Question: Active or Passive

Hi-Fi Corner
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Hi all,

A question - we have 552DR and Supercap/SNAXO with 2 x 250-2 (non DR) into SL2. Would a 500DR be an upgrade or sideways move?

Thank you!

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Nap 500 is special really fantastic with Nac 552,so yes an upgrade. “Compared with the NAP 135, the '500 is claimed to have **five times greater open-loop gain, a quarter of the distortion and a dynamic noise floor that is 100 times reduced”

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I personally preferred a 500 dr rather than 3 x 300 dr into Kudos 808. But both are good, you need to listen yourself.

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Thank you - about 20 years ago I tried an original 500 in my system with a 52, replacing the 135s into SBLs, I thought the 500 was like a major preamp upgrade at the time.

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Great ! And the difference between a Nac 52 and a 552 into a Nap 500 is massive and even more important,timing and everything ,just sounds so right.

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I think you will find some keen active users who prefer that setup over the 500 passive. I know that at stages in my system development I have tried active v passive and prefer the former, especially at lower volumes in my smaller room. However for full disclosure; I have tried a 250 vs 2 x 140 and a 300 vs 2 x 250 in the past but never a 500. I’m not sure if Igel has done the back to back looking at his current system?

Only a demo can settle it of course.

Note my system is very similar from preamp onwards.

Bruce

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I have tested, been at 500 level, had to downgrade…
Having had many active system including Nap 135´s,250´s,Nap160´s,Nap140´s,Nap 120´s,Nap110´s,Nap100´s and I have also preferred active vs passive until the Nap 500…

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Thanks Igel for clarifying. People quite often post without clarifying if theirs is direct experience or just a viewpoint.

Bruce

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Thanks for sharing, my plan is to borrow a 500 for myself and do the comparison in my system.

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