The fate of the NAC-N 272. Still keeps me awake at night

If there was going to be a replacement for NAC-N 272, surely we would have seen it by now.

Surely the technology is in place and hardware sub-assemblies could easily be…err…assembled.

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Indeed Mr B. And why it would keep anyone awake at night… :expressionless:

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Yes, life’s too short, and we all need our sleep.

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@Richard.Dane

not trying to speak in politics, but is there any official reason for (UK)
not opening the air corridor with Portugal?

Regarding the thread: N 272 , for me , is like a Defender. is good for what it does.
And will have a good life span, for an electronic product. And if you dont need the latest “electronic aids”, will continue so.

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Apparently according to Steve Sells just copying designs or bits of designs is not much fun for him, thats not what makes him tick. Perhaps thats why some are still waiting for the replacement. I am sure once the dealers are really up and running the Naim delayed launch of product X in May will happen, somewhere.

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Not sure an updated 272 would need Steve Sells’ undivided attention. All the technology and component parts are there, admittedly with some tweaking.

The absence of a 272.2 I recon is down to the fact that the ultimately compromised pre amp/streamer one-boxer may not significantly outperform a Nova and then you are into sales cannibalisation. I also wonder if the SQ benefits of the new streaming platform might be partially wiped out by being in the same box as the pre amp, hence making a 272.2 not appreciably better than a 272.

Dives for cover!

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Probably a good idea. I said the same a year ago. I think I’ll try a big power amp off my Nova just for fun :sunglasses:

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i subscribe this.

I feel I am soon to be whacked around the head by a large wet fish!

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Can’t wait…:wink:

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I’m going to hide!

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Monty Python sketch comes to mind ! :blush:

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It’s interesting that putting a preamp into the same box as a streamer/DAC is often seen as likely to compromise SQ whereas putting the preamp into the same box as a power amp doesn’t seem to raise SQ reservations nearly as much. It can’t just be that we’re used to one arrangement and not so much the other, can it?

Roger

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OK, not a wet fish, but it’s said that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

The limitations in the current 272 are threefold:

1 It uses the older streaming platform (well that was the current platform when it was designed!)

2 It has a large transformer (and other PSU components) in the box interfering and taking up space meaning that the steaming board and analogue boards had to be ‘double decker’ configuration.

3 The digital steaming board and the analogue board had to be in a ‘double decker’ configuration increasing the difficulty of electrical isolation

.
So, redesigning with the new platform fixes point 1
Removing the internal PSU and always taking power from an external PSU fixes both 2 and 3.

I tried to point this out when I met Steve, but at the time, someone else decided to talk over me excessively loudly even though they completely failed to point out the sonic benefits and how they could be achieved. However I’m sure Steve knows this anyway - it’s completely obvious.

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When energised by an XPS 2(DR) or 555CD PS(DR), the current 272 already significantly outperforms a Nova!

As pointed out above there is still considerable potential to further develop the 272 design well above the Nova performance level.

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I think I have just been Xanthied!

So, in your view, why hasn’t it happened?

These things take time. It’s perfectly possible that a new streaming preamp will be the first product with a new dac on board, as I’m pretty sure Naim said that the 555 et al were the last of the line to use whatever dac they use.

It’s pointless to speculate why a new one hasn’t yet appeared. There could be a whole host of reasons.

As to whether we get a replacement at all, I reckon we will.

It might well have…they were launching something back in May, then we got lock down.

I think it was speculation that something was being launched in May. No such announcement had been made.

True…wishful thinking i guess, but unusual for Naim not to launch something in a year?