The Naim New Classic Range - Part 2

Ha ha - yeah a bit sad that :grinning:

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But does it? The relative pricing would suggest otherwise, as would the well known benefits of seperate power supplies in a Naim system.

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Fret not, it’ll still be the “New” Classic range 20 years or so from now more than likely.

In my opinion it does in my LP12/252DR/Spendor D7.2. I’ve mentioned the reasons why before but since I didn’t “own” the 300DR it was deemed as an invalid conclusion.

Both the 300DR and NC250 made my 250DR sound like a pedestrian power amp in comparison. They did it though in different ways. I preferred the NC250.

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jan I feel the manner in which I made this comment is not ideal. I take this back and I apologise.

They’re not bad, just not worth the money.

All the dealers I’ve spoken to say 250NC does compete very well with 300DR. They all say the 250NC is the strongest part of the NC range so far.

None of the dealers recommended swapping 300DR for 250NC with a classic pre.

All of the dealers say the 250NC voicing is different, so you need to demo carefully.

I like my Bergman and Haneke movies best with Naim+LS3/5a :slight_smile:

I dont get along well with surround - although I owned a quadraphonic system for a short time in the 70s. Vinyl records (mostly classical) encoded as SQ, QS or Quadradisc, the QS killed the music least but still only 3dB channel sep.

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I guess it would be dealer suicide to claim the EOL 300DR sound better than 250NC. No matter the dealer it is still a job that puts food on their table. What would add value though is hearing same thing from a bunch of independent users that spent all the money doing this switch based on sound quality only.

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None of these dealers have any agenda with us and know our system. These were not sales pitches.

Their honest opinions are that 250NC vs 300DR is a preference. One amp might suit a system/speakers better than the other. With lower impedance, or difficult, speakers perhaps 300DR still has the edge.

This has already been demonstrated on the forum where people who’ve heard both have preferred 300DR. But others like @nicnaim chose the 250NC and find the new voicing to be their preference. Neither choice is wrong!

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How do they describe the difference?:thinking:

Slightly brighter or leaner maybe. Maybe some perceive it as a slightly cleaner sound, or a different response/emphasis on parts of the frequency spectrum to classics.

None say this change is in a bad way at all, just slightly different to what has been the norm with classics. From what they say it is an agile amplifier and they’re all impressed with it.

At some point I intend to pop to dealers and listen for myself. I am however waiting for the monoblocs really.

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So it’s not the same weight in the sound? :thinking: A little worrying in that case. Leaner is not a positive thing…

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This is where I’m struggling to explain. Perhaps leaner/cleaner confusion there?

NOBODY has said to me the 250NC lacks slam or weight. Indeed it appears to be very “punchy”. It just has a different sonic signature.

You’ll have to go speak to dealers, or audition!!

Our most trusted dealer said if we had stayed with (old system) 272/XPSDR/250DR and upgraded to 222/300/250NC we’d have been “very very happy”. But we took a different path… I believe that is your current system so if you’re thinking about the upgrade I expect you would be impressed.

Just because Version (x+1) has arrived, does not affect the performance of Version (x)… :expressionless:

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That depends. Leaner can mean the removal of unnecessary flab, rather than the sound becoming thin and weedy. I never much liked the 250.2 for example, finding it a bit flabby and slow, whereas the DR was much better. Yet others prefer the 250.2.

The most important thing is that the new 250 runs the 300DR very close, while some prefer it. It’s got to be a good thing that an amp that’s half the size and thousands cheaper can achieve this. How anyone can find any negatives about that is beyond me.

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Agree with the sentiment above that even considering the NC250 is competitive with the 300DR is a good thing and bodes well for the rest of the 300 series. I’m running NSC222 NPX300 with a 300DR, I spoke to two well known local dealers about trading the 300DR for the NC250 and what kind of deal we could put together. Both strongly advised against it - go figure. Waiting for the 350 availability before going to listen to all three options.

This sounds like it’s leaning to what I have always thought of as the Japanese sound profile. Brighter than the ‘English’ sound? That’s not meant in a disparaging way but Ihave always found my various Pioneer and Denon amps closer to the English sound than my Technics or Yamaha amps. Fuller in some way without an emphasis on one range over another.

It’s good to hear our experience coming from other dealers too.

We await the 350s with interest. I believe one of our dealers was listening to them soon (or already has), so perhaps I’ll get some feedback (or indeed a phone call saying “order now!”)

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Well, from all the conversations above, you didn’t go to the right dealer, musicraft should be the one to consult :joy:. Pun intended!

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