Old Naim Naits

[stevec67]

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

I remember auditioning decent integrated amps in 95 or 96. The Nait was 750, Exposure 2010 similar, Linn Intek £550, Audiolab 8000 700 ish, my favourite was the exposure but all were murdered by a Quad 33-303, the pair were sub 100.

I remember the Naim was harsh, the 8000 was nondescript and no better than my existing A400. The Intek was awful.

 

[Olsen]

I remember auditioning decent integrated amps in 95 or 96. The Nait was 750, Exposure 2010 similar, Linn Intek £550, Audiolab 8000 700 ish, my favourite was the exposure

It would have been a Nait 3 at that time

Didn't the 2010 Exposure arrive much later ?
Around 1999-2000 I guess

You might very well have heard the XX or XXV

 

[coltrane]

yes, Exposure launched the 2010 much later in the early 2000s (the 2010S was available in 2005 first)

 

[Martyn Miles]

I remember auditioning decent integrated amps in 95 or 96. The Nait was 750, Exposure 2010 similar, Linn Intek £550, Audiolab 8000 700 ish, my favourite was the exposure but all were murdered by a Quad 33-303, the pair were sub 100.

I remember the Naim was harsh, the 8000 was nondescript and no better than my existing A400.
The Intek was awful.

I’ve heard bad reports on the Intek.
Can’t recall it be mentioned much on PFM...

 

[Tony L]

I don’t remember the Nait 2 being anything like £750! I thought the later Nait 3 was only £500 or so wasn’t it? The 5 was well under a grand too IIRC.

The Nait 1 was somewhere around 200-260 over its run as I recall. About the same as an Onix but less than a Claymore.

 

[stevec67]

The Intek was awful and should be left to die if it hasn't already.

 

[Caledon1297]

Nait list prices:

1992 - £419.48 (Nait 2)
1993 - £437.10 (Nait 2)
1994 - £499.37 (Nait 3)
1995 - £549.90 (Nait 3)
1997 - £575 (Nait 3), £760 (Nait 3R)

 

[George J]

I bought a Nail 3 new in 1999, and I am fairly sure it was just a little over £600. With the CDS 3.5 is amounted to a round £1500, but the CD player was much more than half.

I do not have the original invoices now though.

Best wishes from George

 

[MJS]

Early Nait3s were prone to overheating, there's a simple fix when we service them, if it hasn't already been done.
It's a NAC92/NAP90 in a single box. You can make the pre-amp section dual rail with a decent dual-rail tracking pre-regulator. My colleague fits these and it really lifts the Nait3 into a different level.

 

[Charlie_1]

Nait2s have been selling for £450-500 for the last 10 years.
Some chancers do put them on eBay for £750 ...

Depends if they are recently serviced too.

Very good condition CB Nait 2's seem to fetch the most - they do look nice though.

 

[coltrane]

honestly, I don't know why they're so highly regarded. I owned two CB Nait 2s (and 3 Olive ones) but neither sounded as 'good' (i.e. transparent and musical) as my (green-LED - but I don't think that matters) Nait 1 at the time...

 

[booja30]

Why so many then?

 

[coltrane]

Why so many then?

'cos I'm a Naim fan, and past 53 years

 

[Martyn Miles]

Honestly, I don't know why they're so highly regarded. I owned two CB Nait 2s (and 3 Olive ones) but neither sounded as 'good' (i.e. transparent and musical) as my (green-LED - but I don't think that matters) Nait 1 at the time...

I wonder when we’ll get onto the contentious issue of whether a green or red LED Nait sounds better...

 

[MJS]

There was only one flavour of Nait1 regardless of LED colour.
There were three slightly different versions of the Nait2 and the only initial change was the constant current circuit driving the logo backlight between CB and Olive. The later ones had the option of butchering the phono stage into buffered CD input instead.

 

[Mr Pig]

The later ones had the option of butchering the phono stage into buffered CD input instead.

Why would you want a buffer on the CD input?

 

[Charlie_1]

There was only one flavour of Nait1 regardless of LED colour.

According to this article, the main board was revised over the years:
https://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/nait_e.html

"There are different versions of the Nait 1. The most evident difference between older and later models is the power-on led light: red on old ones, green on later models. But there's more: during the years (1983-1987) the mainboard has been revised several times. Revision numbers can be found on the mainboard. Mine, a later version with green led, has a Nait 1/rev.7 mainboard"

 

[Konteebos]

The Intek was awful and should be left to die if it hasn't already.

It was designed by a good friend of mine, but I never liked it, either...

 

[MJS]

Most Naim amps go through board layout revisions. I'm just saying that the component revisions were minimal.
I don't know why they did the Nait2 CD like they did. I don't have a circuit to hand.

 

[Taff63]

I remember auditioning decent integrated amps in 95 or 96. The Nait was 750, Exposure 2010 similar, Linn Intek £550, Audiolab 8000 700 ish, my favourite was the exposure but all were murdered by a Quad 33-303, the pair were sub 100.

I remember the Naim was harsh, the 8000 was nondescript and no better than my existing A400. The Intek was awful.

The Intek was as grey and utterly uninspiring to listen to as it was to look at.