Bi amping with Olive 250s

Hello. I am currently running a great NAC 72/Hicap/NAP 250 Olive set up. I am considering purchasing another Olive 250 and running a Bi Amp setup. Would I need to find another Hicap for the second NAP 250? I am assuming the NAC 72 would work with sources to 2 amps? Find it a bit confusing so clarity would be appreciated!

Your existing 250 should be connected to socket 3 on the Hicap. Just connect the second 250 to socket 2 and you’re done.

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Do you have particularly demanding speakers that the 250 is struggling to drive? An additional 250 would certainly help with that, but there may be other options that would give you a nice sound quality uplift. Maybe look for a pair of 135s or even a NAC52 if you want to keep it Olive?

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So the Hicap will be enough for both NAP 250s and the NAC 72?

Thought about 2 135s, but since I already own an olive 250 I would just match it with another.

Naim 1989 owners manual shows 2 HICAPs into a Naxo 2-4 then off to 2 250s. Not sure why it is so complicated.

That example shows a full active system. It is not the same thing as connecting a second 250 to your existing Hicap.

A full active system does not have high/low frequency separation (crossover) in the speaker cabinet.
Instead the crossover is the SNAXO. The SNAXO, like your 72, requires its own dedicated Hicap.

There is another thread on this topic down the first page.

Your NAP250 contains its own power supplies. The HC is used to power a single piece of “low level” electronics, such as a preamp or active crossover.

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Yes of course. Thank you for the clarification.

Active biamping is a whole extra level of performance, but requires very careful setup as well as extra investment. It also requires a top quality source as it will be very revealing compared to a comparable passive setup.
More info here:

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The HiCAP powers your 72 - nothing more… :thinking:

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As mentioned, in bi-amp passive mode only one hicap is needed with 2 nap 250. The result will depend on the passive crossover design of your speakers (independent cells with separate grounds); usually Naim favors the active. I listen to Linn DMS/PMS with nac 72 external passive crossovers and 3X nap 250 Olive, the crossover is very well designed for bi- or tri- passive amplification, for me it’s much better than 2 mono blocks 135; I find it just as interesting compared to tri-active even with Snaxo 362 for Linn PMS, and Supercap DR. A friend of mine uses his B&W 802 in bi-passive and it plays better than his previous 2x 135; same positive experience with his brother’s B&W 804 and 2x 250. I tried my Linn Sara’s in bi-passive with the crossovers outdoors, this time it’s better with a single 250 or 2X135; the passive filtering of the Sara’s is not well suited for passive bi-amping. Maybe with the Sara 9 crossover in bi-wiring the result in bi-passive is better?

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