Nap 300

Hi-Fi Corner
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Is the 300 an all around upgrade to the 250 or just in terms of less effort driving my speakers ?

Thanks Alan

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In general I would say that itā€™s a great upgrade in all round performance, and the ability of the 300 to ā€˜controlā€™ the speaker better that the 250 is very evident, even if the speakers are quite easy to drive, but like any upgrade, you should never assume that it will be the best option in all circumstances.
First, are you buying a used 300, and will it be working optimally or does it need a service? Is it a DR model or not?
Second, what source and preamp will you use with it. Its ā€˜natural partnerā€™ in the Naim range is the 252, and personally I would not use it with a lesser preamp like the 282 or 202, although there are others who do.
Finally, it needs to match your room acoustics. Some have found that a 300 can be a bit too much and have reverted to a 250, likely because the greater low frequency energy can be harder to tame in some rooms.

Chances are you will love it in the right system, but forum lore (especially Naim forum lore in this case, where people egg each other on to spend lots of cash!) is no substitute for a proper demo.

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Echo what Chris said.
I was unprepared for the improvement (covid purchase, so couldnā€™t hear beforehand) and was lucky that my room etc is OK with it.
Itā€™s not hyperbole when I say that my journey ā€œup the Naim ladderā€, certainly the NAP rungs, just stopped itching when I paired the 300DR to the 252.

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You will find lots and lots of posts if you search for ā€œ250 300ā€. Many of those will echo what ChrisSU wrote above.

Many will extoll not just the greater control, etc., but also the much improved performance at lower volume, with which I agree very much.

Maybe you will find my posts from the start of my journey which, for a number of odd reasons, started with the 300. I needed a new power amp quickly for my previous, more modest system. After trying a bunch of less expensive amps that didnā€™t satisfy me, I listened to the 250 which beat them all, but I was reluctant to spend this much money. On a hunch and against my original intents I forced to dealer to switch in the 300, and suddenly I didnā€™t think too much about the money anymore. 252/SC, NDX2/555, P10, and SuperLine followed in quick succession. Be warned :relaxed:

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I do wonder if the fat 250 is better for SL2 than the 300. It would be good to hear what some of our more experienced naim users think about that.

Back in 2004 a recommended system was (CDS3 + 252 + 300 + SL2) but then again so was (CDX2 + 282 + 250 + SL2)

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The 300 is massively better on the SL2s. Itā€™s an upgrade Iā€™ve done twice. Absolutely transformational.

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I agree with HH. The move to a 300 from a 250 was a defining change in my appreciation of what home music reproduction could achieve.

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Crazy talk

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Based on brief experience with 300 DR vs recently serviced olive NAP 250- the sheer control and clarity at low level listening was significant and would really help later at night if not using headphones.

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I too found that my SL2s (which sounded pretty damned good with my 250DR) were transformed when I got a 300. The DR upgrade for the 300 (now 2 weeks into its burn in) has only stepped that up further.

My system is in our lounge, so a majority of my listening is at low volumes, for which the 300 has been a significant step up over the 250DR.

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Thanks everyone for the comments. The low volume improvement sounds most interesting so Iā€™ll try an audition.

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