Yes iliria, we seem to have the same sort of philosophy on this. One of the main reasons I stick with Naim kit is because it works well together. I used to waste so much time and money trying to match this pre with that amp. Naim simplifies the mix and match process for me.
There are perfect pairings in the various lines, of course, but perfect isn’t really neccessary. My NDS should probably have at least a 282/250, but it makes my SN2 sound excellent, and will sound even better when I eventually get a 555ps for it.
Cheers.
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Possibly, but a NDX2/XPSDR/282/250 against the ND5 XS2/282/300DR might be another matter, at a similar cost?
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Of course the 300dr will work perfectly whatever reasonable equipement you connect it with. What some people mean here is that you will not get your money‘s worth by using a „cheap“ source when paired with the 300DR. You may get a better result with a 250DR and a better source for the same money.
You now have your 300DR and of course it is very good amp regardless, it is just that if you would start from scratch is not the best allocation of funds in terms of how much percent you allocate for each component to form a so called balanced system.
Enjoy your system the 300DR is probably a very good foundation for every change you may throw at your system in the future so i understand that you want to stick with it.
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@iliria one thought from me, and please excuse me if you’ve already answered this: as you already have ripped copies of your CDs, assuming they are ripped properly to a lossless format, do you really need a CD player at all? Not getting a CDP would free up funds for a nice streamer that would let you listen to Qobuz and Tidal and enable you to stream your digital files. Then for the music you want to buy you can either get LPs or digital downloads.
As others have said, with your excellent amplifier you really would benefit from a really good streaming source, whether Naim or something else. A streamer is a source just like a record player is a source and you reap the same benefits by getting a decent one of the former as you do of the latter. In the Naim range I’d say that to give a decent balance with your 282/300 you really should be looking at an NDX2 as a minimum.
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Nobody means that. But if you keep the 250 and spend the difference to the 300 on any other equipement in the chain, like speakers, source, preamp, then i am quite confident that it will sound better with the 250 than the stated combination with the 300.
It is just a matter of priorities and what component affect the sound most. Of course if you have very demanding speakers the better power amp may have its place much higher in the hierarchy.
If streaming is not the main source i find it perfectly ok to use a 2k streamer with the 300dr. Will the whole system sound better still with a better streamer? Probably, but why overspend if you are not going to use it so much anyway.
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At first i wanted a Naim streamer to go with my XS3 amp. But reading about the bugs prevented me from buying. Besides that, I was used to selecting my music on my laptop which controlled the pc upstairs through vnc. The pc uses Jriver to get the flac files from a dedicated nas. The signal from my pc went to my dac and then into the XS3.
In the end I bought a TEAC NT-505. Can be used as a dac or a streamer.
So I can use my phone to select music through the app , or through the way I am used to.
Liking the sound alot too. For me it is a stayer.
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Ah right, that makes absolute sense. The reality for me is that I have already bought the 300DR. I know that I can trade it in or sell it but I would be loosing money and I am not going down that rabbit hole. Apart from that the 250 DR would cost the same or even more once you add an external power supply (or have I got it wrong?).
Anyway my philosophy with high end stereo is the same as with cars. Never buy brand new. Always 1-2 years old and outright. And keep them for a long time.
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Ignore the naysayers. Keep the 300 and build everything else up to it over time.
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I understand that line of thinking. However, somehow, my mind cannot cross the threshold of spending 8-10k on a streamer (incl decent power supply). And also I struggle to believe that a 10k streamer provides the best value for money. There are other brands out there which would be as good, or at least 80-90% good for a fraction of a cost.
When you take into account that I’m 45 and my hearing is going down rather than up hill, a 10k streamer would be a waste. Well, at least that’s what my sensible part of the brain tells me anyway. 
Yet you have a 10k power amp?
Also it is the DAC where your money should go.
I agree that the streamer by itself is not something you need to spend a lot to get right. The better the DAC the more information will get “amplified” at your front end.
Anyway, interesting what you will choose within budget, keep us posted.
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Yes, I agree that selling the 300DR after you have bought it probably doesn’t make much sense, though if you got it used it should have held it’s value. BTW the 250 is a single box and doesn’t have a separate power supply.
I suppose the takeaway is that with the quality of amplification you have, it will expose the limitations of a leaser quality streamer. If streaming is going to be a major source for you, then ideally you would plan towards a high quality source at a higher budget over time, even second hand.
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A 2nd hand 272 can be picked up pretty cheaply now for while you are twiddling your thumbs, and sold on for only a few lost sobs surely. Just a thought. Tempus fuggit, or some such.
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Might be interesting to see what a 282 adds too.
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Yes wrong, I think we went through this a long time ago The 250 can’t use a separate PS. The 300 is to a large part a 250 which had its internal PS removed and replaced by the 300 PS, plus the improvements that become possible by the additional space
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I did a pretty involved comparison in 10k range last year. Finally settled for NDX2. Without even power supply it is great value for money. Primary competition was Bartok at $13.5 K. Also considered MSB premier.
I am not an Naim only guy. But still end of the day I found NDX2 is big value for money even without the external power supply. I may not buy the power supply at all unless got a used one at lower price.
Regards,
Sourav
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I bought a BS Node 2i when I had a 272.
It sounded awful to me and went straight back.
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Fair enough. I would do the same if mine sounded awful to me. They don’t.
I am interested though because my plan is to replace at least one of the nodes with an ndx2 or even possibly a nd555. What did you find lacking compared to the 272?
When I fed the 272/555DR with the Node 2i the sound quality collapsed.
Realism, body, PRaT, etc. collapsed.
I was trying to decouple the streamer, DAC and pre (which I have now achieved).
If you do get a Naim streamer you are in for a treat.
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Thanks for asking this question I’m considering the same question.
The NDX2 is the obvious choice but it does look a bit long in the tooth and all the ‘it sounds broken if you don’t add a power supply’ really puts me off. The lead time at the moment also means it could be delivered just as something obviously better comes to market.
I have the Hugo 1 and microrendu at the moment and when I’ve demoed the NDX2 there is not an obvious £5000+ difference.
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What’s the rest of your system?