3*Olive 250 Vs 300 on NBL's - at long last!

At long last, I have done the home demo comparing one 250 to one 300 (done some time ago) and one 300 Vs 3*250 (Olive) into NBL loudspeakers.

Turning back the clock, when I first took delivery of my NBL's during the summer, I originally compared a new 300 to my old Olive 250.
The 300 was without doubt, superior in every respect - clearer, better sound stage (wider) vocals sounded fuller and more realistic, bass was better controlled - in fact everything seemed to be better controlled and clearer.

Also, after one particularly heavy listening session, I had my first ever experience of my 250 shutting down.... It was too hot to touch :-(

Today I listened to my NBL's, in a blind test, (as in as much as I knew I was going to be listening to active 3*250's Vs 1*300 passive but had no idea which demo was which)
I did this because I thought I knew which Amp I "really wanted" and as the price, in my instance was going to work out about the same, I decided to listen and trust my ears.
(Price works out about the same by the time I trade in 2*250's and a snaxo 2-4 from my SBL days against a new 300)

First up was "unknown amp configuration".
Initial impressions were that the sound was very Naim but better than I usually experience with one 250. Wider soundstage, clearer vocals, more convincing vocals, clearer treble, better and deeper controlled bass - very much so the start and stop points of notes, better timing - pretty much as I remembered the 300 being better than a 250 when I did that comparison several months ago. It sounded more enjoyable and musical.

Then came demo No 2 (unkown Amp configuration 2!)
The vocals sounded relatively closed in, not really letting go and the sound was generally more muddled and less easy to enjoy. Not as cohesive, not as clear, not as dynamic with vocals and bass lines and timing not as good. This was obvious within seconds.

So, I boldly told my dealer that I preferred system No 1 as it was clearly better and the vocals and overall sound really was so much better on System No 1. It sounded more enjoyable to me.

He smiled and agreed that he felt the same and went on to reveal that my preferred system was........... 3*Olive 250's active.........

I can honestly say that I was pre-prepared to prefer the 300 passive based on my audition of passive 250 Vs passive 300 when I first took delivery of the NBL's.
I say this as the 300 on it's own was so much better than a single 250.

However, my 3 Olive 250's Vs the 300 proved to me that at this level, Active 250's is considerably better than a passive 300.

I must also add, that some people's idea that "New Naim" sound is totally different to "Olive Naim" is a bit far off the mark. New Naim still has the Naim qualities of old with a slightly different presentation, but is NOT a totally different animal.

Summing up; deep down inside, I really wanted to buy a 300 to replace my 250, bearing in mind, my previous system was an active 2*250's set-up feeding my old SBL's.
The 300 was such an improvement over the Olive 250 that I really expected a single 300 to knock the spots off active 250's into NBL's.

I was wrong, as proven to me in a blind test and I am now looking forward to getting an extra 250 to compliment my existing ones, coupled with the new 3-6 Cross-over.

Equipment used during the demo:
CDX2
XPS2
252
Supercap
(300 + power supply)
3*250 (Olive)
Snaxo 3-6 (Mk2 version - latest look)
Supercap (yes a 2nd one)
Naca 5
NBL's
LP12/Lingo/Ittok/DV 20x
a
I wonder what 3*300 active set-up would sound like????????

Don't rule out older Naim equipmet. As many of us older Naim users know, 20 year old Naim kit can still knock the spots off all kinds of equipment from other manufacturers!
I still maintain that a Naim system straight out of the box, sat on the floor will better most other manufacturers equipment sitting on ANY specialist stands.......

So there you have it, in my opinon :-)

Martin.

Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......