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The NAT01 Tuner

M

Mick P

Retired and content
I have a NAT01 tuner in the UK that still sounds good but the green channel indicators have faded into oblivion and evidently there is no cure for this, at least not that I know of. Therefore I have to blind tune if I decide to change channels which is irritating.

I am restricted to UK channels which up until now has been fine but since buying a streamer in Spain I can listen to dozens of regional channels anywhere in the world. In practice I tune in to my local BBC radio in the UK and also the local English speaking one plus BBC3 and BBC4. I would like to do the same when in the UK.

If I get shot of the NAT01, it will free up a shelf to accommodate a Naim streamer and then I can listen to anything I want.
It also means what the hell do I do with the NAT01. I popped into a Naim dealer just before flying out to Spain and he was surprised that I would even think about getting rid of the of NAT01 as he reckoned it was a "highly prized classic" whereas I thought it was just an obsolete has been.

I suppose the question is, - does anyone know of a repair for the NAT01?
 
Given how sparsely populated the UK FM band is the lack of display is little issue. Most folk would just leave it tuned to R3 anyway, and that’s easy enough to find with a blindfold on. If it works it has some value. That said I bet anyone with real electronics knowledge could mid a new display into it.
 
Tony L said:
Given how sparsely populated the UK FM band is the lack of display is little issue. Most folk would just leave it tuned to R3 anyway, and that’s easy enough to find with a blindfold on. If it works it has some value. That said I bet anyone with real electronics knowledge could mid a new display into it.
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OK I am back in the UK over the Christmas period and then back in Spain again to celebrate the Spanish Christmas in early January. I will be back the UK late January for 3 months and when I get back I will hawk around looking for a repair type person. I guess 50% of its use is on the local BBC with the rest divided between R3 and Radio Oxford. The wife has suddenly started using it and hence this query.

I must admit I am surprised it has value because you rarely see tuners mentioned here compared to speakers and amps etc.
 
Mick P said:
I must admit I am surprised it has value because you rarely see tuners mentioned here compared to speakers and amps etc.
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Most tuners have lost value, even the very best of the ‘70s Japanese kit (which have mostly survived a lot better and still work perfectly). Naim is a cult, some folk will just buy ‘because Naim’. Even then its still only worth a few £hundred, which is a small fraction of what it cost. Compare with a similar era Nait, 72, 250 or whatever which are now proper vintage collectables which have not lost anything of their original retail price, sometimes even adjusted for inflation. The problem with tuners is FM is all but dead. It is pointless investing real money in it when there is no commitment to even keep the BBC stations open, and there isn’t much else there. I have an absolutely beautiful fully working 1971 Sony tuner just sitting on a shelf doing nothing as I just don’t need it. Such a shame as it is a work of art, just so well made, but it has largely become obsolete.
 
an fm tuner is not obsolete until such a time as fm is obsolete - which it's not. A NAT01 is a nice thing, worth getting fixed up or at least give to someone who would appreciate it even if it's not 100%, it would be absolutely repairable
 
If you haven't done so already it might be worth having a chat with Darren at Class A to see if he can help / offer advice.
 
Mick, I went from 101 to 01 as many good Naimees did and rested on my laurels that the 01 was maybe among the top 6 or so tuners, esp. with a good Naim line-up of other gear.

After mine packed up (no stereo) I had a full service from Naim but sold it for a good sum shortly after, as I wasn't really getting much from radio. I bought a cheapo but recommended NAD from eBay to fill the gap, and was surprised that not only was the s.q. as good or better in some parameters, I started to listen to R3 and R2 on a regular basis and looking forward to it. I now have a t.o.t.l. Akai from the 80s/90s which has the best radio presentation I've ever heard. It combines sensitivity with decent output, which the 01 didn't have, with exc. separation and dynamics.

I now wonder if the 01 was v. good at its inception but subsequently overhyped or my experience (a great surprise to me) was, for whatever reason, a one-off, I don't know. From an ergonomic p.o.v., the 01 was limited with zero bells and whistles like station select and meters etc.
 
