Having a soundstage wider than the speakers is a speaker/room interaction artefact.
If you want to know the reason why this can only be an artefact, look up and understand Blumlein stereo.
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His statement applies to a comparison between the 222 and the previous generation of streamers (particularly the 1st gen streamers is implied.)
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Hopefully youâll be able to experience the performance of the New Classic 300 Series like I have.
âAfter listening for a long time as a system with the NPX 300 power supply, we removed it, listened, then put it back. And then we assessed the difference. If I had to put a figure on it, the uplift was some 20% of the extant system quality. The streaming sound quality of the NSC 222 had moved unmistakably closer to that of my ND 555 dual-supply reference DAC, while all the facilities benefited, both the LP disc input/equalizer and the headphone output.â
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It makes no difference how good the source & electronics are.
Sound âimageâ outside of the arc between the speakers is still an artefact of the room/speaker interaction.
Look up and understand Blumlein stereo.
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but using some DSP type trickery you can, take Q Sound for example
Yes, those approaches exploit the fact that most stereo systems are in rooms: they use the artefacts created by the reflections from the walls. Itâs not a true stereo image; it relies on destructive interference of the main image leaving the artefact more acoustically exposed.
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I would argue almost everything you hear is partly a room artefact
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Yes but itâs a question of degree. With a well set up system the Blumlein stereo dominates the soundstage.
I compared a 272 with the 250 NC with a Cardas Audio Clear reflection cable XLR to RCA and also the 222 with XLR to XLR. Significantly more substantial and organic than with the Naim cables - for my ears.
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To reiterate hopefully someday youâll be able to experience the performance of the New Classic 300 Series like I have.
Alas, no, this does not get to the nub of the problem. The Nap-250 is stereo. My amps are Mono. But they are no a âMono pairâ (i.e. interchangeable). So, whatâs needed is two sightly different XLRâs - one âhandedâ for the right channel, the other for the left channel.
Naim is now offering âlegacyâ interconnects to its new Classic Nap-350s, so these are likely to meet the need.
Iâm not clear yet which of these new offerings will provide the best solution for a Nac-552 and 552DR to balanced monos.
Does anyone know? One source says Naim Ref. No. 00-010-0250. Another source says Naim Ref. No. 00 - 010 - 0244.
Skyebridge
According to the FAQ list, this one sounds like it should be correct;
Lead Assembly, Legacy Preamp DIN to New Classic PA XLR, Left Channel, 4 pin DIN to XLR 00-010-0244
Lead Assembly, Legacy Preamp DIN to New Classic PA XLR, Right Channel, 4 pin DIN to XLR 00-010-0244
(2 Unique Cables needed)
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Same part number for l and r?
Thatâs the info that was published.
I have 552 to 350s with Naim supplied interconnects. Fine but using the supplied legacy leads (red for right) from the 552 my left and right channels were reversed. Fine on swapping them over.
My Chord DIN-XLRs are handed left and right (black and red XLR connectors respectively).
They still donât project sound outside the line of the speakers unless loudspeaker / room interaction artefacts are occurring - itâs nothing to do with quality, and all to do with the artefacts.
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I have no expertise really here and accept the physics governing sound travelling from speakers to ears. Intrigued as to whether the brain can interpret sound as having a source beyond the lateral boundaries of the speakers - i.e. a hearing version of optical illusions? 
An optical illusion may be analogous to what constitutes the artefacts - itâs what happens when side wall reflections interact with the direct sound from the speakers.
The true stereo image is created by the direct sound and the reflections are artefacts.
(Unless highly directional speakers are intentionally configured to give a consistent reflected image bounced off the wall with no direct sound; this creates two âvirtualâ speakers behind the reflection points, but is a very unusual configuration in domestic settings.)
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