Hi,
Considering an upgrade of my 272/250.2 combo and have looked into two options which would cost app the same:
- DR and recap the 250.2
- Recap the 250.2 and add a sh XPS2
Which one to go for and why?
Grateful for advise!
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Source first. Add an XPS2 to the 272.
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After getting the power supply, why not saving a bit longer and then do number 1? 
Unless you think your 250 really urgently needs a service. Does the power amp sound off?
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The 272 will really benefit from an added power supply. As for dr on the 250.2 i personally would not bother unless this is your final amp upgrade. You could probably get an ex dem 250dr for not much more than the value of your current amp, plus the dr and service costs. The ex dem 250dr will be younger and hold its value better imo.
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Hi,
First of all thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ve had a couple of 250.2s in the passed and in comparison with these it sounds as it should, however it is a 2012 unit, so I thought it would be time to service it in the not too far away future, specially if going for option 1 as the unit would be away from home for a while.
By XPS2, do you mean XPS DR? That is the one to get. Then save up and get a 250 DR in due course, either by upgrading your existing one or trading it for a DR version.
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Thanks for your reply. I wish it would be an XPS DR, but my financial situation doesn’t allow it for the time beeing unfortunatley 
How do you stream, Tidal, Qobuz, Ruin (sorry Roon), UPnP, allot to gain tidying that up, the GiGo principal.
Recall @Richard.Dane gave a very good summary (old forum) of the NAP250 sonic differences.
Shocked this has not degenerated into a 372 thread.
Thanks for the info, had no clue about this! Any idea how I can find the thread? To answer your question mainly UPnP (FLAC) and Spotify. Some iRadio every now and then.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the addition of an XPSDR to my 272 (with 250DR) didn’t make much of a change, certainly not what I expected. It was the 555PS that did make a significant change. If you can listen to an XPS before purchase that would allow you to judge for yourself if it’s a worthwhile upgrade.
Spotify - hmm 320, try Qobuz via UPnP.
Sadly most threads are gone in the old forum clean up.
I would do a free Tidal trial using it with native Naim control.
I like the Raspberry Pi / BubbleUPnP transcoded to WAV.
Most here like Roon also.
Just listening to Qobuz 24 bit transcoded to WAV nice, but Quboz and Tidal playlists suck.
In closing not every upgrade needs to be a box (unless its keeping up with the Jones’s), optimizing what you have usually bring good gains, they are free and easy to A-B-A.
Both of these upgrades are worthwhile, but which one has the biggest impact is something you’ll probably never find a consensus on here. My gut feeling would be to get the XPS first. However, if your 250 is in need of a service, its performance can drop significantly, so in that case it would be a priority, and there’s a saving if you do the service and DR upgrade together.
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If your 250.2 is only 7 years old it probably doesn’t need a service for a few years yet. I’d save up and get the XPS DR when you have the funds - s/h ones are about if you look - and then get the 250 serviced and DR’d later.
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I’d suggest that you wait a little longer and save up so that you can get an XPS DR. There are some very good bargains around. Remember that your 272/250.2 is already very, very good, so it doesn’t matter if you have to wait.
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I’d definitely wait until you can stretch to an XPS-DR.
Remember that the 272 came out in 2015 which is after Naim introduced DR (2012) so using a non DR PSU with the 272 is unlikely to have been a consideration when Naim designed the 272.
I paid under £1800 for my XPS-DR used. It was an older model that had recently been DR’d and was bought from a dealer. You may need to wait for one to come up which gives you time to save up a bit more!
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What I know now I would go for the power supply to feed the 272 but would bypass the XPSdr and wait until you can find a nice used 555dr for sale.
I once owned the XP5XS then borrowed an XPSdr from a friend, when the XP5XS went back in I did not miss the XPSdr.
Now run a 272/555dr different pre with this combination.
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It’s all very well suggesting a 555DR but even used they are not cheap. The XPSDR is still a very worthwhile upgrade.
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Although I found that not to be the case, very underwhelming.
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Strange, I found the difference to be very substantial.
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Fair enough. It was a small jump on mine, the 555 replacement was a much bigger improvement.
Just shows there’s no rules here, just our own interpretations. 
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