The Naim New Classic Range - Part 2

Please.
Power supplies, PS555 will be useful with a set of 2 new burndies. I missed any information on Supercap… Can it power a NAC 332 with or without new cables?

I suspect that all this talk of the new preamp “lacking DR” is ignoring that it has another newer technology in it “selected monolithic regulation” as Richard reported earlier. Who knows how these compare? None of us do, that’s for sure.

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No, a Supercap cannot be used here.

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Not exactly new David - we’re talking the old tried and tested Naim-selected LM317s and LM337s.

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Thank you Richard.

I stand corrected! But nevertheless I think it’s pointless making assumptions at this early stage. We can’t hear the kit for several months and we will know more about it once the actual experts tell us.

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It,s a turntable……
should sell like hot cakes

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Thanks for the useful info on the automation and synchronisation, Steve.

I assume, if you are not using a Naim preamp (I know,I know…) with a pair of 350’s then there is no need to connect an automation cable between the two amps. All settings are configured on the individual amps (power up settings, display brightness etc) ?

Hi @davidhendon et all,

Re Power supply on new classic is a big subject. May I bore you… :sunglasses:

The original Naim power supply model grew very organically as it came from the days of powering CD mechanisms, no ErP/LoNa power regulatory requirements etc. … however we were running out of steam to power current hungry modern electronics and hit regulatory requirements + make it user friendly,

Lots of architecture and Confluence spec pages later a new external architecture was designed, aimed for keeping us going another 20yrs or so.

Goals:

  • can power smart (have cpu’s in them) as well as dumb products like phono stages.
  • hit all worldwide regulatory requirements now and hopefully in the future,
  • smart products (streamers, preamps etc) can communicate to the psu for control, working out what is connected etc, A new protocol was designed for this that inherently ‘doesn’t chatter’, can be implemented on very basic embedded processors, isn’t dependent on libs that will come and go (20yrs+ is a long time in computing), and can be fed down a burndy without any side-effects to the power rails.
  • can easily power all future Naim designs.
  • Robust. When things on long cables are added into the mix its a recipe for ESD issues and noise injection problems.
  • With suitable cables can power older products. We’re not cutting off existing systems.

So New Classic brings the birth of this new psu technology.

All the analogue outputs of the external psu’s are DR tech when in active mode, and this gives the baseline rails for a mix of analogue rails, digital power rails are via different feeds and windings. We then route that into the product where further regulation goes on to produce the localised rails and lots of fun with star grounds to hold it all together.

So in the case of the 332 when used in internal mode the linear PSU injects into the array of regulators (we use a mix of parts depending on circuit type - Richard has mentioned a few used internally) and of course has layers of capacitance and filtering all down the chain. When in external psu mode the internal standby psu and linear psu is never used and the DR regulated rails feed the internal regulators. The devil is in the detail on making it perform but overall SteveS, Gaz and the team hit the performance targets for internal mode + made external PSU mode a worthy upgrade. It’s not cheap, but it’s good. :sunglasses:

So summary, no rest for us over Covid lockdown!

Best wishes

Steve Harris
Software Director
Naim Audio Ltd.

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that sounds like an end state system for sure

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Thanks very much for explaining that for us Steve.

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Ardbeg10y

From Part 1

Yeah, I can manage that too. Did you use the same source?

Yes, same sources for the NAC 282/HI-Cap DR and NSC 222/NPX 300.

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Hmmm

From Part 1

But that doesn’t tell us anything about the performance of the streaming section of the NSC222.

Over a period of six weeks or so I used SCM100ASL Professional monitors to reference and evaluate the interaction and performance of NAC 282/Hi-Cap Dr and NSC 222/NPX 300 paired with active speakers. What I learnt from this comparison is implemented and therefore helps the NSC 222/NPX 300 surpass the performance of NAC 282/Hi-Cap DR into SCM40A’s.

Btw, this includes the streaming section of the NSC 222.

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Okay, so you used the streaming section of the NSC222 including, naturally, the NSC222’s DAC section. But what digital source did you use for the NAC282/Hi-Cap DR? You seem to be comparing apples to oranges as far as digital is concerned. An interesting comparison would be the 272 vs 222 (they’re both apples) using their streamers, DACs and pre-amps.

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Glad to hear Stevesky confirm my assertion that Naim is evolving with its use of PS and achieving better SQ with fewer boxes. I’m now curious how a 222/300/250 compare to a 333/332/250. It’s great to see the “minimalists” among us can get such great SQ from three boxes.

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Thank you @Stevesky for some great information!

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@Stevesky thanks for all the information. Fantastic to read. You mention hitting performance targets - What were the performance targets for the new 300 pre and psu. Was it to equal or better a 252/SupercapDR? Or a marker elsewhere.

Thanks!

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@GeoffC since you have IBLs (which are mighty)any amp you have will be epic! I am certain your current set up is mighty!

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Hi @james_n

Ref: automation on nap350.

No need. All the new classic series components work standalone and if you want to mix and match with other Naim components, or other manufacturers kit then it will work just fine. If used with other Naim new classic kit it is more integrated as an overall system.

Best

Steve

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Thanks Steve :+1:

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