Mike Reed said:
I now wonder if the 01 was v. good at its inception but subsequently overhyped or my experience (a great surprise to me) was, for whatever reason, a one-off, I don't know. From an ergonomic p.o.v., the 01 was limited with zero bells and whistles like station select and meters etc.
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My suspicion is the BBC quality has dropped through the floor due to general cost-cutting, outsourcing and DAB. I’d be amazed if the current FM signal was anything other than a low-bitrate DAB/internet signal reencoded for FM. It seems to be more obviously compressed (from a dynamics perspective) than I remember from back in the fully analogue era. Proms on R3, Peel sessions etc all sounded superb back in the day, but everything sounds flat these days. The BBC used to lead the world from a sound quality perspective (as well as content etc), but they have been gutted by horrifically bad management and government decisions over recent decades. It is no surprise it is hard to tell a good tuner from an average one these days. My vintage Sony ST-1150 or Quad FM3 are in the same boat. High quality analogue technology being asked to play a low bitrate MP3 grade signal. Garbage in = garbage out.
 
BBC Radio still use the same transmission feed as they've been doing so for years, and even had to re-invent their NICAM distribution system a while back. I think it's still done this way.
www.bbc.co.uk

35 million people didn’t notice a thing…

How we replaced our NICAM encoding equipment which carries the BBC's national radio networks.
www.bbc.co.uk
Mick's NAT-01 is long out of support at Naim because they no longer have the the VFD panels, and the replacement motherboard project is probably long gone. It certainly was very rare 30-odd years ago when I did them.
I've found a way I could upgrade it using a module I found which has the same chipset that Naim used in later tuners, but it would be a personal project. The amount of labour anyone would have to charge to reverse engineer a one-off solution would be excessive. Yet I love engineering challenges.
 
I still listen to my Tuners ( Densen B800, much better than the Nait from which I switched) a great deal and I think the sound is very good indeed , especially on live broadcasts.
 
Tony L said:
Garbage in = garbage out.
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Not what I'm experiencing, Tony. Even 'Sounds of the 70s' (every Sunday) sounds better than the format and dubious quality of the source would suggest, and I don't rate R" as particularly good c/f R3. Even Classic FM can sound quite surprising as far as dynamics etc. go.

Listening to a live studio broadcast (Music Planet, Saturdays) is stunning, and so close to my CDP and vinyl rig, either on Utopias or PMC spkrs. FM is still a more than viable source providing you have the ext. antenna, tuner and musical need for this source.

deserter said:
much better than the Nait from which I switched) a great deal and I think the sound is very good indeed , especially on live broadcasts.
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Agreed, but have never heard of a Nait tuner (?????). Live from studio is superb; live from elsewhere is determined by the sound engineers/mic. placement etc. but can be very good as well.
 
Tony L said:
My suspicion is the BBC quality has dropped through the floor due to general cost-cutting, outsourcing and DAB. I’d be amazed if the current FM signal was anything other than a low-bitrate DAB/internet signal reencoded for FM. It seems to be more obviously compressed (from a dynamics perspective) than I remember from back in the fully analogue era. Proms on R3, Peel sessions etc all sounded superb back in the day, but everything sounds flat these days. The BBC used to lead the world from a sound quality perspective (as well as content etc), but they have been gutted by horrifically bad management and government decisions over recent decades. It is no surprise it is hard to tell a good tuner from an average one these days. My vintage Sony ST-1150 or Quad FM3 are in the same boat. High quality analogue technology being asked to play a low bitrate MP3 grade signal. Garbage in = garbage out.
Click to expand...
I had a NAT02 about 20 years ago, and a Galaxy G17 arial on the roof. Sadly, where I lived, the FM signal was weak and the stations I could pick up with the Naim did not rate for me content or fidelity-wise. Around the same time, I had a Yamaha T-1 tuner, which did a better job at pulling in the stations. Sound-wise, it was slightly duller. I lost interest FM broadcasts quickly and sold both tuners on.

These days, if I can't be bothered selecting a record, CD or particular playlist from Tidal, I'd just stream Radio Paradise. To my ageing ears, that sounds better than I remember the NAT02 or T-1 ever did. We're spoilt for choice with streaming services.
 
I have a bel canto fm1 , same size as the naim .lovely sound with clear display of channels .nicely built .very very rare !!
Might be persuaded to sell at some point .lovely condition
 
I have an Olive NAT01 in Spain and it runs continuously on Radia Clasica this give a wide range of music from Classical via Jazz to Flamenco and tops the lot with regular live broadcasts. SQ is worth every penny and there is no sign of FM shut down,

FF
 
This was my next question, how long is the smart money on FM continuing to survive?

I might get a NAT05 and pack the NAT01 in a box. I have one in the second system and it is bloody good and certainly good enough for the main system.
 
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