Nait

[coltrane]

What ever happened to the Nait 4?

I read somewhere on a Naim topic that once the late Vereker had been on holiday and by the time he got back to the factory the desgin team came out with a surprise in the form of a much beefier version of the Nait 1 - which the boss didn't like at all. that may have been the 'lost' model 4

 

[Menace]

Red led nait my first foray into naim, wish I'd kept it

 

[tenpercenter]

I’ve got a serviced green LED Nait 1 and it’s lovely. I’ve had Nait 2/3 in the past and the Nait 1 is the one to have for me, with well matched speakers ideally.

However I think my Myst Tma3 is a better sounding amp than any of the Naits! Such a well judged amp….

 

[coltrane]

...However I think my Myst Tma3 is a better sounding amp than any of the Naits! Such a well judged amp….

agreed> those Toshiba green/black MOS-FETs do make wonders - just as in Magnum amps

 

[Subito]

I loved my NAIT 1 (bought new in 1986 or so) and dearly wish I had hung on to it. But damn, the loud power-on thump was a bit disconcerting.

 

[Pete MB&D]

My red led Nait 1 sounds nice running some MS10’s in the kitchen.


Pete

 

[per-Sony-fied]

My Nait 1 with green LED (may have originally been red) is sitting in a Naim box where it has been for some years. I did some mods to it a long time ago fitting Schottky diodes & beefier supply caps. Also fitted some black gate signal caps from what I can remember. None too sure tho' it now sounds superior. Certainly runs out of oomph around 2 0'clock on the dial not sounding it's best. Also dislike its somewhat 2 dimensional sound staging.

 

[stevec67]

I’ve got a serviced green LED Nait 1 and it’s lovely. I’ve had Nait 2/3 in the past and the Nait 1 is the one to have for me, with well matched speakers ideally.

However I think my Myst Tma3 is a better sounding amp than any of the Naits! Such a well judged amp….

A mate had a Myst TMA 3, a battered example that he had had repaired and that I sold on here as a resto project. It was a Naim- like sound. I prefer the Nytech to either, but the build quality is poor.

 

[linnfomaniac83]

I’ve owned a Nait 1, 2, 3R and a 5i, they’re all great, all have their strengths and weaknesses. I personally preferred my 3R to the 1/2 as I felt it had all the musicality with better drive/control. The phono stage in the Nait 1 is a real peach with a good MM cartridge. My favourite overall is the Nait 5i, it’s got all the qualities of the others that I like (phono stage excepted), but with more body and slam, I adore that amp and they’re a real bargain too.

 

[booja30]

My Nait 1 with green LED (may have originally been red) is sitting in a Naim box where it has been for some years. I did some mods to it a long time ago fitting Schottky diodes & beefier supply caps. Also fitted some black gate signal caps from what I can remember. None too sure tho' it now sounds superior. Certainly runs out of oomph around 2 0'clock on the dial not sounding it's best. Also dislike its somewhat 2 dimensional sound staging.

Cash in on it then!

 

[Bangaio]

I had a Nait 3 which was just loads of fun - a bit impractical with modern electronics but paired with some Rega RS3s just made super music. Bags of depth and power and not subtle but did I say fun.

House move, change of kit and I went back to RS3s and this time a Nait 5i and couldn't be happier, It still has lots of that slam and drive and texture that the 3 produced but not a bit more refined plus I can move the volume dial up beyond 8 o'clock!

 

[hockman]

I've always liked the Nait 3 given that it was my first introduction to Naim and it was the only integrated amp that impressed me when I was looking for an upgrade from my NAD. Strangely even though it is supposed to be more powerful, it sounded dreadful with the IBLs (not a great combo because the speakers really need better amplification) whereas the low powered Nait 2 sounded fine.

 

[linnfomaniac83]

I had a Nait 3 which was just loads of fun - a bit impractical with modern electronics but paired with some Rega RS3s just made super music. Bags of depth and power and not subtle but did I say fun.

