Hi
Thinking of adding a PSU to 272. Can’t afford an XPS-DR, so keen to understand if XPS2 would provide a good improvement?
Thanks
Paul
As the 272 was designed contemporaneously with DR power supplies, I would wait and save up for a used XPSDR. On the second hand market the price difference is about £600 which is not insurmountable, so it’s worth waiting a while. The discussion of non Naim supplies is not allowed on the forum, and if you use one you may invalidate your warranty.
I agree with HH. The stock power supply is quite good so better wait until your investment provides a significant improvement over what will likely be smaller improvement. That being said, I only auditioned the XPSDR and the PS555DR so I have no actual experience of how much improvement an XPS2 would actually make. Are you able to get a home demo?
Can demo a dr but that’s 3k from a dealer ex-demo and 2.5 on Fleabay. Xps2 is more like £1.2k which fits the budget
Just a thought but XPS2’s have been the same price for a long time. Maybe buy one and if you think the difference is not that great just sell it back on…
Yes, that’s what I was thinking…it should wash out on EBay without much of a hit.
I’ve used (0) 272 bare, (1) 272 + ‘Bear’, (2) 272 + 555PS non-DR, (3) 272 + XPSDR & (4) 272 + 555PSDR.
(0) Great sound & great value
(1) Horrible dismantled music
(2) Slow & ploddy
(3) Enjoyable but subtle lift in performance
(4) Bigger performance shift than (0)-(3) but question value for money
Your mileage may very well vary.
G
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Hi strange never felt 555ps non dr was slow or ploddy…when I changed to dr … I noticed more detail and realism… I think the non dr 555 is fantastic … secondhand… it lifts the 272 to really fantastic sound quality… just not as good as dr.
Mine was 2006 un-serviced, which may have accounted for it.
G
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Just spotted a similar thread where someone was asking about the same question regarding 272/250.2 as a starting point. I have a 250DR.
The frustrating thing is that some say xpsdr is great and others say “meh”. So the lesson as always is go and borrow kit for home demo. I’ll borrow an xpsdr and if that underwhelms me then I have the answer to my xpsr2 question
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Hi Graeme
When you say, ‘bigger performance shift’ can you be more specific and say in what way the 555dr made your 272 sound better?
E.g. Could you hear how it effected the steamer and dac and preamp sections specifically?
(The fact that it’s very expensive is just a reflection of the fact that it’s very hard to improve on something that’s already as good as a 272. That’s bound to cost loads more per increment of SQ. Law of dim returns).
Cheers
Jim
Which is better?
272 - 555dr - 250dr
Or
Nds - 555dr - SN2
The former is the only Naim pre to get a boost from the 555dr…with a great power amp.
The latter is the 2nd best dac Naim ever made, fuelled up by 2 Burndies…
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@JimDog I have no idea as I have not listened to either of those combos. In fact I am still wedded to CD!! The question I would want answering would be, could the SN2 relay all of the extra detail that the NDS/555 combo could extract? If the answer is no then I guess option 1 is safer. You could always upgrade the 272 when the inevitable upgrade comes which will most likely still use the 555PS as an optional upgrade.
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I’ve been using a 272/XPS2 for a few years as a replacement for a 282/HC2. I thought the XPS2 an excellent improvement and certainly value for money. The XPS2 can also be upgraded to DR can’t it? If that’s the case I don’t see any downside.
All the best
Jay
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When I added 555ps to my 272/250.2 combo I was staggered at the improvement…it was jaw dropping. The odd thing was before the change it was good and I was in 2 minds whether to buy the 555ps …as it sounded great…when changed… it was like going from a linn K9 cartridge to full on moving coil cartridge…terrific…
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are we allowed to say ‘jaw dropping’?
I thought there was a forum ban on that phrase…
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I think it’s ok if it was literally jaw dropping…
And even better if the difference was night and day.
The veil was lifted…
It must have sounded broken without the 555PS …
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