Solid State Preamp Reviews

Setup
We set up the complete system as a connected, synchronized unit. Thus the NSC 222 was powered by the NPX 300 supply upgrade, the NAP 250 was installed and the Naim rack was leveled and locked. The supplied Powerline Lite mains cables were connected, with 6m NAC A5 speaker cables and the included Naim interconnects. These components had all been used previously in demo systems; still, a couple of weeks of use as a background music source served to clear the cobwebs. My highly specified Linn LP12 was engaged with the installation of a high-output Hana MH moving coil cartridge.

To expedite the appraisal of the NSC 222 (self-powered and in combination with a single NPX 300, in a full-system audition combined with the previously reviewed NAP 250), we employed a five-level Naim FRAIM rack. I consider the FRAIM rack to be a no brainer for a three- or four-unit Naim setup such as this. And if you had the opportunity to assess the build quality and hear the contribution to the sound from the custom-engineered cable arrays made by Naim for these designs, you would be likely to choose those, too. The choice of cables, supports, and other setup options will contribute to the ultimate sound quality achieved.

The supplied electronics were laid out on the rack in a sequence that helped to maximize sound quality. At the top was the NSC 222 streamer-preamp, with a gap below. Then came the NAP 250 stereo power amplifier, another gap, and finally the NPX 300 power supply. The whole system was supported on the fully spiked and leveled platform/base Naim FRAIM, where all components are supported by plate-glass shelves on three stainless steel ball bearings, so it cannot rock or go out of alignment. In my experience, this sophisticated structure significantly contributes to sound quality; it follows that your results will partly depend on the use of a proper system support, though I have frequently operated the NAP 250 power amplifier on conventional supports with good results.

After much careful listening, by me and also my listening panel—Chris Bryant, Tony Faulkner, and Jon Honeyball—we removed the NPX 300 power supply, listened some more, reattached it, then listened again while recording our assessments.

Sound quality
We found that the Hana MH moving coil cartridge drove the NSC 222 phono input very well, with an even, neutral sound quality suited to a wide range of recordings. Surface noise was low, and there was no audible input hiss or hum. Stereo images were deep and well-focused; clarity was to a high standard.

For interest's sake, we also tried my Lyra Delos moving coil, specified at 6.3 ohms internal resistance and a low 0.6mV output (at 5cm/s, zero to peak). There wasn't a trace of powerline hum with the 222 ground switch set to float. At a high loudness setting, only a trace of "shhsh" input noise could be heard, and only if I closely approached the loudspeakers, stylus lifted; nothing could be heard from the listening seat.

With the higher-output Hana cartridge, phono input noise was very low, at pristine, direct-cut-disc levels. Vinyl sound was judged by the listening panel to be very neutral yet true to the character of each of these two fine cartridges, providing deep and wide stereo imaging and a stable focus. Replay was characteristically upbeat and rocked well—for example, dealing with complex rhythms such as those found on "Spirits in the Material World," from Ghost in the Machine by the Police (LP, A&M Records AMLK 63730). This track divides the soporific from the rhythmically awake, and the Naim combo kept a fine grip on the proceedings. "Tom's Diner," by Suzanne Vega—the familiar a cappella version (footnote 1)—was a delight, with key musical values firmly in place, including the characteristic bouncy phrasing; I found it impossible to turn off. I had forgotten how good this record is. The Delos combination held sway, with better incisiveness. Still with the Delos, "Summer," from that old Decca stalwart Le Quattro Stagioni with Alan Loveday and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Argo ZRG 654), conducted by Neville Marriner, was a dreamy delight, with classically voiced string timbres and fine stereo delivered with satisfying ambience and image depth. An original copy of Dave Brubeck's Take Five (CBS 31769) came up fresh and upbeat, with foot-tapping rhythm.

Files streamed to the 222 over my network via Roon impressed. Pat Metheny's "Cathedral in a Suitcase" from Secret Story (CD rip, Geffen GED 24468) sounded bold and fresh, with strong dynamic contrasts and those heart-stopping moments of deep and structured bass—just what you'd wish for from a well-configured Naim system. While it will play loud, with fine bass power and extension, the ultimate reward of a system like this has more to do with the command of a coherent rhythmic line and a natural expressiveness that frequently takes the listener closer to live performances. The S/PDIF input of this track, delivered from a CD transport, proved only fractionally better than the streamed version, a difference easily forgotten in a few moments. That these two sources were so close confirms the top-quality performance of the NSC 222's hard-wired streaming input.

Guthrie Govan's Erotic Cakes (16/44.1 FLAC, JTC Records, Qobuz) had a tortuous recorded history. In an effort to capture the impressive live sound, guitars and drums were recorded several times unsuccessfully; finally, recording engineer Paul Cornford chose to rerecord the guitars in a wood-paneled room using characterful, tube-powered stage loudspeakers. Perhaps against the odds, this album sounded surprisingly well-constructed through the Naim combo. Bass guitar lines were gripping, and the tuneful drums sounded tight and punchy, nicely matching the virtuoso performances. Digital reverb could not have achieved the live-room quality Cornford finally captured.

Digital format comparisons
Supplied by a colleague on a memory stick and loaded to the Roon storage were some format variations for familiar works including Bob Dylan's "Man in the Long Black Coat" from the 1989 album Oh Mercy. This densely layered if highly produced track can lose its way musically on inferior systems. Here, the NSC 222 showed high resolving power, revealing quite subtle differences between 16/44.1, 24/96, and 24/176.4 WAV files—and finally DSD64. The DSD was probably my favorite, revealing a marked degree of crisp precision and musical communication. Here, the soundstage fairly glowed with atmosphere and ambience. The 16/44.1 version really did sound worse, though not by a big margin.