House move, change of kit and I went back to RS3s and this time a Nait 5i and couldn't be happier, It still has lots of that slam and drive and texture that the 3 produced but not a bit more refined plus I can move the volume dial up beyond 8 o'clock!

The Nait 5i is a bit of an unsung hero (at the moment anyway), I’ve owned a LOT of amps from Linn, Roksan, Rega, Meridian, Cyrus, Exposure and many more, the Nait 5i is a standout product, beautifully built, elegant, cheap (relatively) and it’s capable of driving most speakers to entertaining levels. It’s one of the few products that I won’t sell, a real keeper.

 

[deserter]

I've always liked the Nait 3 given that it was my first introduction to Naim and it was the only integrated amp that impressed me when I was looking for an upgrade from my NAD. Strangely even though it is supposed to be more powerful, it sounded dreadful with the IBLs (not a great combo because the speakers really need better amplification) whereas the low powered Nait 2 sounded fine.

In my experience the 3 really struggles with difficult speakers where the 2 doesn’t. I had a fully serviced 3 which clipped at almost any volume into Shahinian speakers, which the 2 drove beautifully . No idea why as I have zero understanding of electronics

 

[Pete MB&D]

I have
Tried my nait 1 into shahinian arc’s it sounds o/k but a bit short of power.


Pete

 

[stevec67]

We've had this before, but as the Nait 2 and probably also the 3 is essentially a NAC 32 (or is it 32.5?) preamp circuit board and a NAP 90 power amp in the same box, sharing a power supply, why are they generally recokoned to sound better than the NAC 32 and NAP 90 across 2 boxes?

 

[deserter]

Is this right Steve ? I don’t pretend to know the answer but having had a 1, still getting great pleasure out of my late model 2, and having had a couple of 3s, to me the 2 and 3 are like chalk and cheese, sound wise . The 2 is open and valve like, the 3 is much more forward and superficially seems more powerful and “fast” but personally I prefer the sound of the 2 . Also as I mentioned above, neither of my 3s could even pretend to drive Shahinian Larcs, let alone the bigger Shahinians . Which I know are difficult to drive, but the 2 managed it well.

 

[stevec67]

Is this right Steve ? I don’t pretend to know the answer but having had a 1, still getting great pleasure out of my late model 2, and having had a couple of 3s, to me the 2 and 3 are like chalk and cheese, sound wise . The 2 is open and valve like, the 3 is much more forward and superficially seems more powerful and “fast” but personally I prefer the sound of the 2 . Also as I mentioned above, neither of my 3s could even pretend to drive Shahinian Larcs, let alone the bigger Shahinians . Which I know are difficult to drive, but the 2 managed it well.

I think so. I don't know the details but my understanding is that each generation of Nait had the entry level pre and the lowest powered power amp in the one box and a shared PSU. So the nait 1 was probably a NAC 12 and NAP (?) 90, Nait 2 a NAC 32 and NAP 90, etc. Maybe they used the NAC 42 as an alternative. Either way it was a bit of a parts bin job. That's why the common upgrade route was to start with a Nait, then after saving up for a bit add a separate power amp, then add a power supply, you can see how you get through a few rounds of the upgrade path without having to throw away any components.

 

[deserter]

Didn’t the shoebox 110 predate the 90 ?

 

[S_J]

We've had this before, but as the Nait 2 and probably also the 3 is essentially a NAC 32 (or is it 32.5?) preamp circuit board and a NAP 90 power amp in the same box, sharing a power supply, why are they generally recokoned to sound better than the NAC 32 and NAP 90 across 2 boxes?

The Nait 3 had a NAC92 preamp section of course, not a NAC32. And I have never heard anyone say that a Nait 3 was better than a 2-box 92/90 combo. The Nait 2 was not exactly a 32 pre section - preamp PSU voltage was only 18V for a start, not 24V. A few other fudges in there as well. Grounding arrangement is probably better in a Nait 2, the Naim "grounding scheme" with pre/power boxes leaves much to be desired!