Upgrade to New or Old Classics?

Hi-Fi Corner
21

Does it? I must admit I have not looked hard but what is it keeping powered using a small smps?

Edit… looking at the 222 manual it states leave it on for better sq

22

Yes it was @110dB I believe in another topic somewhere … the 350s use 0.5w in standby, the 332 1.5w, presumably because there are more important audio circuits in the pre, otherwise they’d be the same.

23

It says that in all the manuals, and is of course as true as ever, however what the new standby allows is a faster warm up, everything is not starting from cold.

I put my boxes into standby when I go to bed, then when I finish work the next day, 18 hrs later, I turn them on. By the time we’ve eaten etc it’s usually an hour or two and they sound great. My old system took far longer to sound good after being switched off, and with no option to put it into standby (nd5 excepted) it was on 24/7.

Just seems wasteful to have them fully powered for 18 hrs a day not being used for the sake of an hour or two during which I wouldn’t be using them anyway.

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24

ex-demo from a few years ago but little used

25

Now I also turn them off at night, they do get turned on between 8 and 9 in the morning though and as I listen to R4 in the morning it allows them to warm up properly before I play music. Steve 110dB I recall said that for the first 3 months or so it is best to leave them on 24/7 after that it is not so important.

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26

I wish they would come out with new wood options for the SCM40 as my NC250 is probably not enough for the SCM50

27

Or leave out the 250 and go for active ATCs.

Roger

28

That’s interesting, I must’ve missed that, I had them on all the time for 4 to 5 weeks to settle in until I started using the standby … I’ll go back to leaving them on for a while longer then, cheers.

29

Stick with Naim for your streamer and amps.

Do you love the sonic signature of B&Ws?

If not, then change your make of speakers.

Get a home demo of NC300 series.

Let us know how it goes. :+1::notes::carrot::beer:

30

I would suggest that the idea that ATCs are hard to drive is overblown somewhat - I think the NC250 would be fine. I’ve heard it driving PMC Fact 12s at a demo and it sounded pretty awesome…now they are a tough nut to crack and the 250 seemed to deliver without strain.

31

I’m prepared to invest in 300 NC and keep 804s or invest in 200 NC and change speakers but guess former is probably most sensible. From what I’ve read the 350 NC is really good but am only auditioning this next week so have only heard the 250 NC on the 200 NC streamer/pre

32

Thanks - I’ve lived with the B&W for 10 years (albeit with weak amplification and source relatively speaking) so guess I know no better! I understand that they can be criticised for being overly bright but from what I’ve read the NC is supposed to be somewhat warmer than OC (although I’ve also read the opposite comment on some forums!). Am auditioning the 300 next week and think I will also be able to try at home

33

I might look no further at that price

34

For the price of 333/ 332/ 300 ps/ 350, you can have 552/500/ Nd555/ 1x 555 dr second hand. Personally I would choose the last, as it’s better and sounds clearly fuller.

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35

Interesting comment thank you. The problem is I live in Portugal and 2nd hand kit is generally not easy to come by - shipping from the UK is a nightmare (despite there being great resellers of 2nd hand Naim) since Brexit although EU might be easier

36

A nightmare, why ?

37

The UK is now a third country, which complicates cross-border sales somewhat, I believe this is due to additional paperwork etc.

38

I believe you can buy from UK easily on EBay. You just pay shipping. A lot of UK dealers sell on EBay.
You can have a lot of Naim second hand also from Germany.

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39

At any price point, you would get a better system with the old classic gear, or even 500 series components.

40

People are just afraid to do it now. I gather there maybe taxes as well (I think this is the case but stand corrected).

But you can still buy from UK at massively discounted price.

I don’t see any reason why it will be a nightmare as such though. Trade between countries has been going on for centuries. Just because UK isn’t part of EU doesn’t mean you can’t get a good deal.

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