nap 300 dr

Hi Laxton,

Thanks for the detailed update.  It sounds like we are experiencing the same problem or perhaps have similar expectations from the updated unit.  The previous highly detailed musical voicing of the 300 coupled with the new control, sound stage, bass extension and clarity of the 300DR would be a truly stunning amp indeed.  Let me throw a couple of other things into the mix.

On my first home demo with the 300DR on treble and 250DR on bass I was convinced it was a run in/not always on issue.  My dealer suggested the power supplies seemed to take the longest time to come up to speed.  I hit on the idea of running the dealers amp with my existing power supply.  I first checked with Naim direct to ensure the supplies were compatible via their serial numbers.  Naim advised they were identical spec units so I ran the 300DR with my standard well used PSU.  I noted a definite improvement especially with the shut in effect but there was also a small improvement in portrayal of human voices.  After a couple of days I switched back to the dealers PSU and noted a slight drop in openness and naturalness.  I appreciate that you are using the same PSU but thought it was worth mentioning.

During the recent second home demo I was immediately struck by how much better the 2 X 300DRs performed and assumed it was due to running two identical amps.  The second amp was a Naim demo unit loaned to the dealer especially for the trial.  I joked with my dealer it may be a highly tweaked unit but he dismissed the idea.  Following the active mantra of always putting the best amp on the treble I used the Naim loan unit on treble (because it was more recent) and the dealers slightly older unit on bass.  After about a week I swapped them over but I could not detect any real difference in performance.

Throughout Aceone’s thread there are several members posting comments along the lines of ‘mine was OK straight out the box and improved after a certain amount of running in’.  This tends to make one think ‘oh no’ mine must be not quite right in some way.  If it was only your amp that exhibited the issues it would be a reasonable conclusion.  However, I am noticing almost identical shortcomings as your-self with two different amplifiers. One of which is a Naim demonstration unit.  This seems too much of a coincidence for me.  Unfortunately, I am slowly starting to believe that in my case as least I am perhaps expecting too much and the 300DR sonic signature may not be for me after all. 

I sincerely hope that extended running can improve the sound to where it is acceptable to you.   It took my Ovator S600 speakers over a year to get fully on song.

It is not surprising that two 300s in different homes/systems will run in differently. Apart from the fact that no two situations can be exactly the same, the 300 is hand built and tested with real ears, over and above the usual prod pass/fail QC. . There has to be some variation. Obviously it's kept within an envelope of high quality but no two can sound exactly the same. Probably applies to many things. Cars certainly.

Hi Laxton, 

I just read two reviews on the Nap300Dr in Hi Fi Critic. One by Martin Collums and one by Chris Binns.  In Martin's review there is a comparison of the standard 300 versus the 300Dr containing some interesting information on the sonic differences particularly the bright top end of the revised amp.  He also puts run in time North of three months.

I found these whilst trawling the net but I think at least one of them is on the Connections section of the Naim site.

Has your amp made any further progress for the better?