Olive 250 vs 200DR

IMO your dealer definitely has a point.

I’ve had a 282/200 for about 14 years. If possible, I would listen to both with your speakers and even better, in your own room. They are very different sounding amps. I did the comparison quite a few times over the years and I’ve always preferred the 200. In my system/room/speakers (SF Guarneri’s) the 200 sounded quicker on its feet, crispier and more lively than the 250.

Only recently, after switching to new Vivid Audio speakers, I’ve found the 250DR to be a better match. And even now I still miss some aspects of the 200. It’s a great amp.

1 Like

The 250 olive offers more bandwidth than the 200 and 180. This provides a better perception of bass/midrange/treble with “fruitfulness” and nuance of the music.
I have had nap 135s that are superior with 3 way speakers like Linn Isobarik DMS, Naim DBL. On Allae, SBL, SL2 that I also owned, I liked the olive nap 250 as much as my 135. I have now taken over Linn Sara which I use with 250 olive. Also Linn DMS/PMS from 1989 which I use with 3x250 olive. From the beginning I found that 2x250’s in passive bi-amplification played the DMS’s much better than a single pair of 135’s. (1x250 for the passive Treble cell and 1x250 for the passive Bass and Midrange cells) Surprisingly I like passive tri-amplification as much as active with my PMS’s ( S/cap Snaxo 3-6)

2 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.