Hi,
To power not very sensitive speakers (eg. 86-87db), does the community reckon I would be better with an SN2 or with a NAC 152xs to a pair of NAP 150x (one per channel in a biamp configuration) ?
Used prices are similar for both options. Thanks for any insight!
Naim don’t recommend biamping. How would you connect the 2nd power amp to the 152?
I assume these speakers have 4 binding posts on each one so they support biamping.
The connection would be via a specially fabricated DIN splitter cable, and yes the speakers have 4 binding posts (Vandersteen 3A S.).
So it would be safe to assume Naim themselves would recommend the SN if they don’t recommend biamping, I prefer that route for simplicity’s sake but was wondering if the someone here had tested or had an opinion on the other (slightly more powerful on paper) option with separates.
I had B&W Cm1s driven by a SuperNait. The CM1’s are 84db.
That was no issue at all. Actually, it was good since I had to turn up the volume quite a bit and the Supernait liked that. Somehow around 10 o’clock it sounded best.
The benefit of a SuperNait is that you keep things simple - but good still
As a NAC152XS owner, I can confirm that my single NAP200DR drives my 84dB speakers beautifully.
If you look at Naim’s NAP200DR product page, you will see it is recommended by Naim as being suitable for the NAC152XS. It’s a gorgeous power amp.
The Vandersteens look like quite a lot of speaker, if they are the ones I’ve seem on line that cost $6,300. I certainly wouldn’t consider the 152/150 option with them. The Supernait is more muscular and a better match, though it would be very much a minimum. What source are you planning to use? Those speakers and a SN2 will need something pretty good.
Budget is of course a significant consideration here…so other upgrades are an interesting talking point but not an immediate consideration. That said at this time the sources are Tidal through an iFi Zen Stream and a Denafrips Ares II DAC, or At440Mlb > Systemdek IIX > Moon LP 5.3.
Current amplification is an Atoll pre/power combo (200SE), and the speakers are indeed currently being sold at 6300 USD but were purchased second hand for less than a quarter of that (they have been in production a long time). Used price for SN2 is really the most I can invest into my system at this time.
The reason I’m looking into this is I’m missing the sound signature of the Nait 5i, which I still have but is not up to the task with these speakers.
How big is your room? Mine is about 18 x 24, open on a staircase and hallway behind the listening position
About 9 x 15, open behind to galley kitchen.
I don’t know if your speakers go anywhere near 2Ω. NAP200DR will handle them.
According to the manufacturer they are 6 ohm rated with a minimum impedance of 4 ohms.
Thanks. Of the two options it would still be the Supernait I’d pick. Don’t think that having two 150s would give double power, because it won’t. Chris’s suggestion of a 200DR is a nice alternative, but if you went that way, the 202 is really the preamp to get. But the SN2 runs it very close, and many prefer the integrated. I’ve owned a Supernait 3 and it’s a very fine amplifier, just a little better than the 2. There is something nice about having aesthetically matching boxes; something you don’t get with a 152/200. If you went with the SN2, an NDX2 would be a perfectly matched source down the line.
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