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Naim Nac 12

If we hear a difference between one setup and another then how/why are we being fooled?

Skyebridge

PS. I know an Architect who swears by all his training that the Twin Towers could not possibly have been brought down by aeroplanes flying into them!
 
LPSpinner said:
When you look at the circuit for each board, (phono – MM & MC, input buffer and main gain board) they all have an amount of power supply decoupling fitted to each board. As an Engineer and some one who occasionally builds his own stuff as well as restores vintage gear, I often ask my self does the dual rail actually do anything? Is it the dual rail that creates the improvement or is there some other factor involved such as a modified earthing path or modified signal routing that results from the addition of the out-baord PSU, - Or perhaps we are all being fooled… :eek:

LPSPinner.
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I would answer your rhetorical question by suggesting that there is a sonic improvement when boards or channels are not sharing the one PSU. In just the same way using 1 channel each from 2x NAP250s (if you can't afford a pair of 135s) sounds better than one stereo 250.

And in another example which will be unfamiliar to you Naimies here ... you can buy a Sanders Magtech as either a stereo amp ... or 2 monoblocs. The cost of a pair of monoblocks is precisely double the cost of a stereo Magtech - buti the monoblocs sound better. :)

Regards,

Andy
 
skyebridge said:
In my case I had (still have) an original Nac12s, which came with a tiny external power supply that was rather tired. Having consulted Naim I took both items to the factory to be refurbished, and was informed about the option to go dual-rail, which would allow the Nac12s to run off a HiCap or even a Supercap. At the factory I listened to the dual-rail Nac12 Naim had been using for some years to quality-check Nac-52 pre-amps and SuperCap power supplies as these were built. I had my Nac12s rebuilt to the same specification. As others have observed, providing you don't want additional inputs beyond Phono, Tuner and FM, this is a brilliant little pre-amp.


Skyebridge
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Interesting post skyebridge, i may go for dual rail on the Nac12/3 someday. The second version will remain original. I think the version 2 gloss over some details compared to the fantastic v/3. The v/2 strengths is that it is so engaging and vibrant.
 
One can't have too many NAC 12s. :)

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S/N 0097.
 
yurivv said:
One can't have too many NAC 12s. :)
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Agreed, and the version2 express a kind of cheerful enjoyment it's impossible not to like. A very early example you have there. The serial number on my v/2 is 532. I wonder how many units of the Nac12 that were made over the years.

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Svein said:
I wonder how many units of the Nac12 that were made over the years.
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I used to have a device whose s/n was 1383, its panels were painted like those of devices from the CB era.

DSC_9909 by yurivv69, on Flickr

I believe it was one of the last samples released in 1979 or 1980. So the total number of those preamps was about 1500 which gives us the average number of 250 devices per year.
 
Svein said:
A very early example you have there.
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Yes, it's hard to find such an early device, but, unfortunately, it's been modified.

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However, its boards are untouched so I hope to restore this device to the original specs.
 
yurivv said:
I used to have a device whose s/n was 1383, its panels were painted like those of devices from the CB era.

I believe it was one of the last samples released in 1979 or 1980. So the total number of those preamps was about 1500 which gives us the average number of 250 devices per year.
Click to expand...

I bought mine in 1979 and looks like the last pic in Yuri's post #67.

Note how the front selector says 'Phono' whereas the earlier ones say 'Gram'.

Regards,

Andy
 
Svein

Look after yer knobs

I've had a 12 for years, tried to sell it here but people wanted it cheap.. Glad I kept it

I had the loan of the solid state plugin exact but space age naim replacementfrom the USA so kindly lent out to PCM

Apologies I forget the name a total gentleman and his firm just now

and i haven't been able to justify the 500 notes

However IMO they were best in the 12 over the 32 and 42 I also own

At the end of course I could drop in the original cards

The remote volume control, total silence of the circuits made the 12 frightening thru my esls

Just sayin, if you like retro and remote control and way way ahead quality with an otherwise mod free 12... then track down the cards

Shocking I can't recall

I will edit when reminded of the product
 
Are you thinking of the ryan soundlabs cards ….

http://ryansoundlab.com/

The guy had a thread in the main forum a little while ago, use the search filter and you should get lucky.

I have allready mentioned it in previous threads but I think the little 12 sounds quite good, its only got what what you need and does away with the tape buffers wich very few of us use these days. The appearance is a little "hair-shirt" and very basic but kind of cute in and "ugly-duckling" kind of way.

LPSpinner.
 
I think it's a great looking pre-amp, would love to hear one in action.

I might have a go at cloning one at some point and do my own artwork using Yurivv's great photos as a basis, and a little Photoshop magic to create a clean artwork woth which to create new PCBs. I have one of the spare Nap 140/Hicap style cases from Tukans on Ebay, which would make an appropriate home for a clone!

Or a slightly modified & improved PFM version could perhaps be created...

Anyway, thinking aloud here ;)
 
The looks are purely subjective so that's just fine. For looks I think the 72 or 62 are the easiest to look at but I have always had a soft spot for the Olive series. A 72 sitting next to a 104 just looks so cute but can make some surprisingly nice noises.

As for cloning a 12, try and find some one who has upgraded to a set of third-party aftermarket boards then try and convince them to sell you the original main input and output boards. The input buffer and output gain stages were carried over into the NAC32. Or you could use the input buffers from a 72 as these were similar but had a "time-alighnment" circuit which is basically a HF filter to limit the upper frequency response.

LPSpinner.
 
ian r said:
The remote volume control, total silence of the circuits made the 12 frightening thru my esls

Just sayin, if you like retro and remote control and way way ahead quality with an otherwise mod free 12... then track down the cards

Shocking I can't recall

I will edit when reminded of the product
Click to expand...

If what you were trying to think of was the Ryan Soundlab cards which LPSpinner provided the link to ... I'm curious to know how the remote control operates. Shirley, you need a new (motorised) volume pot and (motorised) source selector switch?


Andy
 
yurivv said:
I used to have a device whose s/n was 1383, its panels were painted like those of devices from the CB era.

I believe it was one of the last samples released in 1979 or 1980. So the total number of those preamps was about 1500 which gives us the average number of 250 devices per year.
Click to expand...

There may be fewer if Snaps, Nap120 and 160 not had their own serial numbers. I do not know but would assume they counted the serial numbers as they do at Naim today.
 
andyr said:
If what you were trying to think of was the Ryan Soundlab cards which LPSpinner provided the link to ... I'm curious to know how the remote control operates. Shirley, you need a new (motorised) volume pot and (motorised) source selector switch?


Andy
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The remote is quite clever, it is via the replacement 324/729 board and operates on a frequency, not infra red. It has a zapper, not unlike a car remote central locking device, it works from a long range, indeed from a different room.

It effectively cuts/boosts the gain, not rotate the vol pot.
 
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