If used properly they are incrediably stable — how could it be otherwise if they can very comfortably drive a parallel pair of Dayton-Wright SG8.
dave
As Dave notes, marketing.
Re instability, the amplifiers are only unstable in a system context if they are not used 'correctly' i.e. if presented with an excessively capacative load. In fairness to NAIM, since it was always made clear from the outset what was required for stability (i.e. a given length of Naca5 or equivalently inductive wire), those who ignore said stipulation only have themselves to blame.
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Re the above, I have no idea how I managed to capitalise the entire company name rather than the first letter only; it wasn't intentional.
I suspect a decent PA amp would do well here. For example, I have a Crown MA5002VZ in great condition, which seems to be happy to drive pretty much anything. Putting a short across the speaker terminals results in quieter music (from the potential divider between the resistance of the speaker cables and shorting wire), but it keeps playing just fine.
A lot of these amps (and older PA amps in general) have mis-matched output transistors, fitted by techs who wanted to save money, which has taken its toll on the reputed sound quality. A good one sounds excellent.
Chris
I never knew that. Or if I did at some point, I'd forgotten. Many thanks -a fact for the day learned first-thing. 🙂 Hopefully bodes well for more over the rest of the day (a waste not to learn every day).
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Probably, although it would likely alter the output impedance in the process -how much presumably depending on which and what is done. Technically I gather it's the Thiele network some do (or rather, went) without rather than the Zobel RC, but they're usually lumped under the latter heading for brevity. Be that as it may, plenty of clones / DIY versions of old Naim amps so I imagine somebody's tried at some point.
I remember reading back then that a BGW 750 went into meltdown and let out the magic smoke when connected to QUADs.
I wouldn't necessarily take that as gospel either, since in that context it's being used as a logo, while on their website they regularly capitalise the first letter. So presumably it varies with application, and may even have changed (I don't keep close tabs on such things myself) after the Focal takeover a few years ago. I know they like, or liked, heavy use of capitals for the product names.
At the time, the selling point was, by removing the output inductors from the amplifier circuit, and having the speaker cable supply it instead, it effectively moves the amp right to the speaker. I just liked the way the unit sounds. And for the posters saying it's not a well designed amp, I don't your response poorly considered, based on an amp that to me sounded more lifelike than others in the same price range I auditioned. For posters saying the cable makes no difference, on the advice of another store's technician, I tried some Nordost Super Flatline speaker cable, which he said would improve the playback, and had measured as providing equivalent electrical qualities.
I heard no difference , but after about a half hour I could detect the scent of burning insulation, and it was coming from the amplifier! I shut it down, and let it cool overnight, and reconnected the NACA5 pair, and things functioned as before, near I could tell.To my way of thinking, designing an amplifier from the wall to the speaker binding posts to function best with their own wiring isn't much of a scam as some here say or intimate.
Probably should have tried a Hafler but never did. They generally sound nice but don't know how stable they are into a funky load. I like the old Crown amps for their bullet proof nature, but have had nothing but trouble with many of the newer ones.
Let me get this straight. The amplifier is presumably oscillating to the point where it is burning itself up and you heard no difference???
Cheers,
Bob
My take would have come from selling them owning 2 NAP160, a NAC, a NAIT and 2 NAIT 2.
dave
This has been done for a couple of decades with powered speakers, where the amplifier is literally at the driver, and if for the audiophile market, has a round-trip length of 12 inches of high-dollar audiophile-brand-name wire between each amp and driver.
With built-in active line-level crossovers and relatively inexpensive, lightweight, high-quality amplifiers for multi-channel amplification, this offers the best sound at most price levels and so has become popular for studio monitors and small PA systems.
A few years back I asked why powered speakers aren't more popular with audiophiles who continue to use traditional speakers with passive crossovers, and I got the "audiophiles like to mix'n'match amps, cables, speakers and such" answer, a still-common practice which goes right against this (and maybe other) amp manufacturer's strong recommendations. It seems to me to be this was asking for trouble.
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