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Old Naim Naits

The only Nait I've got or heard is a Nait 3 that I picked up 2nd hand for somewhere under £200 and for that price it seems a bargain. Not sure I'd have wanted to pay list price for it though.

These days it's kept as a backup but I used to use it on my living room system and liked it well enough.
 
Taff63 said:
The Intek was as grey and utterly uninspiring to listen to as it was to look at.
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Wow - that's pretty damning.

I recall around 1990 comparing a Linn integrated to the Exposure XV - I wonder if that was the Intek. I couldn't get on with the Linn at all - it sounded synthetic/plastic and didn't draw me in much. Bought the Exposure which stayed in my system for about 15 years. Don't think I compared it to the Nait 2 at the time due to the cost difference.
 
Re The Linn Intek - agree - not great! I had one for a short space of time. Bought new, and very soon (lasted a month IIRC) traded it in with the same dealer for 2nd hand Naim 62/140 they'd just taken in part ex.
 
Taff63 said:
The Intek was as grey and utterly uninspiring to listen to as it was to look at.
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That was my feeling and I was a Linn fanboi at the time. I'd recently bought *My First LP12* and very good it was too, and I'd had some Linn Keilidhs for a couple of years, and very good they were too. I was looking for an upgrade on a Pioneer A400 , I had a bit of dosh, well it has to be a Linn, doesn't it? Er, no. I'm not having that at any price.

At around this time iirc the pre section from the Intek went into the Linn Wakonda, which was their entry level pre. That too wasn't liked. I don't know what power they offered at that time.
 
What about other Linn amplifiers?
I quite liked the look of their first amp.
It looked ‘sort of Quad’ to me.
Not the same shape, but the somewhat understated design.
 
Martyn Miles said:
What about other Linn amplifiers?
I quite liked the look of their first amp.
It looked ‘sort of Quad’ to me.
Not the same shape, but the somewhat understated design.
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Ask 10 people and get 10 different answers I reckon.

Not heard the LK1/LK2 for decades. I compared that to Exposure pre/power at the same time (maybe Naim too), prior to realising I 'needed' an LP12, hence only having enough cash left over for an integrated amp. The Linn pairing had that same synthetic sound compared to Exposure and I just didn't enjoy them as much. Of course, some folks heard them and fell in love with Linn amps from that day.

I own an LK Majik. It's much better suited to a pre-Cirkus LP12 than a modern one but even then it still sounds a bit mechanical to me - kind of CD like. I try it from time to time but it never lasts long. Much prefer the Creek 4140 which was half the price second hand (less than £100). Linnfomaniac is a fan so maybe he's found a way to make it sing or we just like different things.

I'd still very much like to hear Kairn/Klout properly.

Modern Linn amps sound much more natural. They are sometimes decribed as thin and analytical but I don't really hear that in most all-Linn setups. They make it very easy to follow the music which suits me very well. However, they're sometimes a bit boring compared to a humble Nait, back on topic :)
 
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For a small room, Akurate Kontrol/D and a 5125/D active into a pair of Katans is a pretty good way to listen to music. Although an Exposure integrated into Harbeth P3 ESRs was possibly a bit less boom tizz. Tried a Nait when I had Kans with an Exposure Super XV and found it to be somewhat coloured in comparison, although I could hear why people might like it, it lacked the grip and welly of the Exposure.
 
Someone should dig out that old HFW/TomTom piece comparing the Naits.

FWIW, I've owned a 3 and four 2s. The Nait 2 is vastly overpriced on the secondhand market. In a small room, with the right speakers, it's amazing. I sold my 252/Scap/135s to pay for a wedding (mine), and the 2 I bought, for £150, and which I had serviced, was outstanding as a replacement. Another, even in the same room with the same setup, was not so successful. At a later date, in a larger room, with Harbeth Compact 7s, a third was just rubbish. A fourth, which I bought for a friend in 1998, continues to sound superb with Rega Kytes.

At their best, they have a zest which is infectious, and which blinds you to their other shortcomings. At their worst, with complex material, pushed too hard, they just shriek.

The 3 is probably a much better second hand proposition. It's more accommodating, and more propulsive. But it is weirdly coloured, with a very nasal mid/top, and a punchy but slightly detached bass.

At that sort of price/expectation level (and I know this is a bit leftfield), I'd much prefer an NVA AP50.
 
I don't read many audio magazines. But when I do I LOL at the adjectives and metaphors used to describe the sound.
 
booja30 said:
To be fair almost every HiFi magazine review smells a bit like BS to me.
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I wasn’t aware how much they’ve changed. I bought HFN as I wanted to read about the new Rogers
LS3/5a Classic.
Couldn’t believe some of the other kit they’d reviewed, if only the prices.
Do they really think normal folk are going to pay £6150 for a phono preamp ?
I feel HFN has lost direction...
 
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