I’ve been using an NDX for 1 year now. Shortly after I got it, I added a used aftermarket XPS power supply from Israel. I thought it added somthing positive to the bare NDX. Happy, happy, was I with my digital sound. However, I always kept an eye out for a good used XPSDR. Recently one became available for a price I was willing to pay. I was not able to demo it, so I was taking a chance.
I let it come up to room temp after arrival, then hooked it up and waited 2 hours before playing tunes. I honestly was cynical, not expecting much change, maybe a slightly different sound signature, nothing out of the ordinary. And, I told myself that I won’t make any comparisons till at least 24 hours of use. Well, it took about the third song for me to sit up in my chair and take notice. The things I was hearing and feeling were quite a revelation. You hear all the accolades people use and think sometimes, yeah whatever. Well here’s my accolades, wider soundstage and deeper, thumping low end, undeniable improvement.
I read generally lots good and some bad about the aftermarket PS, one that stuck in my mind was that it “kills the sound”. I said to myself no way, I’m using it, I’m happy, don’t agree. Well my first hand, recent experience is, yes it does compared to the XPSDR. The Naim XPSDR is completely, without a doubt, a transfomational improvement. My .02 cents, might help someone in the future if they are in the same predicament.
I don’t do streaming but of all the (too many!) Naim upgrades I’ve made so far, one of the most spectacular was adding an XPS2 to a CDX2. It was more than 10 years ago and I remember perfectly, it turned a very good player into a great player.
I wish you hadn’t posted that.
I’m in the same predicament, albeit with a CDX2. I have a non-Naim PSU, and I keep trying to convince myself that it’s just as good as the original. The thing is - the Naim XPS DR is so much more expensive…
I totally get where you are coming from. They are crazy expensive. I was extremely patient, looking almost daily for months. One came up at a very reasonable (to me) price. I just went for it.
I have nothing to gain by posting this and what I wrote was real time experience. There is such a clear improvement, no question.
They are sounding better as time goes by, around 6 months old now. They have really opened up on the low end, especially with the addition of the XPSDR.
When I brought a dealer trade-in XPS-DR home to demo with my NDX2 my wife noticed the difference instantly. She was so impressed she literally contributed $1000 from her personal mad money so we could buy it.
The NDX2 and XPSDR together are still only 65% the cost of my analog front end. It’s not as good but it’s closer than it ever has been, and for the first time ever I listen to digital source about as much as I listen to analog. I’m even considering moving from XPR to 555PS at some point.
For me it’s the best speaker I ever heard within a Naim context.
I clearly remember the day I walked in to a Dynaudio dealer and heard the first Focus XD600 I knew my search for speakers had ended… it was the sound I was looking for
And probably a large part of the reason it can show what XPS DR brings to the table
That’s really interesting to hear. When I first had my NDX2 I almost brought the same cuddly power supply, basically because it was so much cheaper than the XPS DR. Fortunately, I didn’t and stuck with the theory that matching components would be better. So when I did add a new XPD DR, it was indeed, a transformational upgrade.
I found the XPSdr on an original NDX gives it a fantastic analogue quality. Not like vinyl but maybe like R2R more than a digital source.
It shows just how good the original NDX can be and what a great upgrade the XPSdr is.
It’s nice that others see this. The forum is tilted strongly towards those who don’t think much of the NDX as a source these days or who think a 555ps is the only way to go on everything.
I’ve recently bought an NDX2. I asked the dealer to try the XPSDR when auditioning. Complete transformation in SQ and well worth the additional expenditure.