In simple terms for the benefit of this discussion, yes read VA as W
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Indeed, but the 250 is a regulated amp, and it’s much more capable than the power amp in the Supernait. You could even run a 250 off the Supernait if you wanted, but you might also find that putting, say, a 282 in there with the Supernait power amp gives your speakers a boost in performance. I think the important thing is to work out an endgame, which is where a good dealer can be invaluable.
Would be my first option if available but there is no Naim retail anyway near me 
The amp shares the transformer between the poweramp section and the preamp section. If the poweramp is in high demand, the preamp suffers this will cause the compression.
Now, certain brands - like your demo’ed Hegel (?) - appear to have a way around it. In the Naim philosophy, someone adds a powersupply so that the preamp section is fed by the powersupply and the transformer in the integrated amp is used to supply the poweramp section.
Such a setup will have better bass definition, and sound much less compressed.
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Thanks! These are comments that can be of help understanding 
Yes Hegel H390.
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Interesting integrated amp!!!
I don’t know about the Supernait but I have used both NAP 200 and NAP 250DR to drive Harbeth Super HL5 Plus. Both can drive the Harbeth speakers to insane levels in a large room but the character of both amps is different. I get a lot more bass quality control with the 250DR - not only deeper bass but improved layering and texture with the bass notes as opposed to a “one-note” bass of the NAP 200. Basically you get a much more complete bass with the 250DR, a sizeable chunk of bass missing with the 200. There are other improvements across the frequency spectrum as well between the two amps.
Basically it is about bass control since the Harbeth M40.1 will output a lot more bass and scale with the additional 12" bass driver. In my mind, the minimum amp you need to feed the 40.1 is the 250DR, better still 300DR or you won’t get the best out of the speakers. The Supernait will do fine but as you have figured out, sound quality will be less stellar if you listen at moderate to high levels.
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I found this very confusing in the beginning to.
In simple terms, going up the range of power amps delivers more current, which gives the speakers more drive and control.
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It’s the ability of the amp to put watts out in lower Ohms. 80 watts at 8, 130 at 4, 260 at 2 and some 580 at 1 for example.
Some parts of music replay and the demands of the speaker may need this power to sound consistent as you turn up the volume.
As an example some amps rated at 200 watts at 8 ohms may be limited to 300 or even less at 2 or 1 ohm loads.
A difficult speaker to drive could hit 1.3 ohms for 60 hertz, meaning an amp might struggle to give a meaningful grip to some parts of the music within this frequency compared with another amp or a less difficult speaker.
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I used to belong to the “sensible” club on power. But a month ago I got to hear a 2x400W amp (2x800W/4ohm) in my system and WOW!! This was an relatively ‘low-cost’ amp with the NCore NC500 Class-D modules. I really used to hate Class-D but the latest incarnations has certainly moved forward a lot. No matter I used the LS5/9 or the Neat XLS the end of Wagners Götterdämmerung had a fantastic effortless flow. The amp is also incredibly quiet. No transformer hum, no hiss.
I am going to borrow one of these now for three weeks to discover all the negatives, My normal amps are still 135:s.
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According to its specification, my bass amp, Bryson 4Bsst, can supply 500w into my nominally 4ohm speakers.(specification-wise similar to a NAP300 peak capability). It has an indicator light that shows when it is starting to clip. If I play music very spiritedly, through my speakers with 89dB/W efficiency, it is surprising how readily the red light flashes on peaks, which tells me I could do with an amp capable of more peak power - and people do say that the next model up, 14B (or twin 7B), capable of 900w into 4 ohms is ideal for my speakers. One day, perhaps - though I’d be interested in comparing with a similarly powered digital amp such as from Devialet (and indeed with NAS 300 and 500).
It’s not just about watts, but about quality and system matching. The Harbeth 40 is an illustrious speaker and something like a 252/300 would be a sensible match. A Supernait is totally out of its depth. A classic case of the mullets. Of course, a top notch source is also essential to realise the potential of the speakers.
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IB, be careful about what that ‘clipping’ light actually means.
