Nap 100 with B&W CM1 s2

Posted by: YiannisK on 12 May 2016

I would be grateful for some advice ...

I recently auditioned the B&W CM1 S2 speakers driven by a Nait 5si. The sounded really nice indeed. I own a Dac V1 / Nap 100 combo and I am wondering if that will be enough to drive the CM1s... The potential problem is that they have a low sensitivity of 84db. My room is 4x6 meters.

Is the Nap 100 capable for the CM1s or would I be pushing it?

Many thanks

Posted on: 12 May 2016 by Solid Air

Large room, small speaker, small amp . . . . not the most obvious combo. And the CM1s are hard to drive. There's a general feeling that B&W and Naim aren't soulmates, but lots of people are happy with B&W too, so who knows?

The 5si at 60w and the 100 at 50w aren't all that far apart, but watts don't tell the whole story. They're very different amps. The only way to know is to try it at home. Sorry if that sounds generic, but it really is the only way in this situation.

Before committing, I would certainly try some other speakers such as the Focal Aria 906 - which are much easier to drive - in your own room.

Posted on: 12 May 2016 by Naijeru

I ran the original CM1 with a Nait 5i-2 very successfully for many years, so I'm sure the NAP 100 is more than capable enough to drive the S2 version. The question is will you like them? You should definitely give them a try before committing.

Posted on: 12 May 2016 by YiannisK

Thank you for the great feedback :-) Really appreciate it.

I just had a second demo at my dealer... tried the B&W CM1s with the Nap 250 DR driven directly by my V1. AMAZING!

Why did I do this... now I will be forever tempted... :-(

Posted on: 13 May 2016 by rainsoothe

+1 for Focal aria 906.

Posted on: 13 May 2016 by Marksnaim
YiannisK posted:

Thank you for the great feedback :-) Really appreciate it.

I just had a second demo at my dealer... tried the B&W CM1s with the Nap 250 DR driven directly by my V1. AMAZING!

Why did I do this... now I will be forever tempted... :-(

School boy error!