As long as no actual jaws were damaged in the incident, then all is well.
Fair point Jim, well made. Wouldn’t want a mess on the floor…
On a more serious note, it is interesting to compare Richerioo’s powerful visceral reaction to the addition of a 555PS to a 272 with Graeme’s much more abstract description: ‘Bigger performance shift’.
Presumably this is due to:
- different impact on the patterns of electrical waves in the two stereos and sound waves in the two rooms
- different tunng of ears/listening style
- perhaps different musical styles played
- different expectations (primed by the price of the item, marketing hype, etc.) and previous experience
- different descriptive styles
Perhaps this is why one often reads extremely positive responses to the 555, but then also that some usera after a few weeks of owning one could only tell that they enjoyed it by removing it.
Is there any reason to believe that the 272 preamp would be better or worse at translating and transmitting detailed changes in electrical signals than the SN2 preamp?
As mentioned above, the 272 preamp in the scenarios I am conparing would have the benefit of an excellent PSU, which one would hope would help it to do this…whereas the SN2 would rely on the more electrically noisy and less powerful internal PSU of the SN2.
But which is the better preamp in that scenario?
Also, it’s clearly not just about detail of reproduction - the NDS is also better electrically isolated than the 272.
My thoughts would be that a 272 with the 555PS DR would be the winner here. This is only based on what I have heard others say though. I think @anon4489532 would be best placed to comment as he has owned 272/555/250 combo.
As good as the SN2 is the 250DR is a better power amp and as good as the SN2 pre amp is the 272/555 combo should easily be better. If its better to your ears though who knows?!!
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All I can say is that music sounds more real, more present & more enjoyable…to the tuned ear. Whether it’s a ‘subtle’ or ‘jaw-dropping’ improvement is very much in the ear of the beholder.
G
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I’m not into this winners and losers thing, and find that some on here can become so paralysed by analysis that they do nothing. Perhaps the endless procrastination is more enjoyable than listening to music. I chose the 272/250 route over the Streamer/SN route for reasons other than sound quality and didn’t even listen to either option first. All this equipment is good and people can’t really go wrong. Anyway, this is all way off topic and doesn’t help the OP at all.
Thanks…this turned onto more of a 555 discussion than the XPS2 question I originally asked. That’s natural a people latch onto relevant parts of discussion.
Financially the 555 is a non-starter for me, as is an XPS-DR. This all started for me when I auditioned Signature XL cable against my Epic…XL is better but not £1000 of better. Dealer said try PSU instead
Let me re iterate…the 272/250 does not sound broken … in any way. When you add the 555ps it seems to jump up in quality considerably…that’s why I was quite shocked…because it sounded really good vanilla…
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£1000 will almost get you a s/h XPS2…
At that price it won’t be DR and be unserviced. Not necessarily a good deal unless you factor a service and DR upgrade in.
DR upgrade is nice to have but not necessary for normal operation - the XPS2 was a good power supply before DR was developed!
Agree a service might be ideal but a good condition unserviced XPS2 will still be a significant upgrade on a bare 272 unless it’s really on it’s last legs - and if the OP only has a grand to spend he only has a grand to spend. My suggestion was that the XPS2 was probably the better use of £1k if that is the budget - the XPS2 DR is the thick end of £2k+ s/h
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Buy cheap, buy twice. It’s best to save and get what you really want.
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The 272 and Supernait can both be used with their built in PSU, or various external ones. 272 with XP5, XPS or 555, and Supernait with Hicap or Supercap. So I wouldn’t say that the Supernait is the poor relative just because you can’t hook it up to a 555PS. As always, there are plenty of options, best chosen with your own ears.
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I hesitate to say this, as I would hate my first ever post on the forum to be moderated or incur the disdain in particular of my near neighbour and much respected HH (whose posts I have viewed with interest for a few years), but I can’t wait to try a 555PS…
Near neighbour? Tell me more!
Turn down the volume halibut. Someone is ringing your doorbell.
Relatively speaking that is. Live in Chichester, work in Bosham.
A short bike ride away. Give me a shout if you want to pop round and hear what a proper power supply can do.
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Probably not that simple. You need to consider the streamer too. A NDX2 will be a better streamer over the N272. I’m not sure about the preamps, as both can have power supplies. The 250 would be the better power amp, but I’d pick that system balance with the preferred speaker would be the biggest factor?