The 52 has it all over the 82, and the 282 is very slightly better than the 82. You owe it to yourself to hear the 252. You will hear absolutely every possible opinion on this forum, so don’t take any one opinion too seriously. Your ears, your money.
People have been expecting a new series of preamps for the best part of a decade! I’m not holding my breath!
FWIW, I was discussing PSs with my dealer regarding my NDX2/SN2 setup. He said, he’d recommended the XPS DR with the NDX2 first, even if seperates were in the longer plan (which they aren’t for me).
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Very true when I purchased my 252 some four years ago people were saying back then about a replacement due still waiting?
From Naim’s perspective, I understand they consider the NAC product line effectively updated when they introduced DR power-supplies. Really made a worthwhile performance hike in my experience.
Of course behind the scenes Naim do from time to time tweak and enhance the NACs being manufactured.
Sometimes a full service can have these enhancements applied, depending on what they are.
Just moved from 282/SC to 252
for me the 282/SC is one of the finest combinations in the NAIM range, I had a 282 for 4 years with HCDR, plan was to move to 252 so purchased used SC first, the up lift for me on 282 was nothing short of superb - through NDX and LP12
252 has been in the system for a little over a month now and yes everything that @Simon-in-Suffolk and others have said the 252 is sublime - but as I found your source and system need to be in balance - I could never get on with classical music through the 282 even with SC, the 252 is a completly different story and music
mine is just starting to come on to song with 6 weeks in the NDX has gone up another level even 2 so NDX2 should be even more, as for the LP12 - well my smile when I play and album now is so broad -
for me the 252/SC/300DR which I have is a musical combination from heaven, I would also try out @anon4489532 power suggestions - or even dare I say look out for a 300???
enjoy the jouney
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I really loved the 282 / Supercap!
For me the passage to 252 was my ticket out of the Black range, too much delicacy killed the euphoria.
I found the fun of music with the Olive range.
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To my ears the 282/Hcdr does a lot right for the money. I listen to my friends 252
And 552 systems over the years and do not feel the need to upgrade when I come home.
Yes I can clearly hear what a 252 and 552 brings to the table.
But…Part of that reason I am staying happy with my 282 is I like the Dynaudio sound of my speakers a lot more than their speakers …
It takes a lot of cash to improve on 282/HcDR
Cash that I now choose to improve my sources and one day plan to purchase a confidence c2 dynaudio speaker… the best I’ve ever heard in a Naim context!
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A good post Analogmusic, improving the source is always a good idea. In addition, a move to a 252 later on makes that upgrade even better. Ultimately a 282 is a fine end game pre although the 252 is better IMHO.
Stu
All true, but sometimes you can move up somewhere in the ladder because a good offer comes up, or because the next rung on the ladder becomes affordable when offset against the resale value of the previous rung. That was how I justified the move from 282 to 252.
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All good responses. Personally if I were you, I would try the 252 solely based on the fact that you already have the Supercap. My personal opinion is although the 282/Supercap sounds excellent (although I understand that experiences may be polarised), the Supercap is not fully utilised to its full potential. In other words the 282/Supercap is not exactly great value in my book. In one way or another, if you already have the Supercap you need to get to the 252 at some point of time since the general consensus is it sounds better than the 282 anyway. Nevertheless, you would still need to try it out in your system and figure it out yourself because there are some who prefer the 282’s sonic presentation over the 252.
FWIW the 282/HCDR/250DR is an end game system for me, and it took me quite a while to reach to this stage. Every time I fire up the system I just get lost in the music. It seems like this is the sound I’ve been looking for since I was a kid.
I would agree with Analogmusic on the importance of the source. I’ve not tried many but find great enjoyment feeding a Chord QBD76 to the 282. The 282/HCDR/250DR sounded flat and uninvolving with the previous DAC, a Musical Fidelity M1. Everything just sounds more real, lifelike, illuminating and 3-dimensional with the Chord in place.
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Back to the OP.
Since you already got the Supercap DR, I would go for the 252.
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I trod the very same path you are contemplating. It is a shame you have to travel so far to demo 252 vs 282 with a SuperCapDR, as it is a matter of taste and what you are looking for from this kind of upgrade. A minority on here prefer the 282, but I loved the move to a 252.
Not transformative, but well worth the money, particularly ex-dem or pre-loved. More refined, more detailed but somehow less in-yer-face, a good thing IMV. As you already have a SuperCapDR, I would at least make the journey to your dealer to hear a demo.
You usually get what you pay for when going up the Naim heirachy.
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