The parts in BOTH are not what makes the price
True but considerably more r&d in a Nova I would have thought
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The Nova uses a streaming platform that is spread over the whole range. This part won’t most likely cost more than a cheap phone in parts, including the screen. Else it’s an amp and a DAC chip of negligible parts cost.
Don’t get me wrong, of course there is considerable mark-up on PSes. That’s simple market forces. In budget segments you have to keep prices low, and not so much at the premium end. As a company, the overall income must keep you alive, healthy, and competitive in each of your markets. The parts in an S-class Mercedes are also not 10 times as expensive as in an A-class
You make building Nova sound like a 3 parts Lego 
Of course Nova is far more
time consuming to create than a PS that’s been around for 100 years. The standard boxes are downsized by purpose to make us buy expensive PS to get the performance they should have. That’s my theory.
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Out of interest, if we are going via cost, what else is there directly comparable to the performance of either NDX2/XPSDR or NDX2/555DR.
Directly comparable meaning including built in streaming services and Roon end point?
Genuine question, can’t say I’ve paid much attention to the competition! @frenchrooster, you seem rather clued up on kit and what’s out their.
Not at all my intent. There is a whole lot of research and human thought that went into it. That’s what makes the price. I think if you read it in context with the previous few posts, you will see what I mean: That the “but the parts are only $x” argument regarding PSes is missing the point
And that’s fine if you believe that, nobody is forced to buy them. The point stands that the parts in a Chord would also not justify the price, and this is just as irrelevant.
If you don’t like the price, don’t buy it. Simples! 
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Yes, I think is the point I am trying to make.
I was sceptical, now I have a dream machine I am not. I also now have the option to purchase a top end streamer from Naim who I am generally very happy with as all my Hifi apart from the record deck is from Salisbury. Others may prefer a different route, for me, things worked out very well and I thought I share my findings with the forum members.
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I have say that in this instance I found that there was indeed a massive leap. It wasn’t immediate as I noted and took, as of today, a month to get to my current nirvana. It was only switching back to the bare NDX2 that it became apparent how much of an improvement had occurred.
Depends on what we all say is massive, if this is as you say a massive leap then i am not sure what you would call say an nd555, or something like a rossini and clock is.
Massive its not, better it is, but only slightly in my view.
Plus as you say, so massive but it wasn’t immediate that you noticed, them two certainly shouldn’t be said in the same sentence, as it proves it wasn’t massive at all
Hi Dunc, do you remember your own streamer or indeed any other items improving over the first few weeks of use. My initial thoughts were posted early on and I thought I’d be patient and wait a few weeks to offer any new findings which I also posted above. Had I bough a used power supply I would have posted sooner.
For those with an NDX2 that are considering upgrading it further I would encourage them try a used PS 555 DR at home first. If this is not possible as was in my case just jump in and get one, the waters lovely and you’ll have the added bonus of future upgrades within the Naim system.
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Its more the use of the word Massive, its not massive or the other favourite, night and day comment.
As i said, yes its better, but it only slightly improves things, and i feel some people look at the massive statement and then can feel quite disappointed when they then try it, as for them massive means huge difference and that is not what you are going to get from just adding a different power supply to any piece of hifi gear.
Isn’t this all about personal opinion? After laying down £5k+ for a power supply its a big relief if its as good as you hoped it would be, consequently it feels like a big leap forward.
Reading posts across the forum people get the same joy from upgrading from an SN2 to SN3 as they do from upgrading to 500 level.
Musicians are in everyone’s rooms, must all come down to the “willing suspension of disbelief” that lets your enjoy music for what it is sometimes.
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What a strange turn. Our friend @0.0 has bought a 555PS and is really happy with it. Then we get people saying that in their opinion the PS is massively overpriced. So what? It costs what it costs and as others have said they don’t have to buy it. And then we get people saying that the OP’s perceived improvement is not as big as the OP thinks it is. How do they know? A lot of daft superlatives are thrown around and what’s massive to one is modest to another. We also have those who suggest the OP should have bought something else entirely and ideally the latest must-have piece of HiFi that they have discovered and which has changed their lives.
Why must people rain on the OP’s parade? Why must they question the value of Naim products? Why must they imply that the uplift isn’t as good as the OP thinks it is? You’d think by reading some people’s posts that their objective is to slag off Naim at every opportunity. Why can’t they be happy for the OP or else just shut up? It’s tedious.
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Nigel I have to say this is somewhat amazing for you to state this and completely agree but goes against everything you were saying the other day regarding other users and the focals and other peoples opinions on them and people who have invested.
I quote from the other thread.
Every Focal I’ve heard has sounded screamingly bright and very unnatural. The Scalas on a full 500 system were just dreadful. If that’s what voiced to work with Naim means, I despair. Let’s remember that Naim wouldn’t be recommending Focal if they hadn’t got into bed with them. It’s not about synergy, it’s about commercial imperatives.
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That was in a thread by someone who had not bought the Focals. I was relating my experience of them. It’s entirely different to the examples to which I referred above. In the Focal example, the OP can consider my views or not, and they may or may not inform the buying decision. In the case of this thread, saying to the OP that what they have actually bought is overpriced, or that they don’t hear a large difference, or that they should have bought something else in the first place is entirely unhelpful. Hopefully you can see the difference.
In all the listens it never engaged me like the CDS3 managed to, for some reason, and I’ve heard others say similar.
Hi HH, above is a comment made by yourself on the CD555 thread, where somebody is sharing their excitement having bought the CDP 555.
This to me is at best an unhelpful comment, but more so to me makes your previous post on this thread somewhat hypocritical.
Interestingly the OP wasn’t asking for advice on choice having already bought one, is it me?! Peter
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We seem to be diverging a bit her chaps, can we please get back on topic which may I remind everyone was about Upgrading a NDX2 before moving on up.
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I don’t know what I wrote on the CD555 thread but the quote by Popeye comes from a thread about using a Nova with Sopra No 2. It’s all well and good to hunt for inconsistencies in my post and to imply hypocrisy if that pleases you and helps you fill your day. But it doesn’t affect the post I wrote above, which was prompted by comments in this very thread. It was others suggesting that the OP might have chosen something else. I happen to think that the NDX2/555PS is extremely good and have no reason to suggest otherwise.
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The 555 DR will give a very noticeable uplift to your NDX2 and also be an “investment” for any upgrade to the NDX2 in future.
If you can listen to one, or better still borrow one, then a demo is always worthwhile so you can decide if you thinks its cost effective.
But as you can see from many of the above posts your on safe ground if you go ahead with this.
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