It does. But clearly that isn’t the main cause of improvement of using an external supply to a 272.
If it were then there wouldn’t be such a large improvement between an XPS DR and a 555PS DR
Best
David
Same here - quite disappointed, having been persuaded by the dealer telling me how it would improve things, and not living somewhere where it was possible to hear first. (I sold the XP5XS, which had been ex-dem so less of a loss than it would otherwise have been, and bought a Hugo DAC, which gave a significant uplift in sound quality, but that is a different story…)
Maybe it depends what you’re playing through (my system was a Musical Fidelity P270 into IMF RSPM speakers), and also on the room, and your ears.
Well my hearing must be different to the above replies regarding the XP5XS, adding the XP5XS to my 272 made a very nice improvement I tried the XPSdr ok slight improvement over the XP5XS but not enough to warrant the cost.
555DR on the 272 is a different story.
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Just thinking about my old XP5xs maybe the unit was assembled on a Monday/Tuesday by the hands of Naims top engineer using the finest constructed Burndy lead.
All the other XP5xs ever made were a Friday afternoon job.
What specifically does the 555 do to the sound of a 272?
Plenty of posts and threads regarding the 272/555DR and I cannot add anymore but if you are ever in East Yorkshire you are welcome to have a listen.
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In my experience:
Draws you into the music more.
Allows you to hear more details and quieter instruments in a busy mix.
Allows better differentiation of instrumental timbre.
Improves spatial information.
Improves the listeners ‘musical awareness’ while listening.
Generally gets rid of many of the rough edges while at the same time improving musical involvement.
That’s why people ‘rave’ about the combination! 
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Hi Chris, we’ve amended the text to say: The NAC-N 272 combines our digital audio technology with classic analogue preamplifier engineering. Thanks for letting us know!
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While you are at it, @NaimAdmin you might like to change the front panel pictures of the 252 and 282 so that they are what they say they are rather than a 552. I’ve mentioned this several times over the years and yet they remain unchanged.
Thanks Xanthe - that’s a great description.
Do you know, or can you reason how it does this?
Where does the electricity mainly flow within the 272?
I assume it flows into the streaming section, DAC, analogue stage and preamp and improves all of those in various ways.
But do you know more than that?
Also, one would expect that supplying more energy into a DAC/pre would add more EM noise. How is this extra noise controlled so that it doesn’t conunteract all the good things that the extra power does for SQ?
It provides power from a lower impedance source (inc a bigger transformer and larger reservoir caps).
All over the place (but in a very controlled manner!).
Yes.
No; I didn’t design it!
Lower source impedance power lines actually reduce voltage noise on the DC power rails, improve regulation and reduce signal & noise coupling (the voltage remains the same but the % noise decreases) (slightly simplified explanation!).
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It’s been a while since my last post. There has become a XPS dr for sale on a second hand eBay like page.
Are all 2012 units XPS dr? And would the serial number help me identify if it is actually a XPS dr or a XPS?
When do XPS (dr)’s need recapping? And what are the estimate’s for such an operation?
Some time ago I have spoken with Latham and they said approx. after 10/13 years of using
ISo it will have a few more miles to run before a recap then.
Thank you.
Ps. As another Dutchman Latham would be the place in the Netherlands to have a recap done over here isn’t?
Yes indeed, as an official distributor- Latham, is the one for The Netherlands and Belgium.
Don’t hesitate to contact them if you have any questions about servicing (recap etc) your naim components, I’m sure they will help you.
@Rene I upgraded my 200DR to a 250DR and added an XPS-DR. Both were purchased second hand. The upgrades were very worthwhile, they took the 272 to a new level altogether.
Thank you all for the reactions/answers.
I’ll keep an eye out for a used XPS dr. It will be a matter of time i guess 
.
Note:
I see a number of contributors to this topic also owning PMC twenty(5) 23’s and a nac 272/nap 250. Must be a great combo than.
Might be getting real now. What are the prices (€/£) for a second hand XPS with dr upgrade en re-cap (done about 3 years ago)
I just bought a customer trade-in XPS DR (2016) for $3K US from a dealer.
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