IS 2 nap 250 better than 1 300 amp

That really is a matter of opinion!

You will probably get the view of dedicated active speaker users saying that it is a no brainier in favour of the 2 by 250 option, and others who really enjoy the 300 saying the opposite.

There really is no option but to audition this to decide into which camp you fall!

It will not be a case of middling indifference to the result, I am sure.

George.

As you have B&W speakers you, presumably intend to bi-amp rather than run an active system,

In which case the NAP 300 should be considerably better.

and to paraphrase the real estate industries mantra: Listen, Listen, Listen.

It's your ears you have to satisfy.

quote:

the NAP 300 should be considerably better.

agree

What is the point of bi-amping?

I understanding the point of going active, but can't see why you'd want to bi-amp.

I also think separating the power supply from the amplification is a good thing to do.

On that basis my vote would be for the 300.

Adam is (as always ) correct. Bi-amping B&W speakers with Naim amps doesn't seem to make any difference at all! If you plan to keep your speakers the 300, no contest. Of course if you had SBLs it would be a very different matter!

Very valid points above, but...

With the B&W speakers if you put the linking plugs in for bass input and treble input, the sound quality deteriorates substantially!

This implies for B&W speakers that bi-wiring is good and therefore bi-amping is better.

Something I pondered for a while myself, I'm just frustrated that I cannot bi-amp my speakers with 2 NAP300s!

Regards,

Jon

Hi Terry

It is a very interesting question, and one that over the past few years I have dedicated quite some time to.

Going active with your Bowers & Wilkins, although not impossible, would likely be cost prohibitive. Bi-amping (adding a second NAP-250) would be relatively simple and just require a second run of NAC-A5 and this does produce a significant lift in the performance of the loudspeakers.

However, when setting up your loudspeakers for Bi-amping you must of course remove the Gold plated link that attaches the Bass/Mid & HF connections on the rear panel, what is perhaps a little surprising is that if you stick with just one NAP-250 and re-terminate your loudspeaker cable with an “F” style connection as much as 50% or more of the improvement gained from bi-amping is obtained which would rather point to the gold plated shorting bars being a real problem.

Given that the NAP-300 is quite a step up from the NAP-250 and were your system now to benefit from “F” style connectors removing the need for the Gold plated shorting bars I suspect this would give the best possible results.

From my experience even if your loudspeakers had an economical way of going active, experiments I have carried out here with both Naim’s own SBLs & SL2s, a single 300 does give better results for most over an active 250 arrangement. Although my personal preference is for an actively driven loudspeaker system it is a testament to the quality and performance of the NAP-300 that one of them operating passively outperforms either a Bi-amped of Active alternative using 250s

Hope that’s helpful


Warmest regards

Norman
Partner - UHES

quote:

is a very interesting question, and one that over the past few years I have dedicated quite some time to.

Norman, or anybody else: just wondering, have you ever tried vertical (i think that's what it's called) bi-amping - ie, one full 250.2 for the left speaker and one full 250.2 for the right speaker - rather than one amp for HF and one amp for LF? I believe that is achievable by getting a matched pair of power amps and special pre-amp PS -> power amp cables.

Somebody once suggested on here that vertical might be a better way to bi-amp a pair of B&W's than horizontal... in effect like having a pair of powerful monoblocks, which would do B&W's a world of good. I've never tried bi-amping but from all the discussion on here about B&W's being uber-power hungry has always made me want to try it one of these days. Or should I just stop being silly and save up for a 300?

Also, I replaced the B&W jumper cables with ones made from NACA5 - makes a massive difference! Everything is more balanced and coherent now. I plug the 250.2 into the HF terminals of my 804s and have the NACA5 jumpers connecting the HF to the LF.

quote:

Originally posted by Consciousmess:
With the B&W speakers if you put the linking plugs in for bass input and treble input, the sound quality deteriorates substantially!

Surely, if you take them out (without replacement) sound deteriorates even more.

An "F" connection removes the reliance on these ghastly little bits of metal - without the expense and dubious advantage of bi-wiring.