Hi Guys need some advice on purchase.
Living in Australia no where near dealers, approx 2000 kilometres to my nearest Naim and ATC dealer.
Looking at the purchase of a Nap 300Dr or 250Dr with HicapDr as they are on a Closeout sale.
Or do I ditch that idea and go with an ATC 40 Active and ditch all the boxes and continuous Upgrades.
Not really interested in a multitude of Black Boxes.
I have a NAC 272 recently discontinued unfortunately as I’m only interested in Streaming and playing Vinyl on my LP12.
Thoughts would be much appreciated as I only listen to Rock and contemporary Rock very little else.
Your profile doesn’t say what you have at the moment. Is the NAC 5i mentioned actually a Nait 5i being used with the 272? If you get the 250 or 300, what speakers would you use? Whether the ATC actives are a good idea depends on whether you prefer them to you alternative speakers.
With a 272, a Hicap is irrelevant, so don’t buy it. If you get the 300, a power supply on the 272 is virtually essential in order to get a well matched system. The 555 PS would be ideal.
Remember that buying cheap is only ever a good idea if it’s what you actually want. You know I’m sure that the 272 is superseded. Might a 222 be a better way forward? How high do you want to go?
ATC40a owner so biased
Would suggest new 222 (has MM input,) + analogue line input for MC phono stage if required.
Balanced outputs. Can add power supply at a later date.
Would suggest 222+SCM40a +good quality power csbles.
You don’t need that Hicap as you don’t have a separate Naim preamp. My choice would be to get the 300 and SCM40 passives, but my first priority would be to get an XPS for the 272.
It’s not comparing the same ATC speakers, but there’s an opinion on the relative benefits of active vs passive in the review below with Naim amplification.
Unfortunately though there’s no clear cut winner. I went the active route for various reasons, but you may prefer passive? @JonathanG wrote that article and may be able to ‘amplify’ on his excellent article, but I’ll wager it’ll be a matter of personal preference.
OP the New Classic NAP 250 is also worth bearing in mind. The New Classic NAP 250 offers better grip and stronger sustained drive into passive SCM40’s then the NAP 250 DR and NAP 300 DR are able to.
Hi @Gavmic, I assume, as have others, that you’re comparing passive ATC SCM40s with the active versions. My experience, which seems to be shared by several others, is in favour of the actives when the passives are driven by a 250DR. But with a 300DR in play, the comparison is much more dependent on personal taste. My preference is still for the actives, but Rock is a fairly small proportion of my listening and in your shoes I’d be very tempted by the passives + 300DR at a good price.
As for adding a power supply to your 272, I always used an XPSDR when I had a 272, but I’d be a bit wary of buying a new one now, with the new classic gear beginning to appear. You might be better off putting the money towards a NSC 222 if Australian prices get a bit more reasonable.
