Got my NAP250 back from AVoptions last week for what must be one of the last DR updates. Put into the system and hear a much leaner sound that it used to have. I guess this will please those folks who thought the NAP250 sounded a but “tubby” but with my NA252/SC DR update/Service last year and my LP12 updates over the last 2 years (Kore, Karousel, Lingo 4, Trampolin), my entire system is now a lot leaner than it’s been for the last 25-25 years.
I’m guessing I’ll acclimate to this “brave new world” of sound in a few weeks but that’s quite a difference from what I’m used to!
I found the bass and sound general to be much better on the DR version. It goes incredibly deep but is much tighter. You should notice the extension and control, and things will open up as the days go by. Losing the lard of the 250.2 is no bad thing.
DR versions are essentially different amps. So getting a NAP DRed is no different from buying a new power amp without hearing it first.
When I DRed my 250, the result was similar. It just didn’t work with my speakers in my room and was too lean. Eventually I had to change speakers too to get some balance back.
Oh, no! Since there’s no getting my lard-a$$ 250 back, hopefully my HLP3s, LS3/5As or Aerial 5Bs will be able to accommodate it as it warms up over the next couple of weeks.
My Cirkus bearing was apparently in a very poor state when I got the Karousel, but I did quite a few upgrades and am not entirely certain overall I didn’t prefer the warmer sound I had before.
Some upgrades instantly work, others you have to acclimatise to, but with system synergy upgrades aren’t always for the better I’ve found.
Agreed AC! But then this forum would have you believe that all DR upgrades sound superior! Superior is subjective in many ways and although ‘different’ is probably a given, it’s not always a positive change. I’ve read of quite a few people who didn’t like the new amp or PSU, even after they’d run in post DR ‘upgrade’.
No doubt I’ll get run down now…
A few years ago when I heard about DR upgrades I was very excited, but only until I discovered my olive NAP 250s could not be DR’d by Naim only later iterations, so I guess at least you had the option.
I suspect given a little time they’ll sound superb.
Admittedly I’ve not heard a 250DR in my system, but I did borrow a 300DR which was in a different league entirely to the olives driving SBLS passively, but a little prohibitive with an active system when I already have 2 serviced olive NAP 250s.
I’m intrigued. Is it possible a non-DR version of 555PS would be preferable in an otherwise fully Olive Active SBL system?
And would said 555PS be a limiting factor IF an ND555 was (at some mythical time in the far future) slotted into the system?
Just thinking.
When you have a balanced system with a 250.2 it is not safe to the Dred because the DR version is really different, it is another amp… Naim should not have called it 250 but, for example, 260…
Anyway with my system the DR did not work, I kept the 250.2.
My guess is that prices for a used 250.2 will drop now that it can’t be upgraded to DR. So if you are sure that you prefer the non-DR version (and you are not the only one) it should be possible to get hold of one, and free up a bit of cash from the sale of your newly serviced and DR’d one.
If the OPs experience is like mine, they are able to simultaneously hear how it is vastly superior to the 250.2 in terms of clarity and airiness, but that the tonal balance just doesn’t seem to be right with their speakers/room.
My dealer told me this was the more “correct” sound and I needed to get used to it, but after a few months I never did. But new speakers arrived (I went from PMC Twenty.23 to Twenty5.23) and although similarly specified, behaved totally differently and restored what I had lost. The speakers were a planned changed anyway so it was a happy coincidence.
I just got my own SuperCapDR recap back from AV Options. The break in process takes a while. The improvement is substantial as you go through it. Just let it play and go with the flow.
I had my NAP500 DR’d by AV Options a few years ago. It sounded lean and terrible for several weeks. It took 6-8 weeks for it to open up and bloom. It’s worth the wait. Chris West does great work.
