Where does the 272 lie in Naims hierarchy of amps?

Where does the 272 lie in Naim’ hierarchy of amps?

I was thinking of getting Naim streamer and replacing the 272
but not sure with which preamp ?

And would a move to a lesser ,so to speak, preamp impact greatly with my 250/XPS?

thanks

Mike

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A 282 would be a good start…needs a HiCap as a minimum though.

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General consensus seems to be about 202 level maybe a bit below. Som282 is the next logical step, or wait for the 272 replacement which I hope will be a bit better, especially in terms of its pre-amp

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I’m not sure that really is the consensus. Whatever, to move from the 272 one is looking at an NDX2 and 282/Hicap.

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When you say 250/XPS, are you aware that the XPS powers the 272, not the 250?
Having spent quite a bit of time comparing the 272 with other Naim systems I would put a bare 272 at a similar level to a Supernait, and a 272/XPS at around 202 level.

The level of the 272 very much depends on what you are powering it with. A bare 272 isn’t comparable to one powered by a 555PS. Granted this applies to the other pre-amps but you don’t find many 152s or 202s powered by Supercaps. :grinning:

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When I was about to sell my 272 (with 555DR) I tried it using the preamp section only fed by ND5XS2.

In that configuration the 272 preamp was (not surprisingly) by far the best I ever heard it.

I ran a non Naim DAC directly from my server into my ex 272/555, and it was a massive improvement over the 272’s DAC/ streamer. Beg, steal or borrow one to try for yourself - you may well find that a modern DAC for few £100 into your 272 gives you a very large improvement putting off your desire to spend a shed load of money moving up the hierarchy.

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Streamers have moved on quite a bit since the 272.

To get a worthwhile upgrade, I’d agree with @anon4489532 - an NDX2 , 282 and Hicap will give more of what everything good about the 272 with modern streaming architecture.

Can you keep the XPS and use it to power an NDX2? I added a s/h XPS2 to mine and thought it worthwhile versus the NDX2’s internal PS.

Some rate the ND5 XS2 via an nDAC as about as good as the NDX2, though a naked ND5 XS2 is to my ear not that close to the NDX2, if that helps your options.

If you’d rather spend less in one hit than anything involving a 282 and don’t want to step back toward the old 82, then @JimDog 's suggestion looks a strong one - you can put (say) NDX2 or ND5 XS2 through the pre-amp section of the 272, at least for now.

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I think @JimDog, @NickofWimbledon and I are saying pretty much the same thing although my advice takes account of the cost of living crises, lol!

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yep just speaking comparatively

right might try just using preamp of 272
thanks

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I went from a SU to a 272/250DR and the 272 by itself is quite good with the 250DR. I added a 555PS a couple months after which was a considerable upgrade. The VFM of these three boxes should not be ignored if you’re not wanting to spend a lot of $$. If you’re going separates I agree with others you’ll likely want a NDX2/282/HC but that’s a pretty good $$ outlay but to be expected going with separates.

If you ever fancy an experiment, try running any basic streamer/dac into 272/555 as just a preamp - and let us know what it sounds like.

I’ve read where people have had good results with that. Not sure what streamer/DAC I would try though. The 555 benefits the digital side, right? So would the external dac still benefit from the 555?

10 points below 282 perhaps?:thinking::crazy_face:

If you look at the naim price list you will see where the 272 fits in the hierarchy.

indeed I will thanks

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I disagree, i owned a 272 and now own a supernait. The 272 is a better pre amp . A good streamer and you need an ndx2 for an Sn3 to compete with a 272 soundwise. but i think the 272 is better purely as a pre. I went with sn3 because i wanted ndx2 and i didnt want any redundancy in my system. Also went source first for a clearer upgrade path. I dont think either combo is a lot worse or better than the other. The streaming platform is better with ndx2 and the 272 is not a roon endpoint like the ndx2 is, however the SOUND of the 272 as pre is way underrated.

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I am running a NAC 202 and NDX, both bare, into a NAP 200. I previously had a 172. I did look at a 272, but found the NDX/202 superior. You can of course say that the 272 deserves an XPS or 555 to perform, but looking at the dollars, I feel the better way to go is always in favour of the separates. Especially now there is the NDX2.

I have also put better power supplies onto both my pre and streamer, and having tried a few permutations, think they always favour putting your money into the source first. So I am heading for an NDX2, PS555, 252 combo before I jump to a NAP300.

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