I’ve been running a Naim Nova for a while and it’s been great, but recently I got hold of a pair of old PMC Twenty.26. They’re definitely worth keeping, but the Nova is clearly struggling a bit.
I’m thinking about moving to NC250 + 222 as a full replacement. On paper it seems like a good step up and a reasonable budget compromise, but is it more of a halfway measure? Has anyone tried this combo with the Twenty.26, 5.26(i) or Fact series?
Going higher in the range (3xx) would mean much bigger costs and more boxes. Sadly no chance for local demos, and shipping gear back and forth isn’t really practical right now – so I’d like to pick one solid option, maybe two…
Do you think the NC250+222 will keep me happy? I’d like to stick with Naim, though I’ve also read good things about Exposure with PMC.
I am currently using a 332/333/NC250/NCVTT. Had I been deterred by box count or cost, I would have gone with the 222/250. If you purchase the 222/250, i would suggest adding an NPX300 at some point.
OP has completely different speakers than your Spendor’s so what value does your comment have? Stating what your own system is doesn’t help anybody. It’s not the first time you do this either.
A while back, a Forum member was using a Supernait 2 with their twenty.26, or maybe twenty5.26, and it wasn’t really driving them properly. They then changed to a 282 and the 250DR and were really happy with the way the 250 drove the speakers.
The NC250 is considerably more powerful than the 250DR so you shouldn’t have any problems at all.
It has been suggested that you could upgrade in stages, adding the NC250 to your Nova as a first step. Note that if you were to do this you’d need a special lead, which isn’t cheap, and which would later be redundant. If you get the 222 and 250 at the same time, the necessary leads all come in the box.
It’s a shame that PMC don’t do their active upgrade for the 26, only their two way speakers. I’m using active twenty5.21i and they are just brilliant. PMC make really nice speakers and I’m sure you’ll be delighted with a 222/250 to accompany them.
The bigger PMCs do benefit from greater power and grip. Changing to Nova PE ix an obvious route, that being its sort of target use, but possibly an expensive upgrade. I had the PMC EB1i (a step up from the Twenty-26), and used Bryston 4Bsst power amp, which you could drive using Nova pre out. Brystons are pretty neutral in character incredibly reliable and long lived (manufacturer warranty is 20 years!). Expensive new, but older ones can be had at a reasonable cost. PMC uses Bryston amps in testing their speakers, or certainly used to use when they designed the Twenty and Twentyfive series. In the Naim world, having used the Bryston 4B I wouldn’t have considered anything below the NAP300 to drive my EB1s. But whether the NAP250 would be adequate for the Twenty-26 (whether or not the EB1) would best be advised by someone with personal experience of driving the same speakers (or perhaps Twentyfive-26 or higher PMCs)
Edit: If the NC250 is closer to NAP300 than NAP250 then it could indeed be a possibility as HH suggests..
I did try my olive 250/282 with my Twenty 26 speakers and it was ok, but nothing like as good as my main power amp, the MF Nu Visra 300. These speakers definitely come alive with a decent power amp up them.
My current set up is ndx2/555 into 252/sc then the MF power amp. This is a great combo.
Definitely worth trying an NC NAP 250 for a home audition, I had PMC 20.26 in the past but tri-amped them.
If the 250 fails, then the NC NAP 350 will certainly do the trick, but obviously at a higher cost. Possibly worth trying a 222 with the 250 just to compare sources, but squaring this sort of circle can drive up budgets/costs really fast.
i demoed twentyfive -26i with 222 + nc250 then 222 +300ps + nc250 finally 222 +nc350 of these 3 options the 222 +350 was clearly better - much more enjoyable and what i bought - but i can’t say for sure that the nc250 was underpowered just not as enjoyable even with the 300ps on the 222. this was a while back and as i remember the difference was the clarity of hearing the different instruments in the mix rather than about volume - but that was in the dealers smallish demo room - my room is much larger -5x11m - and my feeling is the c250 would have struggled in the larger room. maybe go for secondhand nc250 then if it doesn’t work you can replace with 350 without loosing very much
I ran Twenty.26’s with a SN2. They seemed to me to be quite easy to drive. The original Twenty series was quite forgiving as well. So I would suspect 222/250 will sound great. Plenty of room to upgrade the electronics later as well.
It’s only when I switched to Fact 12’s that I ran out of steam… even with a 300DR. I suspect the Fact 8’s will be similarly power hungry as well but if you’re sticking with the Twenty.26’s you will be fine. They’re a great speaker.
I’d like to stick with Naim, though I’ve also read good things about Exposure with PMC.