In my opinion the 552dr/500dr is in a league of its own - still! But others may differ with 300nc experience. It’s not full olive (which is the most „into the heart“ signature), but it combines the strengths of Olive with a more modern sound. 500dr is micro detail machine. From my thoughts it’s not outdated yet.
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Based on what was said by Jason, Mark and co. at the last Factory tour, the current 552DR and 500DR aren’t going to be replaced anytime soon. At least that’s the gist that I took away.
Both remain superb pieces of kit !
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I have been told the same
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It may very well be they are not being replaced soon or maybe never, but if they are Naim still can’t say that because it would freeze 500 series sales.
Why is that? These units remain their best amps other than Statement, are fully supported and are still sought after so I would say that the exact opposite is the case.
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It caught my attention yesterday that my (then 18 month old) NAP 500 arrived here 12 years ago to the day.
If i’d of known then a brand spanking new amp was coming out now i’d of waited with bated breath… 
Time flies when one is enjoying oneself…
Although i did get the timing slightly off with buying 500 series just before DR became the big thing, and it was then never really quite cost affordable for i to buy it after being the big expense to retrofit, however this development has never succeeded in preventing my 12 years of musical enjoyment using my non DR 500/552 
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Latham is selling out all their demo’s, other devices (TIN series, Nait 50, 282…) also available.
These 2 products are with the green lights. 500 and 552
Dynaudio1
I think it would freeze sales of the 500 series because potential buyers would
a) want to hear the replacement before committing and
b) realize that once the replacement came out there would be a good selection of used 500s on the market at attractive prices
What replacement?
Nothing has been mentioned and on the factory visit it was made very clear by our hosts that there are no current plans to do anything with the 500 series.
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From what I can gather Naim are in the middle of restructuring, so I’d thought that the last thing on their minds is taking a punt on releasing new reference models at this time.
This is just pure speculation of course..,
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Statement also online..who is going to be the new owner. For sure…not me 
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I know nothing about Dutch tax laws &, having retired 11 years ago, next to nothing about British business tax rules.
However, if it was in the UK could it be possible that the equipment sale is simply because it is beyond a certain age & can no longer be written down against the current year tax liabilities?
It may be being replaced by identical new kit simply to continue receiving tax benefits.
Of course, it could also be simply because the distributor feels that the older the equipment gets the more difficult it will be to sell on.
Dynaudio1
We are talking in circles my friend. My point in the earlier post was that EVEN IF Naim was coming out with a replacement soon they would not say so. So whether they are or aren’t they would in both cases say there was no imminent replacement.
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Is it on the Latham website?
not on the Latham webpage under second life. They publish their stuff on a dutch second hand webpage
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JasVerlen
Are you trying to conjour up a 500 replacement out of thin air?
Anyone who was at the recent Factory event would be under no illusions that there were imminent plans to replace the current 552 and 500.
This whole train of thought is daft and is getting tedious. Consider this to be my last response to you on this issue.
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I’m sure you’re onto something; I’m still not sure why you’d sell a demo item, then have to replace it with an identical one that costs you more money than you paid for the first one. These are there to demo, so surely one that is well run-in is going to sound better too?
Annoyingly, when I went to have a demo of the NAP 350s, my dealer had sold them a few days before, meaning a demo that involved two brands rather than three. Amp brand 1 was always out of the question, with amp brand 2 and the 350s the real demo. I took amp brand 2 home for a proper demo. My dealer then had to quickly acquire a pair of demo 350s or potentially lose their sale.
With the Barca take over of Naim and Focal the distribution could be changing, all speculation?
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If the sale of demo equipment is for tax reasons, then it is likely that the financial gain overall will be greater than expenditure on new equipment.
The distributors main concern will be minimising tax & maximising net profits. Better sound quality from run in products will not be a concern when, & if, trying to reduce tax liabilities.