XLR. Red is normally Right channel. If not naim have inverted things…
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Yeah red is right but he has them matched so shouldn’t make a difference.
Thanks for the suggestion, I tried that too: changed it to XLR red to right channel, black to left. I left it in that order now.
It didn’t change anything which proved my theory that as long as the pair of XLR’s are channel matched, there wouldn’t be no difference in red or black.
So on my 222 positioning the slider left (-10) eliminates the volume in the right speaker and with the slider all the way right (+10) eliminates the volume in the left speaker.
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Doesn’t matter as it is the same in the amp, I.e. red in left socket
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Thank you for checking @ElMarko, that was my experience in 222 as well. Just the other way around on 332. But the sound is really really good 
It’s interesting they would do it that way. Hopefully Steve will comment.
Hopefully he will. I opened a ticket with support, I’ll share what I find out here. I don’t want to take away from the focus of this thread so I’ll pause any comments on the balance topic.
Thanks everyone for chiming in with helpful suggestions. Let’s get back to 300 listening experiences 
As your comments about balance control are real 300 series listening experiences, feel free to comment further - I am sure 300 series owners will be interested.
Looking forward to your further commentary on SQ.
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Does the new kit have something that you can switch the channels around, as in a setting.
As my vivaldi dac has such a thing, and maybe so does the new kit??
Just a thought as i read this.
I can’t wait for the reason for the balance issue. It’s either going to be something really simple or really embarrassing. 
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I have had a chance to listen to the NC200 and NC300 series courtesy of the good folk at Acoustica. People might be interested in what I thought.
By way of introduction, since I am new to the forum, I don’t think I qualify as a hifi hobbyist. What I am is an enthusiast for listening to good quality music at home. My current main system, with Naim amplification and Focal speakers, has served me well for some 7-8 years. The only change I have made was to add a sub to each speaker last year, to my ears a substantial enhancement. Until now I have been happy to use a Sonos box as my streamer, accepting that it is the weakest link in my setup.
It is chance, and it seems my good luck, that I am exploring a substantial upgrade at the same time as Naim are revamping their product line.
I listened to the following combinations, in this order:
222 & Classic 250
222 & 250NC
222/300 & 250NC
333, 332 & 250NC
333, 332 & 350NC
333, 332/300 & 350NC
333, 332/300 & 250NC
The first step was to swap a 222 for the 282 in my home system. The 222 had been unboxed about a day before it came to me, so it was a bit raw and I lived through a lot of bedding in over the two weeks or so I had it. Right from the start, the 222 lifted a veil from the music. There was much more authority in the bass and better separation all around. I am specifically referring to the performance of the DAC and the pre-amp; differences between the built-in streamer and the Sonos are a separate issue.
Introducing a well run-in NC250 delivered much better control and timing. Musicality improved and hi-res tracks streamed from Qobuz really sang.
I then returned the units to the dealer’s so that I could compare them with the 300 kit In the demo room. We settled on KEF Reference 3 Meta speakers with a REL Reference 31 as the closest available match to what I have at home, accepting the compromise that a single sub could only be driven by one of the monoblocks, not both of them.
At this time the 222 had been running for about 3 weeks, the 250 and 300 for several months, the 333, 332 and 350 for about a week.
I started with a couple of tracks with just the 222 & 250 to get my ear in. Adding the 300 to the 222 delivered an immediate and quite fundamental uplift in the sound quality. Vocals sparkled. There was improved timing and separation in the bass with better control in bass heavy passages.
Swapping the 333 & 332 for the 222/300, still driving the 250, changed the sound signature to my ears. If the 222/300 pairing was a beautiful bel canto soprano, the 333/332 was an equally beautiful rich, lyrical contralto. One wasn’t better than the other, they were just startlingly different.
The 333/332s delivered more detail all around – I noted that it was especially apparent-in singers’ breathing. Timing improved and the dynamics were better. In all respects, musicality took a big jump forward.
Moving on to the 350 in place of the 250, the monoblocks revealed detail that I hadn’t appreciated before - complexity in the drumming took me by surprise for example. The 350 opened up the soundstage, anchored the sound and gave more authority and depth to the music.
Adding a 300 to the 332 rounded out the sound even more and really pulled me in to the music. The bass, in particular, was punchier and the newly revealed details were more controlled. This combination easily outshone the other ones.
The dealer only had one 300 so there was no chance to add a second one to the 333. They advised putting the 300 onto the 332 first, and on the evidence I have no doubt that there would be a similar improvement.
In terms of improvements, the biggest one came in the first step, replacing the 282 with the 222. The second most significant step was adding the 300 to the 332. The third most significant was going from 222/300 to 333/332.
Replacing the 250 with the 350 did not give the immediate gobsmacking improvement I might have expected. In its defence, the 350 boxes had only been running for a few days and they have much further to go. The 250, in contrast, was well bedded in over a period of months.
Because of this, I did ask to go back to the 250 at the end. The result was underwhelming; this time the 250 felt dull, still musical but just not as engaging and with less depth than the 350.
What about the Linn question? Well, my office system has a Linn amp and speakers which have worked beautifully together for some 25 years. To my ears the NC sound is closer to the Linn sound than my current system is, and is none the worse for that.
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Move the speaker wires over,to change left / right .
Hi @clog , a great write up, thank you for sharing your experience.
I find your descriptions of the different combinations to be particularly interesting and informative.
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A very comprehensive review thank you. 
Best thing to be
Otherwise, it’s all wibble.
Very informative review - thanks.
Very interesting and in line with much of the opinion on the “night and day” thread running concurrently on this Forum. When the 250 was first introduced you heard “better control and timing. Musicality improved and hi-res tracks streamed from Qobuz really sang”.
I’m not denigrating or questioning your excellent review, I have had a similar experience many times which is how I ended up with 8 boxes at one stage!
Puppy dog sales technique. 
Once heard the top of the range you just can’t give it back. 
Not suite sure I understand your set up for the test? Did you use the Sonos into the 222 as purely a pre amp or did you connect it digitally?
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