@HappyListener and @Innocent_Bystander Just seeing some of your previous replies to other posts you might know the answer to this… Is it worth and experiment with bi-amping? I have a 250 DR in the cupboard waiting to go on the auction site… Or is this idea missing the point?
Anything to be gained and if so how do I do it - I have two hicaps in my set up…
sorry at first misread - YES it does reenforce home demo but it wasn’t possible in the middle of the countryside. It’s all good - I get to play a little more and I bet I will solve this with all the views.
It hasn’t been discussed here - I saw it on a thread from a while back where some dude was asking about bi-amping a nautilus speaker. I am guessing from your response that you don’t have a view.
I have asked about bi-amping myself and the consensus at the time was that it was not preferable but as far as I know no one has actually tried it. I’ll be very curious to see what your results are as getting a second 250dr for me would be much easier/cheaper than 300/350/500.
I will let you know - do you know how I do it? I am guessing I pick up out of the hicap?
Oh and I learned today from an engineer from B&W that not all advice received on social is technically right. I have found this forum helpful and it points me to try certain things. The experimentation is key - I am learning that there are sooooooo many factors involved in an opinion…
Fwiw, I did run two tagmclaren power amps in bi amp mode for a while. At first it was a ‘wow’, but slowly I realised the music just wasn’t hanging together as tightly as it should.
Of course not all advice is technically right, though there is very little here on this Forum that is seriously wrong, and if someone does post factual errors then someone else usually corrects them. Manufacturers will always have their opinions too - some speaker manufacturers will say that all amplifiers sound the same, straight wire with gain sort of stuff - but they are not always appropriate to all situations. An open mind coupled with a healthy dose of scepticism seems to be a pretty good approach. Of course, what I’ve said on this thread is entirely correct…
I used a few amplifiers with the 802 D3s, but the most successful were also the most expensive – it is usually thus. The Naim NAP 300 DR worked like a dream. It pulled out previously hidden musical detail on just about everything that was played, from the most refined acoustic recordings to the high-power synth sounds of Deadmau5, whose track “Seeya” (from while(1<2) [Astralwerks 580127-8]) has one of the juiciest kick drums around.
And another one from the Ear Net (review of 300dr):
With Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 speakers I was quite struck by how much low level information the Naim presented on an album that is usually very strong on dynamic impact but seemed to lack in subtlety. This is a very revealing speaker indeed and lets you hear precisely what an amplifier is capable of, both in terms of resolution and power delivery. It’s not the easiest load but the NAP 300 doesn’t seem to have any difficulty in keeping it under control up to pretty high levels. More obviously grippy amps will give you more bass slam but usually at the expense of subtlety at that end of the spectrum. The bass from the Naim is beautifully defined in terms of shape, it could be more solid but whether amps that have that sort of power could match its timing is debatable.
The 802 D3 are bigger and older/harder to drive than 803 D4s.
EXACTLY my point - this was my demo experience and I see all these things in what I have. I LOVE the set up just in my space the bass is not as present as in the dem. Room size has been pointed out and proper set up / positioning. Source has been mentioned and I am going to upgrade to a power supply on the NDX2 - I am not going to regret it I am sure. I like the Naim + B&W set up and am going to tweak it to find a solution… I will come back.
You suggest bass traps, yet Lamby is saying that bass presence is lacking. Wouldn’t bass traps reduce bass, and be more appropriate in an excessive bass situation? The suggestion seems counterintuitive to me. I’m probably missing something, as the only room treatment I’ve ever used is furniture and carpets.
I’m not an expert but putting a few bass traps behind my speakers improved the bass response a lot. This was suggested to be by the guys at gik acoustics.