No confusion. Both versions of your post were categoric, just mutually exclusive
Thanks for asking Naim, and reporting back. Much appreciated.
As had been said, a lot, weāll just have to wait and see. I can see it both ways on all the uncertainty, and value or otherwise of a roadmap.
Iām trying to temper my own inquisitiveness regarding whatās coming down the tracks, against total satisfaction with my XS3, whilst trying to stop my trigger finger twitching on an old CB/Olive NAP 250 to match with a NSC222 X)
Agree, I think Naim/focal could easily do this without being too specific about models in the pending line up. Iām sure there are a lot of customers who would value this and give insight as to how they will be able to move their systems forward.
Product sat in supply chain inventory being one factor. Whether thatās kit EOL or soon to be or stuff thatās still got some life left in it. Not every potential customer has or wants to spend upwards of Ā£11400 for a new system, thereās a big gap between a Nova and the NSC 222 and NC NAP 250, thereās also a lot more used kit available now as a bonus of course!
Once theyāve filled in some of the obvious New Classic gaps later this year (mainly new preamps) I expect things will all be a lot clearer.
Not having a crystal ball I canāt foretell what other products Naim might release. There may be offerings both above and below the new 200 series.
But as it stands today, the 202 and 200 were stopped a while ago. The 152 and 150 and 100 quite a bit further back. And the entry level seperates offerings have been around a CD based 5 series integrated, or the far more sophisticated XS series. So yes, their current pre/power entry level offering is a 222/250 (or possibly an Atom HE/250).
So from purely a price point perspective Naim do cover a large gamut from very affordable to Statement with no significant gaps. But that assumes every customer between Muso and Statement is essentially the same type of customer, only differing in the size if their wallet.
As for my shortlist, Iād rather not say in this thread. Despite other misgivings, I do think the currently launched New Classic trio represent a great achievement with superbly well thought out technical changes and a hugely impressive launch managed with exemplary community interaction from senior Naim engineers. I donāt want to detract from that.
You might expect it, but whether youāll get it is another thing altogether, especially given what we know but cannot say what we know because we are not supposed to know it.
From what I heard in my audition, Atom HE is very good indeed, so would serve very well as an entry point, at least on the source/pre side of things. The NC250 sounded great on the end of it, but might be a little on the high side price-wise to be considered entry-level.
I admit, this came up in my thinking when I auditioned a Uniti Nova around seven months ago. It wasnāt where I wanted to be in terms being an all-in one, and I felt then if I added an external power amp to that unit, Iād have paid a lot for the amp section in it which I wouldnāt use.
Iām actually excited for the future of Naim with the way the product line is seemingly shaping up. Honestly, itās a breath of fresh air and much needed to bring things up to date, in my opinion as a former owner then having spent a few years with different brands who do things differently.
I think combining source and preamp is the way of the present and future, so like this direction very much, especially with the way the volume controls have been thought out/engineered (again Iāve been with other brands doing it in a similar way for years, and I feel itās a better approach).
Iām completely with you though - Iād never want to go back to an all-in-one/integrated again, at least the power amp section needs to be separate for me. I had that discussion with my dealer when we set up the Atom HE/250 dem. But others do. Different customer, different market.
I guess letās see what the future brings. Might be interesting to see a power amp at roughly half the price of the 250, with a form factor similar to the Atom HE, perhaps?
Ive used Darren @ Class A a few times, excellent service at a very reasonable cost, my kit came back sounding magical post the typical run in period, highly recommended!
Completely with you on this as Iāve come to the same conclusion - while full all in one like the Nova and the Atom are brilliant, they remain limited to more lifestyle/background or need very careful speaker and room matching.
With the Atom HE you have full flexibility and I keep being amazed at what this thing does with different amps and power amps. In fact I had a second home audition with the NSC222 against my Atom HE in my main system this time with just a power amp (and not SN3+SCDR like the first time) and ended up returning the 222 yet again back to the dealer as it just did not provide enough for me to trade in my Atom HE for it, they are so close to me. Yes, the 222 is slightly better in separation but this is really only in close A to B audition for auditionās sake. They are just both lovely while the 222 gives you the phono stage and PSU upgrade path.
Iām not surprised the new 250 is better than SN2/HC especially when used on Harbeth speakers. In my experience, the 250DR is the minimum requirement for the Harbeth SHL5+. It sounds good but not great. Another Harbeth SHL5+ user (Slamdam I think) switched from 250DR to 300DR and suggested that the 250DR sounded broken next to the 300DR when used on the Harbeth. In other words, the Harbeth requires the 300DR to give its best.
New 250 better than 300DR? Has anyone made the comparison? If thatās true, the 250 would be appealing to many, 1 box sounds better than 2 boxes.
I have no clue when it comes to AV systems, never had or desired one (itās only a telly )ā¦wonder why the NCās improvements are more apparent with them?
Pardon my ignorance. Can the new 250 be used with the 282? If thatās possible, is there a significant difference in sound quality between the 282/new 250 and 282/250DR? Is the Hicap DR or Supercap DR still necessary with the new 250 on board?
If itās the same streaming technology as a 222, as a non-technician I donāt understand why a ND555, NDX2, ND5XS2, Uniti, couldnāt be upgraded.
But not the older technology NDX, ND5XS, 272 (if Ć motherboard fails, Naim canāt even service that ā¦ a pretty short serviceable life for a perhaps Ā£4k investment!)
Yes the 250.3 can be used with the 282. There is no fundamental difference in configuration apart from a special cable that needs to be ordered from Naim. You still have a 282. It still needs to be powered by a NAPSC and at least a FlatCap, HiCap, or SuperCap. The connection to the power amp when using the 282 will still go via the power supply just like it would for a 250dr. Naim supply the single ended to twin XLR cable required (for a price obviously).
Thanks for the information which is much appreciated. Thatās surely useful. I always thought that the 250DR although good is not exactly great. One box 250.3 (thanks for reminding me FZ so that I can avoid typing new 250 everytime) is surely a lot more appealing than two boxes of 300DR. Although the 250.3 may sound different from the 300DR, the elevated performance of the 250.3 combined with the convenience of a 1 box is very appealing which I believe will be the main selling point of the New Classic range.
Thatās good to know. The special cable is not exactly a welcome note for me since I already have Chord Signature TA that replaced the standard Naim cables in my setup. I currently have no urge to replace the 250DR with the 250.3 as I have not been using the 282/HCDR/250DR for more than a year (itās not my primary system). However, I will surely give the 250.3 a good look if I intend to make any changes to the Naim.
Now, Iāll just wait for more reviews on the 282/250DR vs 282/250.3 to come up.
