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Which brand of Capacitors do Naim use?

Some of the cheaper modern Naim kit uses Samwha electrolytic caps in the signal path positions, yuk! It actually quite a good way to cripple their kit so that the more expensive Naim kit sounds better in comparison. Cynical, moi? Never :)

Tants are not automatically "the best" to use, but be warned you will have to spend hundreds of hours trying out different combinations to find what works best. If you think the standard Naim caps sound best then you know you've not tried enough combinations yet :) There is plenty of further reading on the matter on the web, you'll have to do some searching to find it.
 
Naim probably switch brands when they have to, to something that fits the pcb as first priority. Changing pcb layout is expensive and in some cases can require type approval
 
The Samwhas are the same pitch and occupy about the same physical space as the tants in this particular case. I can't think of any other reasons to use them than cost-saving and hobbling the budget range to make the more expensive kit more appealing. They do still use tants in the more expensive kit so it's not a supply issue in this particular case (point taken re. PCB not being cheap to alter).
 
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colasblue said:
Tants also Kemet
HiCap res caps uses Felsic 1500uF 63V - but you can't get them and theyarent as good as Kendeil anyway.
Most axial caps are sic/safco promisisc or prorelisic - again you can't get them and they aren't that good anyway.
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...so how do you know" they are not that good anyway? ??

ATB KH
 
Having just had my two 250CB amps serviced I dont actually see any improvement in what I am hearing. I had a few resistors that obviously had seen better days (cracked) nothing obvious was wrong visually.
After nearly 30yrs it seemed a good idea to have all the recommended parts replaced.
Would I spend the same money again.......nope.
If there is nothing obviously wrong with your kit I would spend the money elsewhere.
It may be a better option only to overhaul a pre amp, but again I think not. I have a 72 pre and a 32, both are getting on a bit now, I have done plenty of back to back comparisons with them and I would say there is barely any difference in what I hear between the two.
If it aint broke dont fix it.
 
cromodora said:
Naim have always maintained that what look cheap bits inside their kits are hand selected cheap bits.
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Hand selected for cost! they use nothing special apart from the tants and feedback caps and they are selected for the "Naim" sound rather than fidelity.

Pete
 
finkaudio said:
I have bad experience to replace the original tantalum with something else. The highly recommended Vishay BC128 did not do the job at all for me and I also tried all sorts of available Tantalum. All Kemet and AVX I could get have been different from the original ones in sound and they also looked different. Colour was the same, but the printing on it was different and sound as well.

At the end, I used the original ones and I'm happy with the result.

To be honest, I like the NAIM sound and changing it with different components makes no sense to me. There are a lot other amps around which do "HiFi", but if it comes down to fun, a Naim is difficult to beat.

Just my 2c ....
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Completely agree, if you need to change the sound with different components maybe it's best to choose a different make as the parts are chosen to fall in line with the Naim sound,
I believe this of any make or model, not a big believer in modifying, I think it's more down to people wanting to mess rather than improve as I am yet to hear a piece of equipment that has improved in sound after modification. Usually takes away the original, intended sound & becomes sterile & "hifi" rather than musical.
 
I have serviced and modified a lot of Naim stuff its easy to work on and improve, some basic wiring faults in the 250 really mess up the sound.
As to being sterile and HiFi think more natural and accurate rather than Naims house sound.

All the basic circuits in the chrome bumper era are the same form the cheapest to the most expensive they are just made to sound less good than the model above, some just by the layout.

Pete
 
Pete MB&D said:
I have serviced and modified a lot of Naim stuff its easy to work on and improve, some basic wiring faults in the 250 really mess up the sound.
As to being sterile and HiFi think more natural and accurate rather than Naims house sound.

All the basic circuits in the chrome bumper era are the same form the cheapest to the most expensive they are just made to sound less good than the model above, some just by the layout.

Pete
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Remember reading a review back in the early noughties, it was a group test of cd players, Naim cd5i was one amongst many, it came out on top where sound was concerned yet measured the worst on the bench, it was quite poor compared to most of the other models yet sounded more musical, expressive & natural, accurate & neutral isn't always what is needed so as I said earlier maybe best to choose another make if mods are needed otherwise it just takes away the Naim sound which is designed, be it right or wrong according to engineers, to sound a certain way.

Can't remember the last time I went to see a live band that sounded accurate & neutral, these are typical hifi terms imo & nothing to do with musical expression & passion.
 
If you bought a TV and the picture had a colour cast engineered into it by the manufactures you would take it back, wouldn't you?


The emotion come from the performance not the equipment.


Pete
 
Pete MB&D said:
I have serviced and modified a lot of Naim stuff its easy to work on and improve, some basic wiring faults in the 250 really mess up the sound.
As to being sterile and HiFi think more natural and accurate rather than Naims house sound.

All the basic circuits in the chrome bumper era are the same form the cheapest to the most expensive they are just made to sound less good than the model above, some just by the layout.

Pete
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I'll definitely not start a fight about those things and I don't know how much you know the NAIM people. At least I can say I know them, so my knowledge of the way they create the sound is based on personal experience with people. And they are not stupid either and know the schematics well - and the way they work.

Do you know what my problem is with most forums in general? I work as loudspeaker designer and I'm running an engineering company since almost 30 years so I know a few things about them. If I want to get a feeling for a forum, I look at the part that is about speakers. And after a few pages I normally walk away, as I cannot believe the know how level of the things i want to learn is much higher than the know how about speakers.
Unfortunately, in the Internet things suddenly turn from wrong into true if you only repeat them often enough.


But again, no fights please. Everybody should keep his opinion:p I hope to get a 250 next week, so I can check if they really have some basic wiring faults :eek:
I used a 300 for some years and I liked them. And right now, I have a NAP160 on my NAC252 and like it as well - that's the important bit for me.

Can you please explain the faults they should have?

Best regards

KH
 
Pete MB&D said:
If you bought a TV and the picture had a colour cast engineered into it by the manufactures you would take it back, wouldn't you?


The emotion come from the performance not the equipment.


Pete
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...good example!

Do you remember SONY Triniton TV sets?? They made a kind of bold, saturated colourful picture and people loved it. It was far away from being neutral (the greenest green I have ever seen, but it was fun to watch and they got a lot of good reviews and some said, they created the best picture.
Or do you remember Fuji Velvia film? They created great colours for landscape and they NEVER have been neutral, but with a pleasant character.
Some films made great skin tones, others have been super sharp and got high contrast.

So in that contest, NAIM can voice things as they like and it's up to you or me to like it ore not :D

Best KH
 
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