For analogue amps it can simply be that a fast transient has caused the output transistors to go full swing until the feedback loop and forward gain of the amp catches up to bring the output back down again. This condition can also result in brief lockup of the driver transistors meaning that the effective power output capability with real music and it’s unpredictable transients if far less than the RMS power with a 1kHz sinewave.
For Class D it could simply mean that for a transient, one of the power transistors stayed in the on state for more than a given number of cycles before the output integration caught up.
I admit I am only going by Bryston’s statement as to the indicator light, though once when I checked SPL in the room it it did approximately tally based on the declared speaker sensitivity (using an uncalibrated iPhone meter, app picked as one giving readings that generally tied up with expectation).
The way I see it, wattage is not that important but the size of the power supply is. The weight of a linear amplifier (no matter the brand) will tell a lot about it’s capacity to drive loudspeakers.
It’s a bit like a heavy car needs an engine with a lot of torque to move easily at low revs, not HP.
Hi.
Personally, initially I had the same feeling in my 45 m2 and 145 m3 room with the SN2 and K6…, until the system, and especially the integrated, was settling down and I went fine tuning and tweking it…
On the SN2 I can say that its 130W in 4 Ohms and its power supply delivery are better than the 420W in 4 Ohms and the power delivery of my previous Exposure 3010S2 combo, insufferable with the K6; and no point of comparison in terms of bass control. Then, it shouldn’t just be a matter of power, because the power without control…
The reviews and tests that were done at the time, and I have been able to read, on the SN, are quite coincidental in its bass deficiency, especially its lack of control of the bass frequencies. This was completely remedied with SN2, and with SN3 it appears to have been further improved. I will personally experience it shortly, because I am waiting for a SN3 new brand unit after the shocked and strange fault from my SN2 unit (I hope it will finally arrive this week, and be able to have it all in place next week); but I don’t find any lack of bass control problems with SN2 into K6, and they should certainly get even better on SN3. Actually, until well past 90 dB, almost 95 dB, just wonderful, no mullet, as some point from a distance. I have not worn it louder, because really there are already many decibels and I find it annoying; besides, you know, excess power without clipping is usually paid dearly, both in terms of burnt woofer coils and, worse, in chronic deafness, which with youth is not appreciated, but over time you usually miss the second chance…
That said, with the specifications on paper, there does not seem to be as much difference between H 40.1 and K6, as the lower sensitivity of the former is fairly compensated by their higher impedance and, consequently, less need for power supply delibery.
It seems that Hegel makes good devices, although it also seems that his after-sales service leaves much to be desired, it is quite distressing, to put it mildly. To my taste, a point too cold and analytical, and not as musical as Naim; although, beyond its musical characteristics, it was his defihic after-sales service that deterred me from the brand. Since the failure with the SN2, no problem and direct change by a new brand unit of SN3, though, yes, still waiting for the new unit… Would it have been the same with Hegel…? I don’t know, but judging from the experiences out there, probably not.
If I were in your shoes, I think I’d try to test the SN3 with those speakers; it’ll probably surprise you. Although unable to demo it, I might think of ATC SIA2-150 or, better, McIntosh, the MA6700 is not far away in price target, and it seems it’s a real marvel with your speakers.
Anyway, cheer and luck.
So is it definite that if moving from a Supernait 1 to say NAP200DR+NAC202 I would get more control of difficult to drive speakers on medium to high volume even though NAP200DR states 2x70W as my SN1 or is it more a step sideways if that is my main concern?
I think it would be a sideways move. Do you have a HiCAP with the SN1? If not, add that, or upgrade to the SN3.
Buy a Statement, then you will have plenty of watts to play with.
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My non technical understanding is…
Naim are very particular with the power supplies … regulation is always quite inefficient - so usually Naim put very beefy transformers in to ensure the pre regulated wave form is stout - then regulate that. This means the amplifier board is less constrained with what it can draw instantaneously. Simples … so a very well supplied 25w amp would actually sould really quite powerful … I forget the maths now but I think it would take around 200w to double the max volume relative to average speaker efficiency … so when they make an 80w amp with a very large transformer - its going to flippin well sound powerful …from memory the old Krell KSA 50 proved this point rather well…