New naim vs old?

[Charlie_1]

I find modern Naim 'can' over emphasis the beat somehow, but not exactly sure what I'm picking up on. It gets a bit annoying though. It's as if the beat is everything and it really gets stomped home every time. The further back I go the less I hear this, 12/BD 160 being the antithesis, as is the Nait 1 / 2, but the early Naits are a law unto themselves. But perhaps it can be reduced with setup or some models on their range are worse than others.

I've also noticed, at times, even with some CB era pre amps, that notes decay too quickly, they don't slowly fade away like they should. Perhaps that's part of it too.

 

[DavidS]

A fresh serviced Nait 3 is just fine.
OP risk loosing money if selling
Better find other duties or keep as spare.

As long as speakers are a good match, not a very hard load, in-effective etc. a Nait will often be a good solution if the sound float your boat.

Next step could be a 102/180
Around same era as Nait 3 and the seperates similar 92/90.3 amp.
PSU such as Napsc and Hicap
Service the kit and OP is way up the ladder.

No idea what source and speakers intended, but some mediocre to budget sources can end as horrible if a very revealing amp is inserted.

I have used various Naim items for decades, CB, Olive, Black, even BD.
Most were great but with differences.
If OP is satisfied with his Nait, then try whatever available within budget, sometime its free hi-fi due to good resell value.

I would however avoid those individual items which is not serviceable, not knowing a full list of these but old CD players of course and perhaps the original NAC 112 ?

I may be wrong but wasn't there a mod for the Nait3 to allow it to be used with a hicap ?

FWIW I should have ended my Naim journey with 72/250.As I went up the ladder the system got better and worse at the same time and became frustrating for me.

 

[ariegur]

I had at home Supernait. It sounds different from my 82/250 especially in the speed area in which the supernait betters the 82/250. I went many years ago from nait3 flatcap to 72 HiCap. If you like the sound of the nait3 then going to the 72 is a safe path that you will enjoy.
if you like remote, going to 102 is a great upgrade to the nait3 too.

Arye

 

[PerF]

I may be wrong but wasn't there a mod for the Nait3 to allow it to be used with a hicap ?
.

Naim once sold a kit to convert a Nait 3 to Nac 92 , if memory serve.

I'm not sure if the Nait 3R was PSU ready, but Nait 5 was.

 

[Colonel_Mad]

I wonder if Naim will update their look any time soon? Black/Silver was late 70s and 80s. Olive 90s to early 2000s. It's 20 years nearly now since the last make over.

 

[pocketkitchen]

I may be wrong but wasn't there a mod for the Nait3 to allow it to be used with a hicap ?

FWIW I should have ended my Naim journey with 72/250.As I went up the ladder the system got better and worse at the same time and became frustrating for me.

Yes, there was, it split the pre and power sections so you could add a power supply between them. If I remember correctly, you used a snaic pre section to PSU and another PSU to power section.

 

[Bob Edwards]

I may be wrong but wasn't there a mod for the Nait3 to allow it to be used with a hicap ?

FWIW I should have ended my Naim journey with 72/250.As I went up the ladder the system got better and worse at the same time and became frustrating for me.

I agree. I should have stopped with 72/HC/250 (all olive) driving either SBLs or ProAc Response 2.5s. That said, the system I have now (Exposure 3010S2 CD to Naim DAC to 3010S2 pre to 28 power amp to Monitor Audio Gold 300GX) is the most satisfying I have owned (though still early days!).

And there was a modification to let the Nait3 use a power supply. Relatively easy.

 

[Labravier]

pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/how-to-split-naim-nait-3.189924/

 

[matfff]

Teddy PSU’s sound better and are cheaper than their Naim counterparts. Keep an eye on a well known auction site, they do come up every so often, the dual Teddy is a real jewel.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

Teddy PSU’s sound better and are cheaper than their Naim counterparts. Keep an eye on a well known auction site, they do come up every so often, the dual Teddy is a real jewel.

They sound better to some, not all.

 

[Timcat]

Plus I believe (judging by pfm/ebay adverts) that Naim would sometimes update chrome bumper to "olive" cases if asked during a service.

Hence some chrome bumper models might be remembered as "olive" whilst some genuine chrome bumper era models might now how have "olive" cases!

Confused?

They put a current design black front panel on a Olive 250 for me during a service, to match the stack of black Naim boxes I had around 2005. So I would think that this is almost certainly the case.

 

[Timcat]

Come to think of it, I have that 250 and an Olive 72/HiCap combination, all of which were serviced by Witch Hat earlier this year, sitting around doing nothing.

MrDTuk, if these are of any interest to you please PM me.

 

[PhilDick]

They sound better to some, not all.

I tell you what sounds even better - No pre at all .
I have my streamer (with volume control) straight into a 250. It has made my 82, dual Avondaled HI-CAPS and NAPSC redundant.

 

[Rosie]

I've not heard the 250DR , I always prefered olive and CB poweramps over the all black classic range power-amps pre DR , the modern sound is a bit darker not sure how that would work . Mixing new pre amps with older power amps can work very well IMHO .

 

[Tony Lockhart]

I tell you what sounds even better - No pre at all .
I have my streamer (with volume control) straight into a 250. It has made my 82, dual Avondaled HI-CAPS and NAPSC redundant.

I’ve a Yamaha streamer direct into my 180. Agreed.

 

[amazement]

I've not heard the 250DR , I always prefered olive and CB poweramps over the all black classic range power-amps pre DR , the modern sound is a bit darker not sure how that would work . Mixing new pre amps with older power amps can work very well IMHO .

Yes, i’m using a Uniti Atom with a nap 140, an amazing pairing that i’m enjoying immensely.

 

[tiggers]

Plus I believe (judging by pfm/ebay adverts) that Naim would sometimes update chrome bumper to "olive" cases if asked during a service.

They certainly did, two of my 135s started life as chrome bumper models and were changed 10 years later by Naim to Olive cases.