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Old Naim Naits

George J said:
Strangely, and now I am going to profoundly disagree with you, the ESL is easily the least diffuse speaker ever made, or at least that I have ever heard. Incisive like a razor - in fact - but also as smooth as silk when the music is.
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Perhaps a poor choice of words? Although I'd hesitate to call them incisive. They have a gentleness and airiness to the sound which is very appealing, from what I've heard. I've heard three pairs over the years but I've never wanted to own them. I like the music to jump out at you where as the Quads paint a picture behind the speakers, which I think makes them so well suited to classical.

I've always used classic Linn speakers, Kans, Saras and Isobariks, and an interesting observation is that when you put enough Mana under Briks they beat the Quads at their own game! It's hard to believe that two speakers so different can sound so similar.
 
Mr Pig said:
Yes, but that only adds the problems of reproducing mainstream music and puts higher demands on the system.

If a recording is very clean and simple, say a bint singing and an acoustic guitar strumming along, the stereo playing doesn't have to work very hard to make sense out of it. The messed up recordings you describe are never going to sound as clean but a good system can still dig through the hash and get to the music underneath. The higher the percentage of recordings your system can make sound like music, the better it is. The recordings available, not the ones you've picked! If your system can make you love the music, however bad the recording, it's a good system.

It's surprising how many 'audiophiles' don't get this.
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Bint !
Gosh, the ‘Politically Correct’ PFM members will be after your blood.
 
Rushboy said:
Do you also know the newer amplifiers from exposure?
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I've heard a couple of them
Fine amplifiers but Farlowe era is more to my taste

Indeed go and listen to the new kit yourself
It very much depend on your own setup and taste

Its harder listening to the original stuff, its two decades old at least but sometime pop up secondhand
 
Olsen said:
Different

The X was noisy
XV / XX excellent and more powerfull than early Nait

Could live happy with either
Much better than nine out of ten boxes as of today
Just my opinion

Looking forward hearing the new Onix DNA
Fond memories of the OA21
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I'm curious: I owned 2 Xs, 2 XVs (MM and MC), and 1 Super XV, and I heard them having the same sonic signature - that is, they majored on warmth at the expense of openness and treble crispness combined with a slightly bloated bass, all compared to my ever-present Nait 3 MM, and sometimes the other Naits I had at the time. how did you find them sonics-wise vs. the Naits, I wonder?
 
Mr Pig said:
I think it might ;0)

Classical music is one of the easiest genres for a Hi-Fi to reproduce. Not what musical snobs want to hear but it's true. Rock and jazz are harder and it's here the Nait shows it's colours. It can separate piano or guitar notes and get the relationships between different instruments right as well as amps at almost any price. Can't do the body or scale but if you're trying to understand the soul of the music on a budget the Nait is a good way to go.

Or it was. When the price was sensible.
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What a load of codswallop.
 
Reading this thread has confirmed that whatever Mr Pig says/thinks is the exact opposite to what I think!

I love music, any music and happy to listen to it on any playback. All the rest is bollocks.

I love my tweaked NAIT 2, gives me 95% of my previous 72, Hicap & 250. Bargain, providing you don’t want to play at volume.
 
coltrane said:
I'm curious: I owned 2 Xs, 2 XVs (MM and MC), and 1 Super XV, and I heard them having the same sonic signature - that is, they majored on warmth at the expense of openness and treble crispness combined with a slightly bloated bass, all compared to my ever-present Nait 3 MM, and sometimes the other Naits I had at the time. how did you find them sonics-wise vs. the Naits, I wonder?
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I think I agree slightly on the Exposure warmth and the bas bloat
It wasn't considered any issue when used and various setup may differ
They were more powerfull and dynamic than a Nait 1 which like #2 & #3 have more leading edge

I didn't have them straight up against Naits but as stated, I could live with the musicality in any of them, not the noisy X though, perhaps it was faulthy
 
Spike said:
Reading this thread has confirmed that whatever Mr Pig says/thinks is the exact opposite to what I think!

I love music, any music and happy to listen to it on any playback. All the rest is bollocks.

I love my tweaked NAIT 2, gives me 95% of my previous 72, Hicap & 250. Bargain, providing you don’t want to play at volume.
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Hey Spike, what is that tweak your talking about?
 
My first Naim amp was a "brand spanking new" Nait 3.
I now use an olive Nait 2, and it's a much better sounding amp. The Nait 2 is punchy with a smooth top end; the Nait 3 was punchy with a not so smooth top end. The Nait 2 involves you; the Nait 3 lets you know when it's time to turn it off. I don't consider the Nait 3 as being in the same league as the Nait 2, or even close for that matter.
Naim got a lot of things right with the Nait 2, for pocket change...
 
I had an olive Nait 2 for years along with a pair of Elas, neither were perfect by any means and I never used them for my main setup... but when I was in the mood, and with the right music, they were still a joy to listen to. I sold them locally a couple of years back whilst house shopping, expecting I’d end up in a smaller property given I was looking for a bungalow... as it happens, I still have plenty of room and I wish I still had them.
 
Mr Pig said:
when you put enough Mana under Briks they beat the Quads at their own game! It's hard to believe that two speakers so different can sound so similar.
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If the game is being tuneless and arrhythmic then I can totally get behind this statement.
 
rough edges said:
My first Naim amp was a "brand spanking new" Nait 3.
I now use an olive Nait 2, and it's a much better sounding amp. The Nait 2 is punchy with a smooth top end; the Nait 3 was punchy with a not so smooth top end. The Nait 2 involves you; the Nait 3 lets you know when it's time to turn it off. I don't consider the Nait 3 as being in the same league as the Nait 2, or even close for that matter.
Naim got a lot of things right with the Nait 2, for pocket change...
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I get it.
You like Naits...
 
stevec67 said:
Hardly "pocket change" , it was about £750 in 1995. That's about twice that now, with inflation. I know that it was most of a month's salary after tax.
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I think the Nait 2 was discontinued in 1993 and replaced with Nait 3

No idea of exact Nait 3 pricing by then ?
750 seem a bit step

Perhaps someone recall Nait 2 retail price history, would guess max. 500-550
A true bargain
 
Nait2s have been selling for £450-500 for the last 10 years.
Some chancers do put them on eBay for £750 ...
 
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