NAP 300 DR with my other components

I think for smaller rooms / speakers the 250 is incredibly effective. Mine just sings with my 552.. clearly my ATC 19 speakers are an easy load for it because the amp barely gets warm with regular use ... and only warm when pushed hard.

However if I had large speakers and a large space to fill, then the 300 is where I would go. To my ears the 250 and 300 have some similar sonic traits.

The Strat (Fender) posted:

As a 250DR owner if someone would like to drop a 300 in my system.  And provide the extra shelf...................

I know the feeling.  The "problem" is the extra shelf really is going to be a base, for moving to 2 small stacks.  6 black boxes seem like too many for one stack of Fraim (???)

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

I think for smaller rooms / speakers the 250 is incredibly effective. Mine just sings with my 552.. clearly my ATC 19 speakers are an easy load for it because the amp barely gets warm with regular use ... and only warm when pushed hard.

However if I had large speakers and a large space to fill, then the 300 is where I would go. To my ears the 250 and 300 have some similar sonic traits.

My room is relatively small and my present speakers are quite easy to drive, and the 250DR never gets taxed really.  But I'm thinking about less-easy-to-drive speakers.

My room isn’t very big - 18m² - and my speakers aren’t hard to drive, but the change from 250 to 300 was transformational. It’s like the speakers nearly doubled in size. It’s more real, more engaging, just better in every way. The 300 is simply brilliant. 

The 250 DNA harks back to 1975 and has been the bedrock of many Naim systems and once top dog for many years until the NAP135 appeared. Okay the 300 maybe better but some do prefer the 250 so try before you buy.

hungryhalibut posted:

My room isn’t very big - 18m² - and my speakers aren’t hard to drive, but the change from 250 to 300 was transformational. It’s like the speakers nearly doubled in size. It’s more real, more engaging, just better in every way. The 300 is simply brilliant. 

your sl2 are 88db into 6 ohm.  Mine are 92 db in 8 ohm.  It can perhaps explain a bit.

I agree with you for bigger soundstage, but not so bigger as your experience.  The impact of drums was bigger, the bass too.   But, for me, on my system, i find the nap250dr more engaging, a bit faster and airy and better articulated.   The 300 dr was too overwhelming sometimes.

Given your pre I suspect a 250dr will be an interim solution for a 300 or 500. The only reason for choosing a 250 over a 300 in my view would be financial, or possibly shelf space...

happy auditoning!

French Rooster posted:

hungryhalibut posted:

My room isn’t very big - 18m² - and my speakers aren’t hard to drive, but the change from 250 to 300 was transformational. It’s like the speakers nearly doubled in size. It’s more real, more engaging, just better in every way. The 300 is simply brilliant. 

your sl2 are 88db into 6 ohm.  Mine are 92 db in 8 ohm.  It can perhaps explain a bit.

I agree with you for bigger soundstage, but not so bigger as your experience.  The impact of drums was bigger, the bass too.   But, for me, on my system, i find the nap250dr more engaging, a bit faster and airy and better articulated.   The 300 dr was too overwhelming sometimes.

The demands a speaker places on the amp include the impedance variations with frequency.. some speakers have some very low impedance dips and peak impedance highs at specific ftrquency ranges.. despite the so called nominal stated impedance.. and these variations make the amplifier work harder to provide a consistent response.