So recently I went a bit nuts. Must be because I’m in mid life ha ha. After years of running CD3.5/Flatcap/NAP140/NAC72/B&W 805’s I added a hi cap. Well that then started a trajectory. Within 6 months I am now running a pre loved ND5 XS (still have the CD3.5) NAC52/Supercap/NAP250/B&W803D3. Wow is all I can say. I thought the previous combination for me was good but this is next level.
I’m thinking of buying another 250 to passively bi amp. The question I have is can I bi-amp with the Supercap or do I need the hi cap? If I don’t need the hi cap I can run it with the CD3.5, which means it’s not redundant. Thoughts?
If you want to spend money to improve your system you should buy a better source. The ND5XS is a very long way behind the abilities of your amp. At that level you should be looking at an NDS.
The 803s are likely to benefit from passive bi-amping more than most speakers except maybe 802s. But I’d recommend borrowing a 250 if you can to test.
Without a test it’s hard to tell whether in this case source first is really the best option. With most other speakers, I’d firmly say “don’t bother”. But here, less sure.
Sidestepping the biamp question … I must agree that ND5XS isn’t quite up to this system … add s/h NDAC for a huge performance lift / or switch to NDS as suggested. Ideally with 555 PSU. To my shame I’ve never made the effort to pull my 2 systems apart to compare (A) ND5XS with NDAC … sounding great in system 2 … versus (B) ND5XS with the 555PSU which I’d have to borrow from system 1. Maybe someone has tried this … But I think I’d go NDAC first.
Thanks Chris. I only bought it a few weeks ago. It was a good opportunity to enter streaming having not done so before. I also have wi fi signal issues which I wanted to test also, which have been resolved. I will upgrade down the line I’m sure of that.
Just bringing it back to my original post as it seems to be going off topic a bit. Can I use Supercap to bi amp thus making my hi cap the power supply for CD player.
The success of passive bi-amplication depends on the design of the crossover with 2 terminals. A friend of mine who has B&W 802s uses nac 52/Scap/ with 2 nap 250 Olive; the result is infinitely better than the 135 he was using; a real revelation! His brother uses two 250 Blacks on 804s instead of a nap 300; he won’t go back to a nap 300 except for two 300s, but that’s a much higher investment.
I own some Linn Isobarik DMS/PMS from 1989, the DMS are superior with two 250s on passive versus two 135s, they are even better with 3x250s still on passive. I also have a SNAXO 3/6 active crossover with Scap, which is exellent; however, I listen more often in tri-passive mode.
This is what I was alluding to in my post. While the general rule that passive biamping has no benefit is often true, it shouldn’t be taken as dogma.
The B&W 80x range are notoriously tricky and while they can be driven by a single amp, are known to respond very positively to being passively biamped.
For this reason, I think pointing out the deficiences in the source is not so clear cut as it seems. In this case, my money is sort of on biamping as the significant upgrade. And I say this as someone who never biamps.
Yes, that’s true. There can also be confusion between bi-amplification and bi-wiring. Historically, Naim has always preferred mono-cabling of speakers and progression with a superior amplifier, then active filtering in bi-amplification. Times are changing, and Naim no longer makes loudspeakers and active crossovers: Focal designs loudspeakers with bi-amplifiable passive crossovers. The Sopra 2 and 3 with 1 nap 300 are OK, but with 2 naps 250 the Focals become, in my opinion, much more attractive.
But the new amps have one set of pre outs and the power amps have no passthrough. So it’s pretty hard without custom Y or W splitter cables. Which defeats the purpose of balanced connections somewhat.
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