AV setup for 272

Posted by: robgr on 06 April 2016

I have a NAC-N 272/NAP250 DR & XPS DR and am looking to integrate with an AV setup

I'll likely use phantom mode so am looking at a solution for fronts & rears only, also not interested in Atmos etc

If I go with an AV preamp what power amp might do the 250 justice to drive the rears?

If I go with an AV amp then I can simply drive the rears directly but what might be any shortcomings?

I suppose if I go the QAV amp route then it's fewer boxes and I can easily add a center speaker later if I change my mind

I'd be grateful for peoples views on processors, amps, pros, cons etc

Posted on: 07 April 2016 by Adam Zielinski

Loads of questions I made a bit of a mess with my living room set up, so my thoughts are along the lines: what I would do better, if I were seting it up now:

I would go for a processor only - have a look at Classe.

Rear speakers power amp: Nap 200. Centre speaker amp: Nap AV 145.

Fron L and R feeding N272 in an AV mode.

This would give you a good match of sound signatures.

Centre speaker is of paramount importance in a 5.1 set up. Up to 50% of a content is being played there. So both the amp and the speaker must be of the same quality as your front L and R channels.

Adam

Posted on: 07 April 2016 by robgr

Thank you for your suggestions Adam, I'll take a look to see if I can pick a SH 145 and 200

I have a NAP250 DR, how unbalanced, if at all might the rear sound if I use a non-DR 200?

I have Kudos C2s on the front and have picked up a SH pair of S1s I was going to use for the rear (too much for the rear?)

Do you have any recommendations regarding a centre speaker?

Posted on: 07 April 2016 by Adam Zielinski

I wouldn't get too stressed about 250DR vs 200. It will still sound like a Naim amp
I don't really know Kudos speakers, so cannot advise here. As far as I can see they don't have a dedicated centre speaker.

Mind you - with a setup I 'proposed' you will actually get a very, very, very good sound quality for a multi-channel playback. Think playing 'A Night at the Opera' by the Queen in multi-channel or 'Dark Side of the Moon' for that matter.
Just make sure that your universal disc player is up to a standard of the rest of the system (Oppo 105 is very versatile, and has extremely good on-board DACs).

For the rear-playback I would suggest getting the best rear speakers you can afford (personally I use floor standing speakers at the rear too - my system is optimised for surround sound playback).

Adam

Posted on: 08 April 2016 by Felty99

Agree with Adam's comments. The centre channel is essential for proper AV setup and believability.

I would look out for a used NAP 250 for the centre channel and forget the 145. 145s aren't seen very often in the classifieds or second-hand and those that are will be quite old now. Better to pick up a non-DR 250 a few years old and get a custom RCA-XLR cable to connect between the amp and processor. I bought my 3-year old 250 for less than half the price of a new one from a Naim dealer. It will also be easier to sell if you ever need to move it on whereas 145s are a very niche market.

I can thoroughly recommend the Classe Sigma AV processor. Miles ahead of the AV competition up to Ł5k if you aren't interested in Atmos or fancy features.

Posted on: 08 April 2016 by Adam Zielinski

Or search for a used AV 3 channel amp - cannot remember the number, but they were rated at around 50W per channel I think....

Posted on: 08 April 2016 by Felty99

Good idea - a NAPV175, I have one of these, highly recommended!

Posted on: 10 April 2016 by spurrier sucks

A naim amp to use in a HT seems overkill to me but if you have the cash then go for it. I would suggest an Anthem MRX receiver or new Arcam 550, think that's it, and use the internal amp of the receiver to power the center and surrounds. Those two companies have great amps in their receivers.both offer great SQ and that would help with box count if that matters.