Interested on views here. I have a 222/300/250 NC set. Mulling over the upgrade path from here to 300 series. Not particularly ‘unhappy’ with anything, but you know how you always wonder what next?
I also have am Atom HE in the office. I have a separate phono stage.
I cant afford 222 to 333/332 in one jump so would need to space by a year or so.
What would folks recommend? I buy used stuff so can’t demo.
add 333 into 222 with 300 on the streamer?
332 replacing 222 and use the HE via XLR into the 332 for a year until getting the 333. I know its not a true line out but should be useable into a pre if volume is left alone. Advantage is I can sell the 222 and I get the better preamp on my TT (main source).
I have had all the items you list. If you remember, you assisted me in purchasing my second NPX300.
As for recommendations, the big difference is the cost from 200 to 300. Admittedly, buying used eases the financial outlay. There is a difference, but as most HiFi, it is the law of diminishing returns.
If I was you, I would go 332 and Atom HE route. Get a better price on the 222 and maybe when you ready to purchase the 333, you could keep the HE, if you choose.
of course yes, thanks. These are all first world problems… I can try the Atom on my 222 first to get a feel for it. If its a downgrade I will know that the rout might be problematic.
There seems to be a typo in your second sentence, which may confuse people. I’d either wait and save up and do the move to 333/332 in one hit, or maybe take out a small loan or raid the savings. The move from the combined 222 to the separate source and pre will always be problematic.
Or enjoy that excellent 200 series setup a while longer until you’ve saved enough. By that time second hand prices will probably have softened a little making the jump to the 300 series rather easier.
It does seem as if Naim have made upgrading from the 200 series somewhat more awkward than moving up from, say, a 200/202 setup used to be.
Yep, I had a 222/250NC briefly (long story) but it dawned on me at the time that the upgrade path would be pretty expensive, the only meaningful upgrade apart from adding a 300psu would be to jump to 333/332 which would be prohibitively expensive for me.
Tried my Atom HE into the 222 as source compared with native 22, HE set on 85/100 volume and using Audirvana studio into both. was interested to see if there was a downgrade.
They are very close indeed. I can’t say I prefer one of another.
HE is perhaps very slightly warmer sound than the 222 alone. Would certainly be very happy with that into a preamp.
I thought long and hard about whether I should stretch to a 222 with my active speakers. Reading around seemed to conclude that the HE runs it pretty close if all you want is the basic functionality. Brendan’s findings make me even more sure I did the right thing. Thanks!
well I didn’t plug my HE into the 250 instead of the 222+300, so haven’t actually done that comparison directly. However, I wouldn’t expect this to differ much between the HE and the bare 222. I also use a TT with a separate phono (Vertere) as I did not like the built in phono in the 222 one little bit. Seems like the 332 will be a good move.
No surprises here with the Atom HE and 222. I ran the 222 with ATC SCM40A’s, before getting 222 and NPX300. The latter was better, but £8000 more……I don’t think so
I have 222 and HE. For streaming there’s not much in it but the line in on 222 is way ahead of the HE if connecting e.g. external phono stage. Also the NPX300 is a big upgrade not available for HE. Depends very much on your use case…
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