3 is $4595. What I was told was Naim USA wanted the pricing similar to the U.K. pricing which seems to be nonsense. I say that since nothing else has had a price drop. A HiCap DR in the USA $2595. That’s more the half the price of the SN3!! For a power supply!!! So my conundrum is do I just dump the 2 and buy the 3 or look for a pre-loved HiCap. Does the 3 sound better than a 2 with HiCap ??
Opus, I’ve moved your post to the Hifi Corner and re-titled it so it’s more appropriate to the question at hand.
I was in a similar boat here in New Zealand, getting the SN2 about a month or two before the SN3 was launched. Oddly though, the SN3 is about 20% more than what the SN2 was here, so the overseas pricing does seem a bit all over the place.
I have since added a HiCap to my SN2 and it does bring more cohesion and solidity. I haven’t heard the SN3, but people have commented that the presentation is a little different.
I’d tend to stick with the SN2 and look at upgrades such as cabling, power leads and the HiCAP. The SN’s are very capable and will respond to cabling, power and source improvements.
I’m sorry, I cannot answer the question in the last sentence of your post.
To the specific of the bit that I have quoted above, if you doing go down the route of adding a Hicap to your existing SN2, I would say to be sure to find a HiCap DR. When the SN2 was introduced, a respected UK dealer announced that the addition of a HC made no improvement (IIRC negating the effect of the SN2’s inbuilt DR tech ) it had to be a HCDR.
Whichever path you choose, I hope it works for you.
C.
Currently, I wouldn’t even think about it: I’d keep SN2 without hesitation. In my experience, the SN3 does not improve the SN2, but moves laterally, and in some cases even gets worse (lower headroom).
It will all be to see what Naim prepares for a hypothetical future SN4, but in the saga so far, the best and the one that has generated the greatest milestone is the SN2, without a doubt IMHO.
Thank you
Opus, also in the US and I use a SN 2, I have not heard an SN 3 so cannot comment on the sound difference between the two. I have recently brought home a HiCap DR home for a demo and after a week placed an order since I enjoyed what it brought to the system. I believe if I had an SN 3, I would be looking to use a HiCap DR with that system as well. Since I am not interested in Vinyl I am happy to stick with the SN2.
With that said when eventually the SN 3 are readily available in the shops to demo and also bring home for a demo then I may take a peak at one. I would have to be convinced that the there was a demonstrable uplift in performance for me to trade in 2 year old SN 2 for SN 3. I just think the trade in value would not be there with the already low price for the SN 3.
BTW if you order the HiCap DR it comes with a SNAIC5 but you still need a SNAIC-4 Interconnect which retails for $325.00
No regrets with timing, life keeps moving on… and the music is sweet!
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