What speakers do you use with your NAP 300?

SBLs here, used as designed and with A5. A combination in its 17th year…

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I think you asked about speakers with my on loan 300DR? Either the 802 D2 or current D3. Its some time ago so I am not sure which. The 500DR is better but a lot more money than the 300DR. The 300DR had no problems for me. .Asking my BW/Naim dealer what would be the smallest Naim power amp to drive the 802s without strain, the 250DR came up. The 200DR, no not really.
Some see the B & W range as a bit Marmite with Naim amps. Not in my book.

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I use Kudos Titan 606 and am very pleased with the results. Prior to this I used PMC Fact 12 but they did sound a bit overblown in the bass on some tracks.

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SL2s with my none DR 300, not looking to change love this setup and its a nice balance for my room.

For me the SL2s are from a period that were designed around the none DR amps.

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ProAc Response D20 in Rosewood for me, situated about 3m apart and slightly toed in on carpeted floor. Very natural and well-balanced speaker, and no intention of changing them in the near or distant future.

The 300 is a non-DR version mounted on a custom built (by me) American Black Walnut stand. It’s probably not ideal, but I don’t have the room for a Naim Fraim. Besides, it looks stunning alongside the Rosewood speakers.

Finally, connectivity is via Naim NAC A5. I’ve not had the opportunity to try other cables, but as of now, I don’t feel the need.

Regards

Jack.

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Monitor Audio Gold GX200. Predominantly because I already had them, and I had them because I like them a lot. The MA models with the ribbon tweeter have beautifully smooth treble - the MAs with dome tweeters don’t have a great reputation on the forum with Naim amps, but the ribbons are great. Bass extension and control is very good for a speaker this size. However they have back-firing ports, so are quite sensitive to wall distance.
[Edit: Should add that they have optional port bungs to dampen the bass, but this sucks all life out of them. In a previous apartment I had to choose and preferred a bit of bass boom over the bunged ports]

I am lucky with the room. Speaker front baffle to back wall is 1 meter. Distance of front baffle to side walls is 1.4 meter for one speaker and 4.5 for the other. Room is quite large.
Speakers and listening position in an equilateral triangle with 2.6 meters per side.

The speaker has grown tremendously with first just the 300 and then the rest of the new system (see profile). Not in a hurry to upgrade (which is good as funds are now exhausted :wink: )

You can see a picture in my profile and a floor plan and detailed description (plus more pictures) in this post:

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My system is based in my study, a room only 13ft x 8ft. Speaker placement is constrained by the dimensions and the positioning of the window. As such my speakers have to be places IN THE CORNERS of the 8ft width.

I use an n-System (4 nSats, nCent, nSub) as my Arcam AVR850 is also hooked into the setup. The rest of the system is :
LP12 (all applicable upgrades applied)/EkosSE/Radikal/UrikaDynavector DV1s
NDS/555DR
NAC552, DR

Took me some time to get the balance right with the nSub, but it all sounds great. I have no plans to change the speakers, but still debate getting a NAP500 and ND555.

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I’ve retained the Evoke 50s I used with my SN3 before moving to 300 DR.
Sounds very good situated 2.5m apart and 0.5 off the back wall firing down the room with no toe in.
Sooner or later the upgrade bug will probably start niggling me again but I’m very happy at the moment.

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Kudos Titan T606 source is a ND555 very pleased, good all round easy room placement and superb at low volume.

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Audiovector r8 with my 300 Dr. I went from Audiovector sr6 active with 2 250 and a 200 and snaxo and supercap to my current setup.
The room is 4 times 7 meters but speakers has to be placed on one of the long walls unfortunately, but there is very little that can be changed in this room. Speakers are approximately 25 to 30 cm from the wall,
Claus

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With my 300DR I have Scansonic MB5’s, lovely soundstage. Used to have SL2’s but got fed up with the flat soundstage, no where as good as my old SBL’s.

Tim

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I’m using SL2s. They worked well with a 300, 300DR and now 500DR in this room which isn’t huge so rear placement is a big bonus. They showed the improvements with each upgrade amp (and pre from 252 to 552DR). However If I had a more space, I’d be looking at demoing the likes of the Kudos Titans 707, 808 or Dynaudio Confidence 30, 50 and the like.

I’ve actually heard the Confidence 50 and DBL on a 552/500 system. Kinda wish I hadn’t though! :smiley:

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Blimey. Another soul who prefers SBLs to SL2s. We are a rare breed!

It’s probably because my SBL’s were active with two 250’s.

I had the SL2’s for 10 years and found that I preferred quite a few other brands due to the wider and deeper soundstage. So I narrowed it down to the Scansonics and a pair of ATC SCM 40’s the Scansonics won as they seemed to work better in my basement. Now I have moved back to England they are in a bedroom, took me a while to find the right placement but now they are very engaging.

Tim

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Neat Momentum SX7i with my 300DR. I can’t say they are ideal but they are visually a good match for our lounge. I have always thought that I’ll end up getting Titans at some point but the black front panel puts me off…

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If you like a deep soundstage I can understand your preferences. Boundary designs rarely have this factor as a strength. Not fussed myself to be honest.

I am using ATC SCM 40s with my NAP 300DR. It drives them very well, but it is my experience that the extra bass energy imparted by these speakers when driven by a more capable amp can excite the room in ways that you may not have noticed before!

My view on this is that this is a room problem, not an amp problem, its just easier to reduce the bass than treat the room.

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I really hated having to move away from Naim components, but in Canada I couldn’t find a pair of SBL’s and getting them mailed out from the UK was expensive. Now I’m back I have a hankering to get another pair, preferably in cherry or walnut and set them up with a CB 32.5, HiCap and 250 and maybe go active again.

We shall see.

Tim

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I would agree with that, although I would also add that in your case, I think you would find that a preamp upgrade would make an enormous difference to the bass control.
When I had a Superuniti it was in a room that had typical bass issues, with a null in the listening position and excessive, flabby bass in other parts of the room. When I upgraded from the SU, I first added a 200, then an NDX, just using the SU as a preamp. It sonded better - kind of. Finally I inserted a 282. Bingo! Tight, controlled bass. Never underestimate the importance of a good preamp in a Naim system.

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Tannoy Legacy Eaton with 300DR. Magical :star2:

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