I have 6x 350s with the sigao drive into 808s. There have been a couple of preloved S1 sets available recently. Has anyone compared active 350s with oassivr S1s. I am not likely to able to home demo to compare so grateful for others thoughts.
1 Like
Stick with what you have, until its clear on the new Naim direction on Statement amps under the new owner.
4 Likes
Good point, thank you
I’d expect Statement to be massively better. Just a hunch based on preferring single 500 to 6x135 active.
3 Likes
(Just as you can’t foresee future support of Statement … you also can’t foresee future support of 350’s)
Interesting. Not what I have have expected re the 500 especially vs active
Yes, better all round, louder with less strain, and another plus - stopped blowing tweeters on DBL’s 
S1 pre / 3 x 500 DR is not embarrassed by full S1 although I prefer the latter. But you will have to find a lot of money to make the switch even at say £80k for a three year old pair second hand. I’ve considered full S1 several times but it would be a financial reach for me ( regardless of the perceived rewards). If you can fund them comfortably then you’d have an amp combo that can drive just about any speaker in any room to a very high level. Nice to be even considering such options!
1 Like
I am looking at used or ex-demo & will part exchange what I am no longer using. That will keep the cost manageable. I hope.
1 Like
A good friend of mine went from active DBL’s with six 135’s, then to three 500’s and finally to full S1 and Statement power amps. I was lucky enough to hear each of them and still consider the Statement system the best pre and power amp combination I’ve ever heard in a domestic setting. My goose bumps had goose bumps!
9 Likes
The question you SHOULD be considering is….
How much better are 6S1 active vs a pair of S1 passive?
3 Likes
I think we have a better chance at finding out the meaning of life, than the answer to this one…
Active will probably heavily outperform the passive,like it use to be.
1 Like
Active, i think there’s a reason why hardly anyone does it these day’s
Back in the 80’s and 90’s i get it, but certainly these days it’s a no go.
I am sure if manufacturers believed they could sell it to us they would be all over it, but the truth is things are much better these days.
Speakers are designed better with better crossover components and design, amps have much more power, load capabilities that can drive speakers easier.
Plus the complexity of Active and all the boxes etc, hardly anyone wants it.
I say if you want Active go with Active speaker’s in the first place, its all designed for it and matched accordingly.
The 6 x 350’s will certainly not compete with the statement amps, they have a control and grip on the speakers that the 350’s will never get to even driving one spesker cone (well 2 in the case of the 808’s bass units) a better amp will always show its merit on the bass and the statement amps have plenty in this department.
You are certainly seeing a few statement amps and pre amps popping up for sale these days and a hugely deducted price to new. Still expensive and service of these units serms to be an unknown number or anything ( as i tried to find out and got no answers at all from naim) so that may or may not be a problem going forward.
But for me i would have a pair of amps but probably not the S1 as its a bit limiting for my system kit, as in source inputs and out puts.
Plus i dont think naim will ever replace it as not sure the market or the costs to do such a thing are in naims scope at the moment.
1 Like
Thank you Dunc, the 808s with the sigao drive lend themselves to be active. Running them passively with 2x nap s1s using the internal crossovers will still not be shabby & I am sure will have been done.
1 Like
I am sure running them like that will be fantastic, certainly not something you will see very often or ever. But if you have kit to try it why not.
Not sure if it will be better, worse, same or just different to running the normal way, only one way to try
1 Like
The impression I have is that active only ever had minority appeal, with only ever a small proportion of people doing it. Of course when Linn and Naim has their close relationship and then later Naim was a speaker manufacturer it was much more prominent in the Naim world. If you look elsewhere, notably ATC and PMC but also others - including Focal, active clearly has a place in today’s market. And there are an unknown number of people playing with active in their own way, using active crossovers and whatever happens to be their speaker of choice. The reasons against active of course are the same as ever: cost, proliferation of gear and complexity, but as Naim no longer actively(!) supports active then fewer mentioning in this forum is unsurprising. As for crossovers, yes they may have improved over the years, but they cannot provide direct drive of the speaker cones by the power amp, an absolutely key benefit.
The key question lying behind this thread question is whether active with lesser power amps is better or worse than passive with a better power amp, and that will always be down to the specific amps and speaker involved, and preferences for sound presentation of the listener. Active, I absolutely believe will always trump passive with the same power amps no matter how good the speaker crossover – but of course at a significant cost, and unless at the pinnacle of speakers and amps, it then begs the question as to whether the same money might be spent better spent on a better speaker! Only the individual can really decide and then only by hearing.
1 Like
Agree on most points.
I would certainly say spending the same amount on better speakers and amp will bring better sonic results than gojng to other way.
But all the big players in speaker manufacturing don’t seem to support this active route, must be a good reason for that as i am sure they would like to try snd fet even more money from us if they felt they could.
But for me my active days are over as i now see little point going back down that road. But i am sure others will be and that’s fine.
I have active ATCs before the 808s & like rhe concept of actives, but I alos like the concept of a full naim statement set up. I can’t have both although the the suggestion on 6x NAP s1s from earlier would be a sight to behold even if it would mean moving house to be nearer to a sub station. How many of us go on a journey & are happy where we end up but nevertheless think with hindsight there were other journeys & difference destinations. If I had 2x S1 monos would I be thinking about 6x 350s?
1 Like
Dunc
you are confused. Speaker manufacturers not supporting active is not about the quality of active. It is about their assessment of market opportunity. Very few people are going to put in the time and money for an active system. Small market. Speaker manufacturers didn’t support active much even back in the time when you say there was a better reason for it. Last speaker manufacturers aren’t the ones who benefit much from active…amp manufacturers benefit more.
Active has great benefits. Much to the credit of speaker companies several of them how found an easier more cost effective way of doing it … put the amps in the speakers.
1 Like