i have the opportunity to trade in my 250 with a 300 with a difference of 2k. I have read various discussions where it is said that the 300 is an improvement over the 250. unfortunately I can’t do any demo … it would be a leap in the dark. I know the 300 should be the ideal partner for my 252 / SC but I’d like to hear some of your opinions …
more specifically on the following aspects:
Is the improvement from 250 to 300 worth 2k?
will my sbl be able to correctly detect what the 300 could do better than the 250?
ps: they are both non-DR and recent enough not to need service yet …
I’ve run SBLs active and passive with old olive NAP 250s, as well as other speakers.
Not tried a non-DR 300 but a 300DR was stunning vs my unserviced olive NAP 250 with Epos speakers.
The biggest difference was that it firmly took control of the speaker even at very low volumes, something I feel is very beneficial if you can;t or don;t want to play at high volumes. In essence I didn’t need to turn volume up as much to hear a fuller spectrum of sound frequencies.
If I was running passive SBLs I think a NAP 300DR would be a fantastic upgrade, but with an active setup that ramps up the cost considerably for me.
Actually I’ve been wondering if NAP 300DR with different speakers might be better than active with 2xNAP 250.
Appreciate the items you’re considering are non-DR so hopefully other users will chime in.
One important consideration is that if the NAP 300 can be upgraded to DR level then Naim no longer simply do that on its own but require a service at the same time as the DR upgrade - this put me off getting a recently serviced Supercap last year as I’d have only wanted a DR upgrade.
I Picked a old 300 over a 250DR.
The 300 has so much more control.
Layed back. Depth in sound.
I have heart an 252 with 250DR, that was stunning. Then I get the comparison 272-250dr / 272-300. This was huge, now i’am still thinking what would that bring to the 252-250DR combination. But my brother already sold that. So I would never know. I shouldn’t be holding back for the 300. Just buy it.
I went from olive 250 to non dr 300 with SBLs. Huge improvement with 2500 spent and well worth it in my experience. One of the best upgrades I have ever done
I am happy to read all these positive comments … I will buy happy and safe to receive something that will give me satisfaction … it does not often happen to receive opinions that all go in the same direction
Not really, all is relative though. The 300 is a superb amp, but so is the 250 (especially the current 250DR). The 300 is the better of the two though, as it should be for near double the money. However, the performance difference between a 250 and a 300 is relatively smaller against the difference between say, an NDX and an NDS, or a NAC282 and a NAC252.
I just bought a brand new 300 DR. I listened to a 250 DR and the 300 DR at the shop, as well as some other options to be sure (Moon, Cambridge, NAD). The others were out immediately as soon as the 250 was swapped in. The 250 was out 10 seconds after the 300 was swapped in. Took both 250 and 300 home, same result.
Is it worth it? Well to put it this way, originally I did not want to spend the 250’s price. When I listened to the 250 I was still not convinced I wanted to spend this kind of money right now, but I did not think much about the price of the 300.
Your milage may vary (and I have to add that I got a very good deal on the 300 too)
Edit: To echo what others already said: The 300 was incredibly good already at low volumes, the 250 not so much. This was a main point as I am saddled with neighbors (very nice and understanding, but the worst kind during Corona lockdown: a pilot and a nurse, he always home and she of course deserving of every kind of accommodation)
I had a 250DR for a year, it was good but it never did the trick of providing the sound that I was hoping for. When a 300DR came up on a good deal it was a bit of a punt, but within 5 minutes of swapping it out the 250 it was a done deal, just better in every respect. But as Richard alluded to, it should be for the relative costs.
With the 250 there would have always been a sense that there’s another level within reach; with the 300 there isn’t. A 500 will never land in my system; some things are too far out to be a sensible buying choice.
my plan as I have said many times was to move from my then 200 (which I used for 12 years) to move to 250DR asked dealer for ex demo which he had in shop, but also SH 300 - went 300 (non DR)
the control, rythem, timing and musicality of the 300 won for me - had DR fitted 8 months later - takes the 300 on to another level - my end AMP
again at the risk of repeating myself forme the best 4 boxes NAIM offer on £££ for musicality is 252/SCDR/300DR that’s my end point
Interesting statement - reminds me of when I auditioned a cdx2 against a cds2. Was moving from meridian CD player and thought that although the cdx2 was better than the meridian, I didn’t want to spend that amount of money on it. But the cds2 was something I wanted to spend money on
In my room , with my easy load speakers, I found that the 300 dr was not the best match, giving too much bass boom and heavy sound.
I swapped for a 250 dr which gave better results. The sound is quicker and more agile, and better balanced.
With demanding speakers as SBL and Proac or Dynaudio, even most speakers working well with Naim ( Kudos, BW, Pmc, Magico), the 300 dr is better.
Having owned both I find the Naim hierarchy to be consistent to the point that I often didnt need to audition (bought the 250 and 300 without auditioning). Is the 300 twice as good as the 250? possibly depending on what’s fronting. I still believe source first to be the overriding factor in hifi progression and component comparison though. I have had NSats on the end of both the 250 and 300 sounding better than speakers 5x the price following this principle.
Having just moved away from a Supernait2 to a new 250DR I have been amazed at how much my speakers have grown.
I am currently looking at adding some Gik monster bass traps behind the speakers as bass that wasn’t present before now is.
If the bigger amps bring scale at a level they have on mine than I couldn’t take anything bigger than a 250Dr without entertaining a lot more room treatment.
I envy many of you, as you must have big rooms or inefficient speakers.