heard the new classic with spendors today.
great stuff in my opinion
very modern
I felt the NSC 222 is a huge step up in many regards
the NAP250 not really
no idea about the NPX 300 - didn’t compare
anyway the package is very luxury and nice.
I listened to the full-fat 3 box New Classic system today also; with Spendor and PMCs…
Looks lovely; great volume control.
Didn’t do a back-to-back comparison with Classic NDX2/NACs etc but sounded pretty good driving the PMC 25.24i’s.
Awaiting the new streamer now I think…
Good to know. And it should be a lot better! In Canada the 555 is $5500.00 more than the new 300.
Cost, lack of space within the box to house two decent sized transformers, simplicity of approach ?
You’ve got to compromise the engineering somewhere to meet cost / size constraints. As Naim have mentioned, if you want the ultimate then you can run dual supplies. One NPX300 used only for the analogue supply and another NPX300 just for digital.
Usual caveats of redundant regulators in both boxes applies when going the dual supply route, same as with the dual 555PS approach on the NDS and ND555.
There’s plenty of room in the nxp300
With regards to production cost. Looking at all the hardware in the 222, it’s hard to believe the NPX300 is the same selling price. There must be a lot of profit in the Nxp300.
In the past Naim have found that in most cases one larger transformer outperforms two smaller separate ones. Of course they could use two separate large transformers instead of one, but then you’d likely need a bigger box or another box and of course cost increases considerably.
Sounds like a good pair for NDX2🤔
It’s all down to the premium virgin plastic Japanese manufactured cable ties used throughout the PS555, made to a patent pending Naim design and hand tuned by one of only two employees.
The NPX 300 in contrast is made by robots running Windows XP, what some call “progress”.
Which?
Currently running an XPSDR.
I mean to upgrade the XPS DR to NPX300 for NDX2, instead of going to 555 PS which is absolutely in a different class.
I myself have an un-used NDX2 waiting to be paired with my incoming 552 and ‘been wondering whether to spend some more fortune for a 555 PS instead of XPS DR. Well perhaps even on its own (without separate PSU) the NDX2 would be good enough to pair with 552, hopefully.
Definitely!
Someone has to make a living, right?
The cost difference with the generous px I am being offered is not so significant as to deter me from the 555.
The benefit of a 555PS
being you can use it to power an ND555 when you replace your NDX 2 at some point later.
When the nDac is powered by an external PSU, it is powered by two transformers. The onboard transformer is powering the digital, the external PSU transformer the rest. The nDac transformer isn’t very big.
Some pre-amps have two power supplies/transformers, one taking care of the digital.
We are in the age of NEW classic, many of the old design features, that where set in stone, are no longer.
Maybe a new 500 series (or replacement) psu will contain a couple of transformers.
I think the benefit of the PS555 is it makes the NDX2 really perform at its best. No plan to go for the top (for now) streamer here…
Nice to have options, powering an NDX 2 it’ll squeeze the most you can from it. Never say never on the ND555 it’s an astonishing digital source when setup properly and used values make it attainable, certainly as it gets further in to its lifecycle.
The 552 is very revealing, and I would caution against running a bare NDX2 with it.
Personally I’d skip the XPSDR on the NDX2 and save for the 555 or try the NPX 300
Humming harmony