To provide a counterpoint to @Musicraft I was talking to a dealer today about the NC stuff. He said he’d been quite disappointed with it. He’d done plenty of demos but very few had resulted in sales as people generally thought it wasn’t a significant enough improvement over what they already had to justify the outlay. He added that he’d spoken to a few other dealers who hadn’t yet sold a single NC unit.
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Of course, it’s the most enjoyable music playback I’ve experienced from Naim in a long time. The OC boxes I’ve owned and demoed sounded clinical in comparison. Which is why I was hesitant to spend money on upgrades previously. Listening to music is exciting again. I’ve even rediscovered classical music. Wow, I was missing out before.
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Goodness never have I used the word clinical to describe the Naim sound , not my experience at all
I guess each to their own
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I wouldn’t put too much store in what the dealer was saying as many of the naim dealers ‘pre loved’ stocks seem to be very full at the moment of OC items and Ebay seems very busy trying to sell OC gear, forcing prices down. Somebody is definitely selling NC or people are defecting to other brands. Having not heard any NC and nothing really interesting me vs my own equipment at present I have no axe to grind on this - simply an observation
Not sure what you’re saying applies. I have a full 500 system and therefore no interest in either NC or preloved OC. I just asked what he thought of the NC and how it was selling.
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All I’m saying is there are a helluva lot of 250’s for sale s/hand at present , for instance, which suggests to me this is being driven by the new range coming out
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There’s alot of you on the forum who have bought 250 NC. How does it compare to 300DR? There’s also 250NC being sold used quite regularly. Maybe those trading up to 350s? They are shifting.
I think alot of buyers are buying one or two NC components. Some a full set up.
So they are selling quite well it would seem.
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I tend to think the stars are the NC 250 and 350.
I had the 250 dr two weeks ago and now the new 250 . The step is significant.
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It’s all comparative of course. Listening to music is fun again like when I first discovered those magic olive boxes back in the 90s. PS - think it’s a mistake to think the entire line is not improved upon, streaming and analogue.
There are 3 used 250 NC on eBay in UK. That’s quite a few.
you are 100% right, i bet the 222 is improved over a 272. Naim know what they are doing, its the reason why we are all here in the first place
I think its the bonkers statements that get a bit silly
Yeah, Naim are so good they’ve managed to squeeze more SQ out of their new boxes, enough to alter the hierarchy that makes direct comparison tricky. Having fewer boxes in the range makes for bigger jumps in SQ. More overlap with previous range.
I guess “Closer” does not necessarily means “close” 
Tehran is “closer” to London than Singapore
Southampton is “close” to London 
“the NSC 222 had moved unmistakably closer to that of my ND 555 dual-supply reference DAC”…than ND5XS2? than Unitiqute? than Eversolo DMP A6? …closer than Xiaomi bla bla bla?
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OK. I’ll keep it brief. The thing is I’ve bought an Innuos Zenith to beef up my local storage and, whisper it, its streaming is actually rather good too. More to the point, the Sense app is a darn sight more clog-friendly than the Naim app and I can see it becoming my first choice. So far I haven’t found a way to access non-UK radio stations through the Zenith though, so iRadio may be the Naim’s saviour.
Internet radio apart, I might end up using the NSS333 just for its DAC. More knowledgeable and experienced people than I say that this DAC is pretty good, but I still have a question in my mind whether it is the best solution for my money, especially factoring in the added cost of a NPX300.
This is where my thinking is at the moment.
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You will certainly be able to get very good dacs for the price of the 333. Linn selekt with organic Dac is about the same but you also have chord, aqua, holo audio, ps audio T+A, auralic and many others to choose from. Connect those via usb and you would have a very good 2 box solution. Whether you prefer it to the 333 is another matter
Yes, now I understand. I read too quickly and also generally people say “ close”….
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Thanks AHT. 222/300/250 may well be enough for me but I will test run a 332/250 with my NDX2/XPS to see if the increased expenditure is justified.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts. My budget is in NSC 222 / NAP 250 territory, but an NSS 333 / NAC 332 / NAP 250 is something I want to compare. If, to my ears, it’s a major step up, even after adding an NPX 300 to the NSC 222, then I may need to renegotiate my budget with SWMBO! But maybe there are alternative streamer options that might be cheaper - I was thinking of Innuos, but would then need a DAC. So it’s helpful to hear that you like the DAC in the NSS 333.
The extent of the competition is my quandary. I am not a big tinkerer and the last thing I want to do is to line up a long list of alternative boxes and do comparative listening tests on each of them. After all, the whole point of having a good system is to be able to sit down and enjoy the music.
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In that case stick with Naim, you are guaranteed it has been designed to work together and will has synergy witht he rest of your kit.
Tinkering is a slippery slope!
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