I’ve been trying the March P502 of my Nova into the Totem Hawks. Whilst the P502 has more grip of the speakers and punch it seems to loose some mid range. The Nova on its own has a better soundstage and is more musical. The only thing I didn’t muck around with was the gain on the sub, as I didn’t want to reset it again for the Nova as it took a day to get it right. Also, ‘tis system is in a smaller room. So not sure. I’ll try the P502 tomorrow with the SN2 in the big room. Maybe it’s simply the pre and power just go better together in the integrated amps.
It was a tough ask Mike, i don,t know how they make them and sell at a profit, i guess something has to give? At latest exchange rate that would be £540 sterling for the March 502 on a Nova costing over £4000 here in the UK. But worth a try, if nothing else it showed your Totems did respond to a more powerful amp. So there are other options in the Naim range.
The thing is, though, my mate is running it with a NAC 72 (with custom boards) into B&W Matrix 3’s and it sounds superb! It was the same with the Harbeths SL5 anniversary’s he has. And he had CB 250 before and says the P502 is way ahead. I don’t know, different pre, bigger room and so on.
I wish I had dropped the gain on the sub now, as it may have been messing with the mid-range.
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Well if it works for him and he is happy, a veritable bargain.
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I have very successfully used a 552 with a Boulder 1020 (which showed me that the 500 ran out of steam earlier than I thought it did), and a 52 with some Exposure XVI monos (OK…that may not be considered a muscle amp, but still had a muscular presentation). Less successful was a 52 with some 500 wpc Class D amps.
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There’s a Bryston 3BSST local to me looking for a home… has anyone heard It driven by Naim preamp?
There was a short time I was looking a buying magnepan LRS.
The Exposure 5010:s worked fine with 52/252 but they dont fit in a standard-height Fraim-slot (no big-deal to handle, but good to know).
I also tried Apollon class-D monoamps based on the Hypex NC1200 modules (400w/8, 1.2kW/2 ohm). They did fit into a std Fraim height by using lower feet. EUR1200/monoblock. Powerful but shy sound (compared to exposure and naim).
Regarding John Farlowe and Mr. Vereker I dont doubt they were friendly but their circuits (in the 80s) were not the same and Naim amps worked with any music while I ever only heard Exposure with rock (said to be their strong side). The 5010:s was more general purpose and were excellent with string quartet the weekend I borrowed a pair.
Okay so. I tried again with the Nova v Nova + March P502, with the sub disconnected. Same conclusion, the Nova bare is more expansive with a more open and clear soundstage than with the P502. Adding the P502 gives it a bit more slam, but brings the soundstage in and it’s all less open, and less musical.
So, then ran SN2 etc v SN2 etc + P502 and it was the same. SN2 bare was better.
I’m glad I’ve tested this out. Conclusion is that the integrated Naim amps at least have a better system integration than with a non-Naim power amp, so it seems in my two systems.
I was also left with a sense of diminishing returns going up the Naim amplification ladder, realising that I have, indeed, arrived with some pretty decent systems as they stand.
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Thanks Ron. Boulder and Bryston are under my radar now.
Interesting. My solution to that is have other hobbies, so hi-fi has become less important. Gym membership costs less, swimming costs almost nothing, even the most expensive fencing gears cost much less than hi-fi. 
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Gym is torture not hobby! Swimming, most enjoyable around coral reefs in tropical waters, averaged over several years, probably costs much the same as my hifi upgrades… as for other hobbies, photography can easily cost similar to hifi. Maybe stamp collecting? 
Oh, I don’t know about that:
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Xanthe. I meant fencing in sport 
The cost of a HiCap can buy a few complete sets.
I had Exposure 5010s on home demo and liked them but listened to Exposure pre and monos rather than mixing & matching with Naim.
However, more recently I’ve had the Sugden Sapphires on home demo. The DAP 800 (pre) is good but the FBA 800 Class A power amp is excellent. I’m now pairing it with my 552 using the unbalanced input and they’re a great match. My Marten Dukes are gelling much better with the Sugden than the 300DR. The Sugden has a -6db cut option which is useful when pairing with more efficient speakers.
The FBA 800 is now on order (in black 
)
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Hello,
I plan to make a trial with my 252/supercap dr connected to a pair of mono Mcintosh amps. The amp has both rca and xlr entries. I guess that the din/xlr cables I use today to connect to my nap300 won’t Work. So I have couple of questions:
- as nac 252 is not symetric din to rca should be préfered to din to xlr?
- do I need one cable din to 2 rca or xlr or 2 cables din to rca or xlr as for connection to nap 300?
Thank you
On the same theme has anyone tried a Quad 909 or QSP driven by a Naim preamp or all in one like UQ2?
Yes, the NAC252 is single ended so go DIN-RCA. You can do One DIN to a pair of RCA phonos or two DINs to a single RCA phono. Only thing to be careful of is to use a low capacitance cable and keep the length short - less than 2m ideally.
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Thanks. For the trial I plan to go with 2 din to rca with mogami cable. 1m long.
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