I’ve read a few threads on here on the subject but I’m a bit thick so I’d be grateful for some input.
My brother is just about to put his NAP500 in storage while he goes away for a year. I already have one and thought I thought I might try his one in addition either on my B&W HTM2D3 centre speaker or on my B&W 803D3’s main stereo speakers, both of which have two sets of biwire connections.
I understand that the NAP500 is a ‘bridged’ design. Does his mean:
in order to connect my B&W HTM2D3 centre speaker I connect the left speaker cable to one set of connectors on the speaker and the right speaker cable to the other connector?
could I use two NAP500’s to passive biamp my main speakers and if so what would the connections look like?
They caution against biwiring but I couldn’t see montion of passive bi amping on a quick scan through the FAQ. With a 500 you run into the problem that there are only three signal outputs on a 552ps, or a supercap for that matter, you’d need a special cable to feed both halves of a 500 from one DIN socket. Is it worth the bother for a loaned power amp?
You might want to be sure the power amps can’t see each other through the crossover. I’m out of my depth as to the consequences if they do but I imagine there’s a good chance of an unfortunate resonance developing.
"We have, throughout our history, always ensured that our systems can be easily and cost-effectively upgraded to active operation.
Finally, for what it’s worth, bi-wiring and passive bi-amping do not, whatever the hi-fi press or any other manufacturer might tell you, provide similar performance to a [properly designed] active system. Any of our franchised dealers will be more than happy to demonstrate this to you."
I have tried bi-amping in the past (even four mono amps), and the results ranged from awful to no better than a single stereo amp.
The truly awful-sounding attempt was a valve amp for the tweeters (the thought being it would have a sweet top end) and a Nap250 for the bass/midrange. It was all over the place, and the music timing and engagement were terrible. On its own, the valve amp was lovely.
Other attempts were rather more sensible matching two identical model amps. The results for me have always been mediocre and never really bettered a single amp or at least very marginal at very best.
For me it is a much better strategy to buy a better amp than another of the same type as it improves the sound quality more significantly than any bi-amping.
Adding a a second power amplifier to the system and bi-amping is also adding additional interconnect and speaker cables … sure your system will sound different, but will it is also be better?
They’re comparing passive biamping to a proper active system, not a passive system. Personally I wouldn’t bother if it involved buying anything to achieve but curiosity might get the better of me if I had, or could make, the necessary bits.
It seems to me that practically no one on this forum has tried passive bi-amping two identical Naim power amps but everyone is against it. When I emailed Naim asking 2x250dr vs 1x300dr the answer I got wasn’t in favour of one or the other. If you have access to the second amp your not loosing much by trying.
I am not against someone giving it a go especially if you have the kit already but it would not be worth buying an amp to find out, it is better to spend the money on a step-up in amplification as it will provide an improvement much more likely to be worth the money.
I have questioned 2 off 250 vs even a single 300 before. The science must favour 2 off 250s.
A 300 is just a 250 in 2 boxes. 2 off 250s have well, twice everything. Transformers. Capacitors…u
Using even half per channel must be better.
During the transition between one and three 500’s with T808’s, passive to active, I had two for a few weeks so used them passive with positive results. Going active with three was a much bigger improvement but still no loss of timing with two and better control.
On Q1, the 500 as a bridged design is a pair of independent bridged amps, and not to be confused with a stereo amp that can be bridged to make a more powerful, but mono, amp., which is where I suspect your wiring thought cones from. Nothing should be allowed to electrically connect any part of one channel output with any part of the other (unlike normal single-ended amps, the “negative”, usually boack, speaker terminals are nowhere connected to ground, and must not be.
Re Q2, I have no idea f passive bi-amping your particular speakers with a pair f 500swould give a noticeable uplift, but I am confident any improvement would be nowhere near that of active bi-amping. I certainly would advise against buying an amp to do unless you have other plans for the amp, but certainly no harm in trying if you happen to have a spare amp available or can borrow one, which I gather is your situation, BUT I would advise checking that when the speakers are prepared for bi-amping The two driver channels, bass and treble, are electrically separate from one another - if I were to try, I’d use a multimeter to check that the two “negative” terminals on the back of the speaker show effectively infinite resistance between them. I would expect this to be the case, but there’s just a possibility it may not be.
Of course if you want to do it properly with a 3-way speaker like the 803 you should tri-amp…
I know 2 people who have done exactly that too…using passive DBLs and each of them remarked how much the noise floor went down when the demands of one channel were not siphoning from the other.
Its an expensive way to get monoblocks…BUT-if you already have access to a second 500, why not?
