Sadly, many of us have had to learn about speaker & amp matching the hard way e.g. only when you hear a powerful amp with more modest speakers, do you understand what the true hierarchy should be. The car engine analogy plays here in that for comfort it’s best to have a high-powered engine which operates within its comfort (revs) zone rather than one which is having to rev hard much of the time. As a rough financial proxy, I’d say the amps should cost 2x the speakers (ideally more).
Reading the HiFi+ review, it seems the 250DR was hooked up passive (not bi-amped), which would have been OK with very undemanding music, even at reasonable volume, but this is not a true test. The ATC P1 the reviewer said was better is 150wpc in to 8 ohms and even that is modest for the B&Ws – as you say, treat reviews with caution!!
FYI, I ran a pair of Dynaudio speakers with a 72/140 and then 52/250. The improvement was material but, even then, the 250 would shut down as the Dyn’s must have a nasty impedance dip when played with gusto (they are cited as ‘stable 4-ohms’), such that the 250 got toasty hot!
Every amp has it’s limits. While it is true that Naim amps have a transient current delivery that is unmatched in each amps’ power class, people often totally misunderstand that and talk aboout things like “Naim Watts”. You even hear things like “75 Naim watts is like 150 from somewhere else.” Except, no, it isn’t. 75 Naim watts is 75 watts. They have far more grip and control than a similarly powered non Naim amp but they still must be paired with speakers in their weight class.
Luckily, Naim power supplies do have 3 pre outputs on them. Since going for significantly more power with Naim is hugely expensive, doubling/trippling up on the same amp, while certainly still expensive, is far more doable.
But you’ll always have to match speakers and amp, and room. The latter has a huge impact on driving ability not just sound quality. The volume of space being filled to what sound pressure at what listening position can make one scenario drive the desired volume with the dial at 9 O’clock while another needs 11 O’clock in a different room to achieve the same thing. Yet hardly anyone remembers the room as a factor in speaker driving requirements.
As wonderful the NAPs are, a partner to difficult loads they are not. Exception being the Statement, evidently.
A great example of how much juice is needed to really saturate a speaker and make it sound as intended is having a look at Dynaudio passive / active speakers offering.
Evoke 50 are 4ohms / 87dB speakers. A 250DR will move them, sure. A 300DR even more so.
But then check out the Focus 50 which is the active version of the Evoke (same drivers). They use 670W worth of amplifiers to drive them. Do you still want to get the NAP 500 and try driving them?
Naim amps are load tolerant, however the main issue here is that the NAP250 is a very rare beast in being a fully regulated power amp (same for the NAP300 and 500). This effectively means that the power amp’s performance is held tightly and not allowed to “slide” like other amps when the going starts to get tough. To that end, when things do get tough it has to work very hard, which creates heat, and so it’s far more likely that you’ll be hitting its thermal limits (and triggering thermal protection) than anything else. That’s one big advantage offered by splitting things into two chassis, as in the NAP300, and thus being able to fit in extra heat sinking and also fan cooling.
As is part of the fun in this hobby, one question elicits multiple viewpoints.
Tried the 250DR on the HF. Both me and my dealer agree, works better on the LF.
From the B&W 803 handbook…“bi-wiring can improve the resolution of low frequency detail”. Ergo, biamping should take this a step further (and in my own hands-on experience does) but as HL notes, specs and manufacturer/reviewer statements aren’t everything.
Tried NACA5. Prefer Phantom as I find it more relaxed and to my liking and it is built to Naim specs by ex-Naim staff with favourable comments on this forum which I concur with.
Agree…the room has a significant impact. My own (not too large) room is treated with GIK Acoustics panels and bass traps on all four walls and ceiling They control bass nicely and strike a good balance between not too lively/not too dull, plus the system images well.
I’d add the benefits of an electric recliner chair. Upright and I’m between the tweeter and mid, reclined I’m between the mid and top woofer. There’s certainly a difference. Footers under the front spikes could of course produce a similar result to the latter case by tilting the baffle upwards but is not something I’ve experimented with…yet.
When I got the Magnepan LSR+ which are (small but still) fullrange 4ohm ribbon speakers with low sensitivity the word was I needed bigger amps. I was supplied with one big Bryston and one big Parasound on loan. None of them light class D playthings but real class AB. I then stubbornly tried my 135s which sounded faster and with better grip than the big americans. When we played Madonnas Material Girl lossless from Apple Music I had to check the speed settings on iTunes - sounding very fast. Not even the last act of Wagners Göttterdämmerung at volume made them clip, slip or start the fans.
