Nap 250-2 or Nap 250 dr

[patla]

Ok let me state some thoughts which led me to ask for difference between 250-2 and 250dr.
a. Current system is good and I enjoy the sound especially the signature MA sound which has clarity and clean music. Sometimes I do feel there is shortcoming in bass i.e. not enough punch in low volumes (25-30) at which I listen to always. (Part of living in apartment lifestyle)
b. That led me to try bi-wire cable as MA manual suggests use bi-wire to improve bass. Audio quest rocket 11 did not change the situation much.
c. Then I read about 250dr bi-amp on this forum with nova. And I found second hand 250-2 was on offer for 1500 USD which is in my budget. 250 dr is twice the amount.

Now this brings me back to above suggestions , should I be looking to replace the speaker or try nap 250 bi amp?

[PerF]

$1500 sound reasonable maybe worth a punt.

If decades old it may sound rather thick, blown and would need a service before enjoyable.
Thats maybe $800 more.

If so ? a fresh 250DR is a much better solution, then you need to budget preamp/psu/source which likely can’t be covered selling your Nova.

[sound-hound]

Patla unless any 250.2 has been recently serviced, it will be at least twice the age of Nova, not an ideal combo, if the aim is low volume listening. Only add an amp to Nova, if the room is large; even then not ideal.
Otherwise imho, if speakers don’t give the required sound/bass at low levels, then headphones would be a better option. Don’t know prices in your location, but a s/h Atom HE with headphones, might be available for a little more than 250. Headphones lots of choice - try search for what forum members have experienced. Keeping it simple will be win win.

edit - one option not so far mentioned, is to add a sub. No experience here in 2 channel use (sub in av system), but there are several threads on forum and the setup has its fans. Carefully set up, it may be vastly cheaper than other approaches and affords a better level of control, if you source a quality unit.

[patla]

Thanks for your thoughts appreciate it, headphone not an option as it is listened to by family in the living room.

I will think about sub, also you are right 250-2 is 14 years old and will need servicing.

[patla]

My past experience with sub is that it is very difficult to integrate , place etc. which defeats the purpose of nova.

I remember @Fred123 had 250 bi amp setup with Nova. Would be good to know his experience as of today and which speakers was the setup connected.

[sktn77a]

@IanRobertM

There Are No Bad 250’s.

Well, an early 250.2 will be almost 25 years old. If it hasn’t been serviced, it certainly won’t sound its best - you can double that $1500 price to get it bought, paid-for and re-capped.

[IanRobertM]

Re-capping - or servicing - a 250 can cost as little at £300, here in the UK.

Naim Approved.

An un-serviced 250 or any type, will likely sound poor. More so that an unregulated NAP, such as a 160 or 200.