The Naim New Classic range - Part 1

Not a scratch - looks like protective film over acrylic section hasn’t been removed yet.

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I would be interested on an NPX versus 555PS opinion as an upgrade on my xpsdr/NDX2.
Maybe @110dB has some insight. Although appreciate you are facing a bit of a deluge of questions atm.

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image

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can’t see why they couldn’t have used a piece of tempered tinted glass for the middle bit, scratches on product that costs this much is just very off putting. I do love the look, volume control included, looks perfect to me!

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I’m using Dynaudio Confidence 20 with a 282/250 hcdr system. I find it to be a step-up from my previous harbeth M 30.1 speakers but a bit uninvolving. Hope you are happy with your new system.

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I think with my marketing hat on I would describe it as greater than the sum of it’s parts. :blush:

Those new classic boxes are growing on me
Not interested in streaming so will await analog preamp news

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That room has cost me some £££ over the years !! @Cymbiosis still using the Spendors??

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@110dB out of interest, can you confirm or deny that? I can’t imagine Salisbury is the holy grail of perfect UK mains.

I thought they were Kudos Super 20s.
On closer inspection. :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

I don’t think there’s an official list (at least, not yet anyway), however, Steve confirmed that the NPX300 can’t be used on the Naim DAC (and by inference the other PCM1704K units) as “this is due to the PCM1704 DAC chip requiring +/-10V and there’s only a +10V.” It’s also not suitable for powering the old pre-amps or Stageline, Prefix and Superline.

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It would be good to see a better alternative to the NSC 222. It’s nice to hear that the new three-piece set sounds good. But it’s hard to resist the impression that Naim didn’t want the NSC 222 to sound as good as it could (especially in combination with the NPX 300).

It would be interesting to hear the NSC 3xx that was truly made without compromise - no built-in power supply and without making it worse than the NDX2. I wouldn’t worry about keeping new streamers up to date either. Simplified operation, reasonably efficient components and a common architecture should allow the release of software updates for the new series for as long as Naim wants.

I can’t wait to compare the NSC 222 | NAP 250 vs NSC 222 | NPX300 | NAP 250. The two-piece set looks like a sensible swap for the Nova. However, with a three-piece set, I’m starting to think rationally that it costs almost half the price of my Volvo, which practically drives itself on the highway for me … With this look, the 222 specification does not encourage spending such money. But apparently I’m too poor (or not screwed enough) and fortunately I haven’t heard this set yet :).

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This. Dangerously this.

ps - All the talk about the DAC chip selection puzzles me… I thought it was obvious that any sound improvements have everything to do with the rest of the implementation and little to do with the inherent difference between a $12 and a $3 part? The clues include @110dB reminding us how “obsessive” the DSP guys are (hence why they convert to ultra high frequency 40-bit floating point, rather than just using the native format handling offered by the PCM1701 chip, per the spec sheet) as well as how obviously obsessive the analog guys are at keeping signals clean (noting, again from the spec sheet, the explicit reminder that most implementation performance limits are set by the quality of the supply voltage, the ground plane, and the analog output drivers and not the quoted S/N ratio). Spending customers’ money wisely, at every product cost and performance level, is something I really admire about Steve’s engineering and management approach, and I’m so thankful that he is revealing all of this expertise and wisdom here on the forum. Thanks @110dB !!

pps - I wonder now whether @110dB refers to liking it loud, or needing it quiet?!?

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Is it possible in the NSP222 setup to configure it as a UPNP server. it would be interesting to see how it performs as one with an SSD plugged into the rear USB?

Funniest thing I have read in a long time…

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This component angst is not good. All this comparing of bits and boxes all over the place.

What does matter is how the complete system presents music. This should be compared against you wallet - what is a price you can live with. And still afford some nice CD box-sets to rip. How something sounds compared to anotherthing is really not very useful to know.

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I think you’re right…

Hi,

No mains filters, DC blockers or isolating transformers used at Naim HQ. Equipment is plugged straight into the wall.

…However it is on a separate mains spur.
I do the same at home. I have a separate mains switch from the consumer unit via a dedicated mains spur.

Best
Steve

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Isn’t that the Atom?

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