All quiet before I went out this morning, now i’m in my campervan to find an email telling me about the new models - and over 260 posts here to read through!!! What a difference a few hours makes…
The 350 is very interesting indeed. I’ve never heard a Naim amp, but based on their specs and reviews, vs what I know of my speakers’ performance with my existing amp, together with its specs and reviews, I felt the 300 might just be adequate, but more likely the 500 would be necessary to have a chance of doing better than my Bryston - its 500w peak capability is just adequate, but would be better with substantially more as it does clip on peaks when playing some rock music at realistic levels, and especially on the Telarc 24bit recording of 1812. However the 350, with its mammoth peak delivery capability, appears to offer all that may be needed. Where previously I had an academic interest in hearing a 300 or 500, I now have a much greater interest - though unless I have a lottery win I would not be tempted for quite a few years, when the secondhand market starts to make good offerings. If I were to have a significant lottery win, my comparison would be a pair of 350s against a pair of Bryston 7Bs, and maybe other amps including one of Chord’s Ultimas.