Necessary that NAC52 and Supercap have matching serials?

Hi,

as I am in the 52 topic again - not in years, I bet this some time ago… :slight_smile:

Is it necessary or brings any kind of advantage (except the better look with matching green) when NAC52 (or other pre amps) are paired with a Supercap with a matching serial number.
I bought a 2000 NAC52 and have a 1994 and 1995 SC - fully serviced in 2020/2018.
I have hands on the SC which was originally bought with the 2000 52 - also from 2000 (in later green).

Is there a benefit in sound quality - or will my SCs do the same job?
Maybe reselling will benefit, when it is matching - this not so important for me.

THANKS a lot. Hopefully not too stupid question.

I’m assuming you mean Classic(black) versus Olive Supercaps? I believe there is little performance difference between the two unless the Classic version is a DR model.

No - sorry - I meant olive vs olive!
Olive 1995 vs olive 2000!

When I bought my 52/sc, their serial numbers were 71 apart. I also had another sc from 5 years later. I tried both with the 52 and I could not tell the difference. Both were recently serviced under my ownership. However, the 52/sc are from 1995 and have brown facias, and the other sc was from 2000 with a green facia. Since my 135’s have brown facias and for me there was no sonic difference between the sc’s, I sold the later sc on and kept the older one. This means I have 52/sc/135’s with matching facias. Also, it pleases me that the serial numbers are close together. My 135’s are sequential serial numbers.

In a nutshell, it probably makes no difference.

4 Likes

That’s what I thought.
Buying a supercap for around 1,5k Euro only for matching fascia… ?
My 135 are from 2001 - also late green. But I also have a second SC and power supply for the TT in brownish fascia.

Any difference will be down the relative health of each Supercap. No need for close matching serial numbers.

2 Likes

THANKS so much - than at the end it comes down to matching colour… and the price of the SC and chance of re-selling mine. Last time I remember, the olive SC are no quick sellers.

In my experience, how quickly or slowly something sells all depends on agreeing the right price.

1 Like

Correct - that is my experience as well. When it comes to selling I better go down a bit, instead of sitting months and waiting.

Does this mean, that the changes done in SC over the years are less prominent, than the changes in 52. Especially at the 52 I remember everyone looking for a late one - for the 135 the same.

The main changes were first when it was re-engineered into the current Classic/Reference casework (even then changes were not extensive), and then the biggest change was when the regulation was changed from Naim’s selected and matched LM317s to their discrete regulation modules.

2 Likes

@Richard.Dane
Thanks a lot!
Is (from your opinion) a non DR Supercap the best option for coupling with 52.
I do not want to mix DR and non DR - therefore not thinking about a DR-Cap.

I’ve never compared them on a NAC52. When I had my NAC52 it was long before Naim introduced their discrete regulator module.

1 Like

I have a late-ish olive 52 with an earlier (but serviced) non-DR Supercap.

IIRC, the early 52s required the dedicated PS, while later ones used a Supercap. Some people actively preferred the 52 and dedicated PS option, so that may skew second-hand values. For the later version, when it was all serviced seems to matter much more than age.

If I have got that wrong, I am sure others here can correct me

2 Likes

Correct - early one use the 52PS - some people prefer it over the SC.
IIRC the Supercap was introduced as it can be more widely used - Snaxo for example.

My question had referred to internal improvements within the olive Supercap range.
Especially when comparing a 1995 with 2000 olive SC.
I understood (thanks to the answers here), that the status of recent service is most important - and the lifecycle has not so much technical impact - only the new green was done.

The 52 is generally known to work best with the original 52PS.
We had a 52PS which had been converted to an olive Supercap and it was tremendous.

We tried an SC-DR and found it to be much better Hifi but the timing went off somehow and it was great but boring, so we stayed with our olive SC, which was slightly fuzzy in comparison but far more emotionally engaging and rhythmically right.

Best regards, BF

2 Likes

Hi,
I do actually have the exact same!
52PS converted int o SC - and it works perfectly with my 1995 52 (which is only having the left channel currently).
Think the SC will work also totally fine with newish green 52 from 2000.

But IIRC the conversion from 52PS to SC was simple. Tray from 52PS out - tray from SC in… ready :slight_smile:

3 Likes

I would recently serviced is much more important than serial numbers as others have said.

I have similar age SC and 135s. I don’t think the age guarantees that the facias will match. Or maybe they age at different rates. Of my 4 Olive boxes the colours range from grey/green to a muddy brown. This gives some idea of the range:

Not concerning for me as the hifi is in a corner.

1 Like

The “conversion” was a case of sliding out the old tray with the 52PS innards and then sliding in a brand new tray with Supercap innards. This then retained the 52PS serial number but was otherwise essentially identical to a brand new Supercap.

4 Likes

I know only two kind of colours - the muddy Brown and the More greyish Green. The latter are the newer ones from 1997 on i think.

In your picture i really Looks Like More variants.

But could also be light dependant. Resulting in Brown - Green - Brown - Green in Your picture

I think There was a defined Date for change of the colour. Around this Date you Need to Look carefully if the colour is Important.