The Naim NAP300DR Power Amplifier represents a sweet spot in Naim’s lineup; offering the incredible technology of the Statement, and NAP 500 at a more affordable price.
Yes, that’s right, we did say ‘affordable’; the definition of which of course is entirely relative, no-one could claim that £7669 for a power amplifier is *cheap*. Good value for money, however, is an argument the Naim NAP300DR could win rather convincingly.
The Naim NAP300DR sits above Naim’s stalwart NAP250 and below the NAP500 Power Amplifier. Consider then, that the NAP3ooDR costs twice as much as the NAP250, but over £12,000 less than the NAP500, and the value proposition becomes clear. On top of that, just like the NAP500, the NAP300DR utilises technology from the £125,000 Statement amplifier system.
Cheap? No. Value for money? You betcha!
Statement Technology made Accessible
Naim’s ‘Statement’ amplification system, caught headlines and stirred newspapers when it was launched at the 2014 CES show. A rarified, elite showpiece of what Naim’s designers can do when budget is no option, the Statement lived up to its name with incredible industrial design and a £125,000 price tag.
As is so often the way, much of the flagship technology of the ‘Statement’ has found its way into Naim’s regular lineup, albeit part of their flagship ranges as one might expect. The ‘Statement’ debuted a number of key technologies, which can be found within both the Naim NAP300DR and the NAP500DR
This extra physical size and heft necessitate the ‘two box’ approach seen with the Naim NAP 500DR, with the power supply in a separate enclosure to the amplifier itself; an approach which further reduces the potential for induced electrical noise.
Another technology introduced on the ‘Statement’ system, was the introduction of a high power, discrete transistor, the NA009. The NA009 is a high power device, which eliminates the need to chain multiple output transistors, and hence reducing distortion.
The NA009 was the result of a year-long collaboration with a specialist semiconductor manufacturer. Each transistor is serial numbered, so the exact batch and silicon wafer can be identified and tracked for performance.
Outstanding Performance
The frequency response specifications for the Naim NAP300DR are quite remarkable; where most amplifiers state the conventional audio spectrum at 20-20kHz, Naim state their power amplifier offers a frequency bandwidth of 2Hz to 70kHz plus or minus 3db!
Whilst that’s very clearly in the infra and ultra-sonic extremes of the spectrum, it should translate to an extremely flat and transparent amplifier within the realms of human hearing. Naim’s approach towards the traditional Hi-Fi ideal of a ‘piece of wire with gain’ is very much in evidence here.
Power output is quoted at 90w per channel into 8ohms. Not a fire-breathing, paint stripping power output by *some* modern standards, but its fair to say that those will be 100% ‘real’ watts and, coupled to that remarkable power supply, capable of massive transient handling and tremendous ‘oomph’.
Naim NAP300DR – The Naim Sweet-spot
By this point, the case for the Naim NAP300DR representing the great value, ‘sweet spot’ in the range, should now be clear. The technological advances of the ‘Statement’, in a slightly downscaled version of the NAP500DR for a substantially downscaled price. By anyone’s standards, that’s got to be a winning combination.