The 300 Series - Just Listening Experiences

Using the same cables? The higher end chord cables often dig out lots of detail and push the spectrum towards bright IME. Compared to say using NACA5 + Lavender it would be a tonality shift that is rather big.

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Chord Music to A5 and Lavender does the opposite of what you wrote from my listening experience. The Naim combo is great for the money but sounds grainy and thin in comparison.

Yesterday I listened to the new 200 series as a 2 box system - streamer pre, into a 250.3 into a pair of Sonus Faber Ā£20k speakers. (Sorry, I canā€™t recall the actual model)
It sounded nice.
Then the new PS was added to the streamer pre and there was a marked improvement.
The kit was then switched to a 333, 332, 250.3 combination and it sounded noticeably better.
Then a PS added to the 333 which showed another improvement and then, a PS was added to the 332 and yet another level of improvement. All of the improvements I heard are best described as, better controlled, vocal improvements - more ā€œthereā€ or ā€œrealisticā€. Clarity was improved, I guess less background noise (lower noise-floor I guess is how some people describe it) and generally more enjoyable.
The 250.3 was then swapped for two new 350 amps. Again, a very noticeable improvement.
It all sounded very good but I couldnā€™t say how it compared to my own NDX2, 252, SNAXO362, 3 x Olive 250, active Kudos Titan 808 system.
On returning home, I played some of the same tracks used at the demo and, I felt my own system to be noticeably better.
OK, perhaps not a fair comparison as Iā€™m using the more expensive Kudos Titan 808 speakers, active presentation is different to passive, I use 3 x 250 rather than one 250.3 so itā€™s not a precise comparison but, the bottom line is I am perfectly happy with my system and using in some cases, much older components.
On my system the vocals were as clear, the dynamics possibly slightly better, the noise floor and sound stage were not obviously different (following a 1 hour car drive home).
I would however be interested in hearing how the 333 compares to the NDX2 in my own system and, possibly try swapping out my current XPS2 for the new PS and possibly, the same swap with my Supercaps on the SNAXO and 252ā€¦
Yes, the new is somewhat different but I am not going to sell all of my kit just because.
Another comparison I would like to try is; NDX2 + Supernait 3, versus NSC222 + 250.3 as I have an NDX2/SN3 system in a second home and space constraints dictate a 2 box system.
Thank you Oxford Audio Consultants and Naim for an enjoyable and interesting afternoon.

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Neat Ultimatum XL6 along with Chord Music speaker cables were what was used at the demo Porphyr.

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The signal cables and speaker cables were Chord Music and the power cables were Signature.

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Same used on both OC and NC then in the demo?

Sad that they donā€™t use Naim cables, more interesting to hear the gear as they are supposed to sound.

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It was a regular public demo of the new 300 series and as you know no comparisons between old and new products are made in that context. The impressions are based on prolonged listening to old classics Blackbird.

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What a shock for someone buying a complete 300 series systemā€¦. You will only get this result when you add chord music interconnects and speaker cable plus signature power cables which will add another xxxxxxĀ£ to the cost :flushed:

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And not sure it will sound betterā€¦

Just to note you cannot swap the Supercaps for the new power supplies

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OK, Iā€™d overlooked that, so Iā€™ll try the new one instead of the XPS2 only.

For the demo I attended, they were using all original Naim ā€œout of the boxā€ cables including power cables, but they were using superlumina speaker cables.

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s/h 555PS DR cheaper and betterā€¦ :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Iā€™ve been following this thread with great interest. Has anyone compared the NC350 against the OC300?

Have you actually compared the two? Just wondering with the emoji :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Of all the OC/NC combinations the 555 will probably be the best.

No but AFAIK Naim themselves are of this view - thatā€™s good enough for me :grinning:

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Yes. Moved from 300 non-DR to 350s. Difference comparable to 52 to 552. Very happy.

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Did you consider a 500?