From another planet entirely: Lady Gaga with Bradley Cooper, on "Out of Time," from the soundtrack to the 2018 A Star Is Born remake, was reproduced with great foot-tapping rhythmic involvement and captivating atmosphere. In the event this track sounded most musical at 24/48—better than the higher-resolution options, though I did not have access to the full provenance of these several files.

Much of my NSC 222 listening was plain CD rips streamed with Roon. I turned to a classic, "My Compensation" from Laurie Anderson's Life on a String (Nonesuch 79539-2). I enjoyed the crisply focused spatiality and crystal-clear sound combined with strong timing and that special sense of encompassing envelopment that this track can impart. Powerful, expressive, and spatially resolved bass was also a key component—well in evidence here.

"The Creek," from the album Visible World by Jan Garbarek (CD rip, ECM 1585), was auditioned first via the 222 streamer-pre and then from the mighty, reference-grade Naim ND 555/555 PS DR combo, here delivered to the analog input of the NSC 222 preamp. The latter sound was not found wanting, as it conveyed much of the reference quality of this outboard three-box streamer. But was it worth doing? I think not; the sound quality of the hard-wired inboard DAC is already at a high-enough level, and any improvement via the more expensive source component is partly offset by the need to connect with an external cable. The hard-wired, inboard DAC implementation offered a clear, vivacious, open sound, with infectious drive, and it got better over several weeks of use.

"The Survivor," also from Visible World, demonstrated dramatic, seemingly uncompressed transients, supported by that characteristic deep, powerful bass line.

Another favorite during these auditions was Tony Faulkner's recording of Michael Tippett's tone poem The Rose Lake, with Colin Davis—specifically the 10th movement, one of several movements denoted "Fast." Here, we enjoyed a crystal-clear and spacious soundstage with natural timbres and very fine focus. Tony, who was in attendance, was quite impressed with this digital transcription from his original analog recording, as reproduced via this Naim system. Roon assigns a dynamics rating of 19 points to this album, which is very high. And it's obvious when you hear it.

Headphone output
I used the classic moving coil, cone diaphragm, reference-grade Denon AH-D7200 and, from HiFiMan, the HE400S, to assess the NSC 222's headphone output. The Denon could be played very loud indeed, needing only a few tens of milliwatts, but there was also more than enough power for the planar-magnetic HiFiMan: I moved the volume control up a gear, and realistic sound levels were obtained from a silent background. This NSC 222's headphone port was nicely expressive—open, but neutral, allowing the particular qualities of these two fine transducer technologies to be clearly expressed. Transparency, dynamics, focus, and detail were seriously good, confirming the claim that this was a custom-designed miniature power amplifier and not a chip-based afterthought.

With the NPX 300 power supply
After listening for a long time as a system with the NPX 300 power supply, we removed it, listened, then put it back. And then we assessed the difference.

Undeniably, this power upgrade works. We liked what we'd heard without the upgrade, but with it was obviously better, in almost all aspects of sound quality, including the headphone output. You need to hear it for yourself to fully comprehend the effect, but my team was obviously keen on the gains, surprised at the sound quality upshift, and demanding replay of many of the tracks previously heard to reinforce their appreciation of this augmented configuration. Further backtracking, to operating the 222 on the internal supply, confirmed this was no mistake nor overreaction.

If I had to put a figure on it, the uplift was some 20% of the extant system quality. The streaming sound quality of the NSC 222 had moved unmistakably closer to that of my ND 555 dual-supply reference DAC, while all the facilities benefited, both the LP disc input/equalizer and the headphone output.

We also noted an underlying, small improvement over the 2 ½ months or so allocated for this evaluation. Past experience with Naim gear suggests that this behavior is likely to continue over several months, if more gradually.

A conspicuous success, this auxiliary power supply offers comprehensive sound quality improvement for the existing installation and comfortably earns its keep. Firmly recommended.

Conclusions
I was happy to leave this stack installed until the job was completed and felt no urgency to swap it out. The promised improvement from the optional NPX 300 power supply was convincingly delivered. We tried cable upgrades, and the inherent quality was high enough to clearly hear the advantage of Naim's Super Lumina, though this cable series comes at a high price.

All operational modes, analog disc, digital audio streaming and decoding, plus headphone and loudspeaker drive were consistent, distinguished by an innate sense of energy, imbued with transparency and microdetail. There was also a significantly open, wide-band character, somewhat different from the mildly "contained" sense of some previous Naim iterations. And it is that satisfying, involving rhythmic quality that continues to entertain. I did not fully anticipate this system's ability to throw such deep and wide stereo images, now of reference class. Time and again, it offered insights which had only been heard on rather more costly combinations of audio components. When appropriate, the ambient field sparkled with delicate spatial detail, excellently focused within satisfyingly deep imaging. This speaks of high resolution and great transparency, which I admit to valuing highly.

In conclusion, I reckon it constitutes a fine measure of true audiophile quality in a well-priced, versatile modern package, handsomely exceeding the sum of its parts.

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Footnote 1: This song has an interesting—you might say notorious—hi-fi history. The a cappella version—the song appears twice on the album Solitude Standing (A&M SUZLP 2), once a cappella, once instrumental—was used by researcher Karlheinz Brandenburg as a reference in developing his MP3 compression scheme; upon hearing it, Brandenburg realized that Vega's solo voice would ruthlessly expose compression artifacts. Incidentally, Tom's Diner, which occupies the northeast corner of Broadway and 112th, is the establishment shown on Seinfeld before each diner scene; it is said that Vega frequented the place when she was a student at Barnard College, just a few blocks north. Tom's is also just down the street from my apartment. The food is bad, but they make good milkshakes.—Jim Austin