Hi, I currently have a 5.2.4 system based upon B&W 700 series and Focal speakers (Domes for the Atmos). At the moment I have two NAP 100s powering the Atmos and the other speakers powered by the receiver (Lexicon - think Arcam AVR550). I have a NAP250DR ordered for the front speakers and was planning to shift the NAP100’s to power the centre channel and rears (long term another 250DR will come but its a while off).
Was interested to hear if anyone else has used a Naim stereo power amp to ‘bi-amp’ a centre channel. Ideally I would be using a NAP v145 DR (if Naim made one) but its not an option.
I appreciate I need to split the centre RCA (I use Chord Shawlines for RCA mostly) out from the Lexicon, using a splitter such as a Y-cable or a RCA splitter, such as the one shown below. Interested in anyone’s thoughts or inputs… Thanks
I did that (quite a while ago now) with an AV setup. My centre speaker could be bi wired, so I removed the links and used both channels of a Naim power amp to drive it. I made up a custom RCA to DIN cable for my setup, but your RCA splitter and RCA cables will work fine to connect the Lexicon to the L&R inputs on the 100.
I take it that you are talking about passive bi-amping, not activive driving. The reality is that it is of dubious benefit, but if you effectively have a spare amp it is simple and nothing is lost in trying and seeing if you hear a difference, and which you prefer.
Depends on how hard the speaker is to drive. Passive biamping could yield large benefits if the speaker really needs more control than a single NAP100. And in this case, since it will be using both channels, it might be far more cost effective than a better and more powerful amp.
I agree the word might - I certainly wouldn’t advocate buying an amp to try, but absolutely worth trying when there is a spare amp available already (or amp channel in the case of a single centre speaker), as with the OP.
