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Old Naim Naits

I had some difficulty attaching the Eichmann phono RCA plugs because the sockets are recessed. After reaming out the rear of the casing, I can finally connect my LP12 to try out the in-built MM stage. How does something as small and simple as a NAIT2 sound so good? 15W into 90dB/W NS-1000M seem a match made in heaven, with speed, dynamics, timing and timbral accuracy in spades.
 
@James,

I've never heard tell of someone so dedicated to an RCA plug that they'd prefer to ream out the back panel of their amp, rather than simply change out their plugs.

Call me a purist, but my shoebox NAITs have had better rate of return than bank GICs over the past three decades. Not that I'll ever cash them in, mind.

Thanks to your report of 'reaming', I've got that fingernails down a blackboard reaction playing on repeat.:eek:
 
I assure you the reaming was done with the utmost care. Once I had touched up the bare aluminum with black paint, you cannot tell it's been done.

It's not just the Eichmann RCA that don't fit. Neutrik Profi won't either.
 
They are pretty tight clearances. I've also come across more than one NAIT where the board had been (half) out for speaker socket repair and not aligned properly when put back in.

1806021-naim-nait-2-olive.jpg
 
Craig B said:
They are pretty tight clearances. I've also come across more than one NAIT where the board had been (half) out for speaker socket repair and not aligned properly when put back in.
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That's something we definitely paid attention to at the factory :/
 
MJS said:
That's something we definitely paid attention to at the factory :/
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I am confident that you and everyone involved at the factory took great care, Mark. I've had more than a few NAITs 1, 2 and 3 here that had obviously never had the sleeve off since after final testing, and all sockets were properly aligned.

The disappointing bit is that the misaligned example, pictured in post #224 above, had last been apart at Dimexis in Canada for a recap. Dimexis were our previous Naim distributor. Nowadays it is Plurison, operating as Focal Naim Canada and Focal Naim America. Plurison's service department are guilty of installing the IEC socket during a recap of the example pictured in #226. Perhaps the then NAIT owner requested such, and Plurison obliged, thinking there might be the sale of an equivalently priced power cord in it.

At least Naim made it easy for them by including a conveniently large pilot hole!

1458598-24404df7-naim-nait-2-for-sale.jpg
 
That would have been a good pun, Charlie. Sadly, the seller was Canadian, and spamming all of the 'audio marts' for maximum exposure/profit.

Funny thing is, the market is so small over here, that one can reverse trace a NAIT from current owner/seller back to previous owner(s), and even find out how the transactions all went via buyer feedback. I've watched one of my early NAITs sell twice on CAM, not including my sale to a fellow in New Brunswick. Everyone seemed happy, so that was good.

I keep hoping for the little bugger to show up for sale again fully serviced; I may even buy it, if it isn't too far away.
 
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Craig B said:
They are pretty tight clearances. I've also come across more than one NAIT where the board had been (half) out for speaker socket repair and not aligned properly when put back in.

1806021-naim-nait-2-olive.jpg
Click to expand...

I saw the ad for this amp on CAM. It looked like a pretty nice Nait 2 from the photos. Most of the Naits that come up for sale over here are in rough shape, and usually don't have the original box. Some have questionable servicing histories as well. Caveat emptor, etc...
 
rough edges said:
I saw the ad for this amp on CAM. It looked like a pretty nice Nait 2 from the photos. Most of the Naits that come up for sale over here are in rough shape, and usually don't have the original box. Some have questionable servicing histories as well. Caveat emptor, etc...
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Occasionally, a real minty example comes along, but, yes, fewer and further between as the years go by.

This one came up on CAM back in 2012 and had me sorely tempted, despite my already having an exact same minty example that likely came over in the same shipment. It had a full recap done by Manu for Dimexs back in 2005, and the owner hadn't used it for 2 years, having purchased a NAIT XS since, so it would likely have still been working to new spec. Original box, all packaging, manual, original bill of sale from 1990, and a baggie of original parts.

If it had been a CB NAIT 2, I would have bitten his arm off.

Mmmm, minty (just need to get a dry artists brush into those bottom corners):
403941-61654dd1-naim_nait_2.jpg


Nice arse too:
403940-484f6da2-naim_nait_2.jpg


If it is like others I've seen that have been done by Manu, those will be 10,000uF power supply caps:
403939-89d6a347-naim_nait_2.jpg
 
Antique BBC stuff is worth way more today than antique Naim stuff. LS3/5a vs. Nait 2. Unfair...
 
Lovely!

Re: your avatar, the first time I ever saw colour TV, Nancy Sinatra was on The Ed Sullivan Show, singing 'These Boots are Made for Walkin'.
 
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Craig B said:
That would have been a good pun, Charlie. Sadly, the seller was Canadian, and spamming all of the 'audio marts' for maximum exposure/profit.

Funny thing is, the market is so small over here, that one can reverse trace a NAIT from current owner/seller back to previous owner(s), and even find out how the transactions all went via buyer feedback. I've watched one of my early NAITs sell twice on CAM, not including my sale to a fellow in New Brunswick. Everyone seemed happy, so that was good.

I keep hoping for the little bugger to show up for sale again fully serviced; I may even buy it, if it isn't too far away.
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Oh, that's not good.

Will Naim (or Class A) convert UK amps to work in Canada?
 
jumbo said:
Because too much CB Naim Nait 2 is never enough.

https://gearpatrol.com/2020/04/27/hifi-records-cafe-owner-hi-fi-setup/
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"...at the end of the day this little (barely 12 watts/ ch) amplifier is so musically involving and sonically convincing, that you loose yourself in the records and forget all about this audiophila-nervosa syndrome"

I knew this to be the case when, for a laugh, I substituted my 52/135 with a newly acquired, factory-refreshed CB NAIT2 in my system. I guess the NAIT2 got the last laugh because it's still with me and the TOTL olive Naims are long gone.
 
Like you James I have my CB Nait2 running Yamaha NS-1000. (Not the monitor version)

With a Weiss DAC 202 as a source it sounds rather lovely.
 
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