I was wondering about this too @anon4489532, did you use your Superlumina speaker cable in the test with the Nova? I’ve been meaning to try this on mine sometime. Given the bass characteristics of the Superlumina, I wonder how well it would perform off a Nova.
Anyway, I agree that the NDX2/SN3 makes sense over a Nova/250 for similar cost.
Seriously though…its simple really, try it and see, if it makes a difference equal to the cost of the product, buy it, if not don’t. Naim do recommend a power amp as an upgrade option to the Nova, it would be out of character for that to be a bum steer. I auditioned both options in house for about two months, don’t tell me i’m only hearing an increase in loudness (I know the difference), I found a sizeable upgrade in SQ, so I guess ill be keeping these ears for the time being…
Absolutely agree I don’t want to study the tech I just want to listen to good music delivered well. I have loved my music played on HiFi since 1970 and have been aware of Naim’s reputation for top class sound since the beginning of time. But I stayed away from the brand for years because I could not understand the nomenclature (To be honest I didn’t have the time or inclination).
I down sized my home and no longer have room lots of boxes so listened to Naim’s Uniti (the original) and Linn’s similar one unit player. The Naim Uniti was a revelation to me that such a good sound can be produced by a single box unit. I bought the Uniti, Uniti Qute and Uniti Serve along with new speakers. Very satisfied but setting up was a nightmare, no help from the retailer who relieved me of £8000 + . The thing is I just want to listen to music not mess about with installation. I still have my Uniti system and love the sound when it works unfortunately it doesn’t work all the time.
Regarding amps, you may get a slightly ‘different’ sound if you go with a vintage make of Naim amp - I would imagine the Nova (haven’t heard one) is voiced similar to the modern Classic range. But yes, more control is what one would hear most going up in power of the same range. Having just gone from a 110 to a 160 the sound is quite similar but the 160 is just that much bigger sounding with better control of the bass, though the 110 has a bit more snap, crackle and pop with material that doesn’t need the extra grunt like jazz combos but for rock or classical the 160 is most definitely better (the 110 is doing duty with a UQ1 in the office now).
Perhaps try some cable or power conditioning with the Nova first - that can also go a long way to taming bass etc and no extra black box needed.
That’s a preamp PSU hierarchy, so the 300 PS has no place in it at all.
The 300 PS is for the 300 power amp only, so hardly at the bittom of any hierarchy.
The NAP300 consists of amp and power supply as a unit - the power supply cannot be used anywhere else. The power supply is only split out and listed as a separate unit for certain countries where there are import implications - for example in NZ there’s a higher import tax on amplifiers than there is on power supplies.
IIRC, it was a protectionist move to assist their local amp makers.
Yes, you can stack the head unit on top of the PSU, but it’s best to take proper advantage of the separate boxes and give each of them a shelf of their own or side by side.
Oh sorry. A bit of confusion caused by my non correct terminology. I have the 300DR. I just assumed that its external power supply could be bettered by using SuperCap, etc but as it was explained above I had got it wrong.
You’re right, I was thinking about the 250DR however I got a stunning deal on the 300DR a couple of days ago and I couldnt resist. All down the slippery slope from now on I guess.