Naim Watts are no doubt unique amongst watts. Accounts for their need to be serviced every 10 years, others can go 30 years + without.
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A speaker that is efficient, say 90db +, but still drops down to low ohms at a given frequency - means you are very likely to hear more the amps grip at this frequency than a less efficient speaker.
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If you believe that RMS power output is what controls quality, you can get this for £160.
I moved away from Naim power amps donkey years ago. I found that Krell delivered a far more satisfying experience. I still use Naim pre amps and cd source. But the Krell power amps certainly drive speakers more satisfyingly.
The OP might well try other power amps and form his own conclusion.
Don, purely out of curiosity 
, what, to you, constitutes a “far more satisfying experience” in this context, and which Krell(s) vs which Naim(s)?
Realism.
It generates a better facimile of a live perormance eg with a symphony orchestra and even a rock concert where the “live” performance includes electronically amplified voices and instruments.
And on music that I haven’t heard live, (which obviously is quite a lot) the Krell delivers what to me sounds like a a more realistic frequency response. Naim appears to substantially loose the power and drive of the bass frequencies by comparison.
Otherwise, things like pace, rythm and timing, slew rate, tonal balance and a host of other descriptors, appear to be preserved whether the power amp is Krell or Naim. Probably due to the performance of the Naim pre-amp.
As with other contributors to the Forum, my “Use of English” is somewhat limited when describing hifi characteristics. And different people appear to ascribe different meanings to the same words.
Anyway, I hope that my descriptions above are helpful.
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Ah, the Naim amp was a 500 (non-DR) and the Krell a FBP 600
All based on equipment c.10 years ago.
According to Dan D’agostino he reckoned the Krell KSA50 50w Class A was the best sounding amp of the lot … I heard this many years ago and it did sound amazing - it appeared to have a vice like grip over the speaker…but was very musical in the process. It was also hideously hot and monstrously heavy.
Krell power amps may not be so reliable compared to Naim. A friend used to own the FPB300 power amp and experienced a leakage. He got it repaired at a huge cost and sold it off. Having said that, the exemplary bass power of the Krell cannot be denied though.
The original Mark Levinson ML-2mono power amp was rated at 25 watts Class A, and in Australia sold for around $4000 each in the early (1973) 70’s here. My first job in hifi was in 1976, and we had four of these monsters (you could bridge them). on the sales floor. I had already realized watts weren’t everything having ditched my 120w Kenwood amp for a Spendor D40, but my very experienced boss sat me down and showed me some hifi truth. Do some Googling about these ground breaking amplifiers.
We also stocked Accuphase, Audio Research, Naim, Luxman and Stax amongst others. The 25 watt ML-2 was amazing. It was rock solid, drove anything including Quad and Stax ESLs, Magnapans, Gale 401’s and Isobariks. Nothing else got close to the feeling of weight and majesty these things conveyed.
I rapidly went up the ladder of Hifi, and by mid 1977 was the proud owner of tri-amped Isobariks, using 3 x NAP 250s. I was the proverbial kid in the toy shop, and spent over three times as much as I earned annually. If I had of had the money, (or a larger line of credit), a six pack of Levinsons would have been nice!
In subsequent years I heard the Krell KSA 50, the 8 watt Air Tight Valve, the Luxman Class A integrated, the list goes on. All of them impressive. All low wattage, huge weight, astronomical prices and really great power supplies.
An earlier poster mentioned the Krell KSA 50. This power amp had amazing weight, (of both the sonic and massy kind), and showed up a NAP 250 in some ways, one of which was sheer volume. When your Spinal Tap was urging you to number 11, the Krell was heaven. And it was more than just sheer power, it had a great sound. I could happily live with one right now, driving my 'umble S400s. It would probably do a overall better job than my NAP 200.
I have stayed pretty much Naim all my life, I know my bias. Musical involvement is what I crave. There are other products in this world which do a lot of things differently, and/or depending on your kink, better. Everyone has a product that will suit them. But if you focus on the watts only, you’ll never get it right.
I learned this lesson over 40 years ago, and have had it reconfirmed so many times it’s about my only hifi truth.
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I have Dynaudio Contour s3.4’s which are pretty hungry 4ohm speakers.
I’ve driven them with Nap 180, 200, 250 & 300 and also with UQ2 and Uniti Mk1 all of which sounded great at low to medium volumes but when I cranked up the volume things began to come apart I blamed both the speakers and the room thinking that they where not suited.
Then I got a more powerful amp capable of short bursts of up to 300 watts and a continous 150 watts per side and though the Nad c372 doesn’t have that Naim thing and lacks PRAT compared to the Naps it gets a hold of the speakers at any volume in a way that they do not.
If I could have the power of the Nad with the Naim sound I’d be a happy man but I’d be looking at buying at least a Nap 500 which isn’t happening.
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Given the right speaker, a Nait 1 or 2 can sound more musically together than many powerful boxes i’ve heard, including several from Naim.
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Naim seems to be nearly unique when it comes to the preferred ecosystem for power supplies. No conditioners, not even the ones working well with everything else and only a few mains cables. The capacitors are either ridden harder or of a bigger importance than the ones in other electronics.
On the other hand recapping my Classik Movie would have prevented it from going up into a cloud of smoke, caused by a leaking capacitor.
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In the late 80s my local Naim dealer demoed Naim 250 vs Krell KSA 50 in an all Naim system
If I recall we both agreed the 250 won and I seem to remember both did bass equally well. The Krell was twice the size of the 250!
David
In the 80s, I was looking for a powerful amp for my Kef Reference speakers. I demoed the Nap250 among others but in the end, the only amplifier I found that woke up those speakers was a much beefier 25w Classé Audio DR3b. Watts doesn’t mean much. John Farlowe of Exposure used to say ‘an amplifier is only as good as it’s power supply’. I believe that JV had the same view…
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My Krell KSA-80B–80 watts pure class A into 8 ohms. Its driving a Pair of Apogee Scintillas Ribbons One Ohn–do the math: 640 watts into 1 ohm. It also heats my room in the winter, but the sound is Magnificent. Its one of the few Amplifiers that will drive these without issues.
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Actually you’d need to check the spec sheet. Math won’t help here. Output watts do not necessarily double as impedance halves. They might or they might not. They might double for a drop to 4 but only marginally increase on the drop to 2. It’s really amp specific and actually needs to be graphed out to know what a specific amp will do.
Its called a NAP500
Yup I have experienced that…it is a brilliant little amp…
I know and as I stated in my post that is a lottery win. Nad c372 £162 (used) or Nap 500 (used) £12,000??
I can appreciate if money is no object and you want the very best but I’m not convinced there is over £11,500 worth of difference.
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