I have one of the last Supernait 3s from November 2024 and one of the very last ND5 XS2s from December 2025.
This is was a huge step up from my previous Nait 5i from 2008 and Technics ST-C700d from 2020.
I have been re-discovering my 28 year-old pair of B&W CDM 7 SEs…
This said, what are the benefits if any I would get from the addition of a HiCap DR power unit to the amp?
Yes definitely, the HC dedicates to the preamp freeing up the power amp. But make sure it’s a DR version.
My Naim dealer said that adding a HCDR to a SN3 was one of his easiest sells, and having done that myself I tend to agree.
I agree, a HiCap DR would be the way to go for me.
+1 for adding a HiCapDr!
The SN3 is fantastic without the HiCapDr don’t get me wrong. I ran my SN3 without the HiCapDr for a month or so while it was being serviced. For a brief moment I thought about selling my HiCapDr as the SN3 sounded so good. However once the HiCapDr was serviced and powering the SN3, there is no way I’d be without it. IMHO the SN3 is much better w/the HiCapDr.
@Darimian When I had a SN3, I found the HCDR to be a very significant upgrade and not at all sorry I purchased one However, I purchased both at the same time, so technically I don’t know if I can say it was sn “upgrade”
A lot less than the benefits of adding an nDAc to the ND5 XS2.
Personally I would go for a source upgrade before adding a Hicap. Given that you can’t add a separate power supply to your ND5XS2 I would go for a DAC upgrade, or you could trade it in for an NDX2. I didn’t particularly like what a HicapDR did to a Supernait 2 when I listened to it.
I put a HCDR on both my SN2 and later on my SN3, the HCDR made a much bigger improvement on the SN2.
The SN3 is so good and much better than the SN2 that adding the HCDR to SN3 was only a subtle, but still very worthwhile sound quality improvement.
Like others have said, improving the source will probably be a better investment as the SN3 makes very good use of much better sources, in my experience.
I asked myself the same question when I got my SN3.
It depends what you are after.
The bare SN3 is very good. Some do not like what the HCDR does to the sound.
For me it is like having a sharper lens on your camera. Details become clearer and the perspective too. A bit sharper
SN3 bare, is a bit softer, kind of more ”romantic”..
I could live both with it, and without it.
I would suggest buying a HiCapDR while you can still find one, maybe a dealer will have a new one. It’s been discontinued by Naim so the longer you wait the tougher it’s going to get finding one.
The HCDR was for me a significant upgrade to the SN3, everything sounded more organic and music flowed better with the Hicap. Remove it and you know something is missing immediately.
@gthack Some of us feel strongly that the HCDR makes a significant positive difference. Others don’t. Where does this leave the OP?
Laughable. You didn’t even compare.
Your tone is obnoxious and uncalled for. Since I purchased the SN3 and HCDR at the same time, I could not compare. Moreover, it is not clear that everyone on this thread who expressed an option had made a direct comparison.
SN3+HCDR would be my choice if one day I have to cut back from 52/135.
not sure if I should mention my experience but here it goes
I have a HCDR on my 282, but in another room I have a 202/200DR, and I wondered how to get better sound out of this
so I tried the HCDR, yes very nice, but I opted instead to upgrade my source from a chord 2qute to a qutest and also added a Superlumina speaker cable. I got both on very good deals.
Was it worth it - yes absolutely.
Would I still get a HCDR… well I would rather upgrade the 202 to a 82 or upgrade my 282 to a 252 instead…. and free up the 282 to take the place of the 202.
I have a Nait 50, and auditioned a few 300 series in the last 3 months.
Despite everything I have heard, I like the sound of Chord Dacs and and upgrade downstream of that it nice to have but not mandatory. Having a source that I like is mandatory.
So adding XPSDR on NDAC or a Naim source that can accept one for me is much better for me than any preamp upgrade.
So sometimes I wonder if adding a 282 would be better or another Mscaler on my 202…. I would rather have the Mscaler.
About the Superlumina cables to me they are indispensable and mandatory also. for source interconnects one could use Vertere…. but speaker cables the capacitance of SL is much Lower….
two of the most mind blowing demos I have heard
What can I say - back in 2016 a Chord Dave was significantly cheaper than a NAC 552DR and I couldn’t get over the fact that I wanted the extra information and 3D soundstage of the Chord Dave’s as well and the midrange magic.
more information for the source to me seems to be a better solution despite the fact that the preamp may be not letting all of it going through.
A Dave has big massive 3 d soundstage. Much bigger than a Hugo and a preamp cannot turn a Hugo into a Dave
Source first won for me of far because it was lower cost - I am not sure about the latest Quartet Mscaler though (the price) so maybe next I would go for NAC52 as most cost effective. or maybe NAC 332 or maybe used NAC 552…
So far my decisions on the 202 are working out for me (the source and the SL speaker cable) - I am really enjoying the rock music which is what this is about for me.
too many choices and so little money. But still though my 202/200 DR always was superbly enjoyable all these years.
I’d do the source upgrade first - NDX 2, then HiCap DR, then PSU upgrade for NDX 2. In that order 
ND5XS2 to NDX2 really isn’t much of an upgrade when paired with a SN3/HCDR. I was planning on doing that until I had a side by side demo. I didn’t get the chance to listen to the NDX2 with an external PSU, maybe that would have helped but a 4 box solution wasn’t going to work for me so I went down the NC route instead.
The problem you’ll have is finding a good HCDR.
I have to confess that when I added a HCDR to my SN3 (also a late model) I didn’t feel that the difference was dramatic. Remember that, unlike the SN2 where adding a HCDR is said to be more marked, the SN3 contains DR technology already.
I wasn’t as happy as I wanted to be so I traded the SN3 for a nearly new NAC282/250DR combo, powering the 282 with my HCDR.
My suggestion would be to not bother with adding a HCDR if you think you will stay with the SN3. Upgrade your source instead and enjoy the SN3. If you do find a HCDR then try it with the SN3 and see how it sounds, buy my suggestion at that stage would be to look for a good used 282/250DR. Plenty are available.