I’m thinking 282/Supercap - minimum - and you’re talking £9k’s worth of boxes - just to better the preamp section.
I was talking to a dealer a couple of years ago when I was vaguely pondering an NDS to go on my 555, and a 282 for preamp, and the basic advice was not to bother, so I didn’t.
My guy gave me the same advice.
I have never believed, nor heard, that changes in the top half of the Naim seperates range bring ‘night and day’ or ‘massive’ improvements, rather incremental changes to the top 10% of sonic improvement. Am always a bit wary of these claims; I think there’s sometimes a ‘will’ to hear substantial improvements if one has invested not insignificant sums on upgraded kit.
I greatly admire the 272; have never heard one with a 300 but would like to.
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T272 does not do Mac Airplay, only bluetooth, which is not so good a sound. Given that I don’t use Tidal or Spotify but Primephonic, I can only do via bluetooth. Is there a SIMPLE way of doing it by airplay?
@PeterR hits the nail on the head for me in saying, what you get as you go up the ladder is not necessarily huge sonic differences but you acquire more and more believability and a sense of realism.
Having heard his full 500 system in an acoustically treated room, I completely agree with this.
I agree with Peter’s comments, with the insertion of ‘what you hope to get’. It’s certainly what I look for and I know that a 552 for example would bring a healthy dose of that. I raise my point because when I heard the 555 with 552 and 500 it sounded nothing whatsoever like real music. It was overblown and wholly unnatural, with the music ripped apart into separate pieces rather than hanging together as a complete performance. Whether it was the speakers or the room I don’t know but in terms of sounding like real, natural and believable music I’d take my setup any day, despite it costing a third of the price of what I heard that day.
Hi HH, have you tried a home demo with the 552 and ND555 ?
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No, I haven’t. I know it would be better but there are two issues. 1. I won’t reorganise the sitting room to accommodate it properly on two Fraims. 2. I won’t spend that sort of money on the stereo. I’d rather help my sons buy houses. So, taken together, it means I’d simply be wasting my time, my dealer’s time and Naim’s time. I’m perfectly happy with what I have and don’t need more. (Though a new platform version may be tempting, depending on price).
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Well said HH I too have no urge to change anything and more than happy with my 272/555DR/300/SL2s.
have to say this must be the funniest thread title I have read on the Naim forum ever.
Yep I agree the only thing that keeps me awake at night is extended listening to my manky old 272
I don’t know about that. After Thursday’s takeaway to celebrate my youngest getting his degree results, I was awake for hours with excessive wind.
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If you count 272 sheeps while in bed, probably you will be less and less awake.
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372 Sheep more likely .
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Naim will be busy for a while. First geeting back on track after Covid. Then making sure their stuff is compatible with whatever the UK replace the CE mark with in a few months and (must they?) getting some EU-country to issue new CE-marks to replace those once issued by the UK. All at the same time as everyone else.
Luckily the 272 works quite well, it has responded remarkably well to each upgrade I’ve made to the LP12.
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Good point, mines working perfectly and really I’m not in a rush to either upgrade or replace it and I intend to keep enjoying it. The only people around here losing any sleep because of it are my neighbours.
I’ve only just picked up on that spelling mistake, doh. I was going to correct it but it doesn’t make your post funny anymore so I’ll wear it. Think I might make an appointment with my optometrist this week or get a bigger screen. 
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You never know Pete, you might have sown a seed of an idea, and Naim could be working on valve amps as we speak!
Thank you for being so gracious with my teasing.
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No problems it was probably just my fat fingers or the dreaded auto correct. As for an idea see my post above re what would happen if we all had a say in Naims R&D.
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