NAP 350 - Who’s Tempted?

I’m surprised you can hear these forum posts :laughing:

We cannot get much past 10am on the 252/300 without blowing window panes.

What sound level is that, average and peak on transients? (The volume control setting is no indicator.) With the Telarc 24 bit recording of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 I have to play at an average decibel level no higher than mid 70s at the listening position for the amp not to go into clipping on the cannons at about 110dB peak (amp has 500W available before clipping according to spec, which is consistent with that peak level with my speakers and positioning). That average level is unnaturally low for an orchestral work like this. For realistic rock music playing I’d be at an average level of high 80s, when peaks could reach that 110dB level. I don’t often listen at such levels, nor for long, but it shows the peak transient power requirement with 500w being limiting to avoid going into clipping with 89dB/w speakers listening about 3m away from them.

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I was there too and can confirm that it was a ‘complete’ 500 system (with just one PS on the ND555 - I remember Jason commenting specifically on this). The 552/500 were then replaced with a full three box Statement system. The speaker cables had been changed to SL prior to the 500 demo, so were common between the two. My feeling was that there was the usual step up in refinement and control that seems to go with every Naim upgrade, but the 500 system was in no way disgraced next to its bigger stablemate. Thankfully.

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Glad you confirmed my cloth ears can’t be too bad…!!

Anyboady know what the internal configuration - of the NAP350 is like…all I have heard is that it has eight power transitors…and a big internal supply…and pushes out around 170w into 8 ohms…classically my understanding was that Naim tried to reduce the number of output transistors…as far as possible…

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As ever, I think there needs to be caveat added to this in that it depends why music you play and how loud (in terms of managing peaks and responsiveness around those peaks). As @Innocent_Bystander profiles, some music has massive changes in scale and power, and this is where a full Statement comes in to its own :grin:

Given the 9kw potential burst power (IIRC), I’d be scared for the speakers TBH :upside_down_face: …I’m not really sure what say a pair of Titan 808s can handle at max chat?

But, as ever with Naim kit, and perhaps on the flip side(?), the Statement is so much quieter (much to do with the Pre) and the volume ladder so much more sensitive, that one may not need to play at the same SPL to achieve the effects of power on the ears. While the reviews also point to lower bass being supplied, they also point to much better low-end control than (say) a NAP500.

Wot a mad hobby :grin:

Is/was the annotated photo of it in the NC thread part 2 of any use? The post was from 110db. I ask mostly in case you hadn’t seen that, apologies if you have

With added link: The Naim New Classic Range - Part 2 - #169 by 110dB

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Interesting: if that is more than one pair of output transistors (some could be for the power supply), it would be a departure for Naim, who in the past pointed to negative effects of paralleled output transistors, their use of a single pair being the one feature of Naim power amps hitherto that made me think I’d like some time to hear.

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I’m glad to have my memory of the event confirmed Clive!

I also remember that we were each asked to say what loudspeakers we were using. You were specially picked out as the only one of us using Naim speakers - you had NBLs at the time. Of course if we did it again, then you would have to admit to having moved on while I could say that I was using SL2s…

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I was sat on your immediate left, David.

You were! I remember that too. We were quite a small group I recall. Maybe 8 of us?

Naim do this with the Statement - the issue has always been the impossibility of getting a perfect match - but they achieved it with the 009s in the Statement through adjacent die matching of the silicon used in the transistors. I’m sure @110DB can elaborate when he has a moment to do so.

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I owned up to a pair of N-Sats, albeit in a second system.

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I had forgotten that Chris!

It looks like they are using two pairs in parallel in the 350. The product sheet states 4 for PSU and 4 for the output stage. This is to be expected for the amount of power they claim from the amplifier. It does go against what they have preached for a long time though.

See my post above re. Naim historically not wanting to use multiple output devices. The issue was that paralleled devices could never be perfectly matched. That was until Naim found a way of getting perfect matches with their NA009s by adjacent die matching. Progress.

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I’m not saying they have or haven’t made advances here. Other brands have been doing it for decades. The matching is needed in more than just the transistors though. There are resistors and other parts needed in an output stage circuit when paralleling transistors which is what can cause variances. If it were as simple as transistor matching you’d think they would have done it 30 years ago.

So you’re saying that what Naim achieved with the NA009 - i.e. obtaining precisely matched outputs devices from single silicon wafers into NA009N and NA009P, other brands have being doing for decades? I’m not sure about that. Maybe @110dB knows here.

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The question that’s bugging me is where should monoblocs be located in a typical brains and brawn stack? I guess brawn due to the PS but won’t that compromise the delicate side of the amp :thinking:

Well instead of height, go wide……

332/NPX/350
333/NPX/350

:laughing:

Fair point though, with the massive transients flowing through a 350 you would not want it sitting under your streamer for instance.