Looking at options for the future. I currently have NDX2 , CD5 (Not used extensively but still going strong), NAC 282 / HiCap DR, NAP 250DR, Kudos Titan 606 , Chord Epic X.
I am looking for ideas for a future upgrade and would appreciate views of those who have been presented with similar choices, so I can go into demos with the knowledge of some of your collective experience and observations.
In the short term I can only probably achieve one of the following:
Replace Hi-Cap DR with Super-Cap DR (opening the door to 252 at a later stage 
)
Add XPS DR to the NDX2
Add 555 PS to the NDX2
I will obviously be doing demos but it would be good to hear some opinions on the merits of each option in advance of that.
I know there may be different views but that is useful especially when others may have been down this route.
I guess my priority is “What gives me the biggest uplift in the short term? “
No doubt a power supply for ndx2 then hicap dr or supercap
The answer is… Power Supplies… But which one…?
I guess… IF you can stretch the £$£’s… then 555PS for NDX2…
Otherwise… XPS 2 for same… 
In the end your ears and wallet have to decide between XPS and 555 as well as HC/SC. You will get opinions preferring either. If you don’t want to wait, the search feature can help out 
E.g.,
I run the same system except for speakers and speaker cables.
I have yet to hear an XPS Dr or 555Dr on my NDX2 with the current setup but did audition an XPS Dr with my NDX2 but when I was using a Supernait2.
For me and my ears, the XPS Dr didn’t do very much. For me on that audition, I went there with the intention of buying one but left without.
I since then am now using a full Fraim, Powerlines and a Super Lumina Din-Din interconnect.
The Super Lumina Din was an eye opener for me and made a substantial improvement from the get go and the only upgrade that my wife has actually “noticed”.
The system is now at a level I would love to try again with an XPS or 555Dr but knowing what I am like the 555Dr is ultimately what I’d like to aim for.
You don’t mention if you have a decent stand or anything else like Powerlines?
Best
Popeye
I don’t have experience of the power supplies for NDX but I found the Supercap DR to be a big improvement on the 282 vs the HCDR. Not everyone agrees but it’s certainly worth hearing for yourself.
That’s interesting. I had my mind set that the power supply on the source would be the best option for a first move but I will keep an open mind with regards to approaching from the other direction. It’s useful to gauge from everyone else’s experience. Thanks.
On an older Sound Foundation rack at present. Not sure any change there would meet with approval from SWMBO ! 
All fed by Powerline Lites. Hi - line and Morgana being compared. Both better than standard interconnect but not sure yet which one I prefer!
Cables are easily accommodated as nobody can see them! 
Was probably where I was headed but good to canvass other views. Thanks 
An XPSDR will just leave you wondering what the 555 would have given, and doesn’t add that much compared to a 555 so a used one of those would be logical. It’s also handy for when you go to an ND555.
No idea on a SC on a 282…
Alternatively if you want a noticeable upgrade how about swapping the 250 for a 300?
Interesting option. Always been minded to look at the source but worth a listen ……you guys will collectively have me emptying my bank accounts very quickly at this rate so I will endeavour to remain focussed and disciplined………I still have a vinyl collection which would be ideally serviced by a certain new turntable. I’m not brave enough to even suggest that outside the security of this forum though!
I recall never being quite satisfied with the 272 & 250; adding an XPSDR lifted it a bit but there was always the nagging thought so a few months later it was swapped for a 555PS, which did provide a very decent improvement. It was the 300 that really made it all work.
All the amplification upgrades in the world won’t provide what isn’t there in the first place. What you need is a PS555DR. It makes so much more sense than a Supercap.
Agreed, but a bare NDX2 is hardly a Woolies cassette recorder.
I had this dilemma but with a CDX2, a demo led to a 555ps but the supercap was good too, especially with the dealer’s Kudos C2 speakers on the end where it cleaned up the rather muddy (in the dem room) bass. My own speakers didn’t need any mud clearing but were replaced before I bought a supercap anyway.
Are you fully Fraimed?
It would be a dull old world if we did!
My choice would be the other well trodden path of a DAC upgrade rather than a PSU upgrade. I’m not for one moment suggesting that this is either better or worse, just different, but it works for me, and I think it opens up some more cost effective options that the rather expensive XPS and 555PS.
It’s a shame that the only Naim option here is the discontinued NDAC,but there are loads of non-Naim options at a wide variety of prices.
The NDX2 has a really good DAC so wouldn’t bother going down the NDAC route
XPSDR or 555PSDR would be the go for me - keep it simple , source first always
Can you audition both maybe?
Regards
Bevo
The price of a 555DR and a Chord Dave are about the same here in Canada. A head to head shootout between the NDX2/555DR and the the NDX2/Dave would be interesting for sure.
Yes it would, and I’m not trying to push my own choice as being better just because I own it, we see far too much of that behaiviour here in my opinion. It’s just a different approach (which Naim make possible by offering the SPDIF out option on all their streamers) which has worked well for me.
The real bonus for me has been the discovery that in a system with no analogue sources, Dave makes a separate preamp unnecessary, which suddenly makes an eyewateringly expensive DAC look like a real bargain in the right system.
I think within the Naim range, your best value for money, in order is:
- XPS DR (I don’t think the 555 is value for money unless you are aiming at the 500 level for the system).
- Superlumina - full loom.
- Powerlines.
- SC and 252 together at the same time.
Good luck!