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The Naim sound for £1k

CTank

CTank

pfm Member
Somehow or other, I’ve not owned any Naim kit in 30 years of having a HiFi system. I’m thinking now might be the time to rectify that.

Current system is Epos ES14’s, Pioneer A400, Denon DCD595 (no digital out), Project DS DAC, XBox One (as transport).

What would give the biggest chunk of that Naim flavour, for a budget of £1k?

I’m thinking 5i amp and CD player together, or blow the budget on a pre/power, and something cheap with coaxial out as a transport?

Any thoughts or obvious pitfalls. Take it as read I might hate the sound, this is just an opportunity to scratch the itch, and either keep, or move on.

Cheers, Jake
 
Yes keep the speakers, try a nait and see if you like it before going any further. Get a nait that will allow for an external p/s I don't remember if the 5i does, I like the plain 5, and I still have a 3 at home.
 
I picked up a NOS CD5i and a Nait 5i for about £900 earlier in the year. I tried them in the living room for a while into a pair of Scansonic MB-1s, with very satisfying results.

I think these represent excellent value, and feel like they’ll last forever.

Back in the day I had a CDS2/52/135s/SL2 setup, so the 5i setup is a nod to my HiFi roots!
 
2ndhandhifi have a 152XS and 155XS for just over a grand if you want to try a modern pre power. I was very tempted myself as I've not heard them.

If you want vintage then there are a few options but not sure how good it sounds with CDsince I'm vinyl only.

However, system synergy is important with Naim so your idea of 5i plus CD player is probably a safer one.
 
Nait 3 are super cheap and a great starting point. They are a good match with your Epos speakers. Just remember that olive and chrome bumper vintage Naim amps are fitted with DIN sockets other than the phono input. The 3 has a pair of RCA connectors for the Aux input that can be converted to a phono stage input.
Have fun!
 
Thanks for all the responses so far.

I’m not looking to change speakers at the moment, and SBL’s seem like a faff, and positioning would be an issue. At the moment the ES14’s can be pulled forward, and image better like that. I understand SBL need to be hard against the wall.

Probably looking at the current case models, although open-minded about olive. CB probably a bit too vintage, although I would like to hear an original Nait. Don’t want to buy a new cable loom though.
 
Just to add, I’ve remembered that my brother has a pair of boxed SBL in storage, so I could potentially audition these once the amplification is sorted.
 
Indeed yes, both a bit of a faff and best against the wall, scrub that! Epos are good with NAIM anyway.
 
CTank said:
I’m not looking to change speakers at the moment..
Click to expand...

No, I wouldn't either. A better amp and front end with the ES14s will sound better than crap in front of the SBLs anyway.

If it was me on the Naim hunt I'd probably be looking for a 72/140 pre-power. Probably exactly the kind of amp the ES14 was designed to work with. Be aware that Naim amps don't suffer poor front ends. A rubbish digital source in front of a Naim amp is not a cause for jubilation.
 
CTank said:
Just to add, I’ve remembered that my brother has a pair of boxed SBL in storage, so I could potentially audition these once the amplification is sorted.
Click to expand...

Well in that case if you have the time to set them up, try them out for free! Would be an interesting comparison.
 
Ok you can get the naim sound from a schiit saga at 250 , if you are quick

https://www.schiit.co.uk/schiit graded stock/Saga-Clearance

and put it with a schiit amp at 550 [ still have money left over !]

https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/142021-schiit-vidar-power-amp/

from their site


great you can use as monoblocks .. from the schiit site

Okay. Let’s blow up this high-end nonsense. Here’s your ultra-high-end amplifier, without the ultra-high-end price. Welcome to the revolution.

No-Excuses Amp, No-Brainer Price

Schiit Vidar is nothing less than a no-excuses, exotic-topology, Class-AB, linear-supply, microprocessor-controlled, power-doubling, dual-mono-ish, intelligently-managed, drives-almost-anything power amp. No Class D, no switching supplies, no fans, no compromises, nothing in the signal path but music—for a three-figure price tag.

Small Size, Big Power

Don’t let the compact size fool you—pick up the Schiit Vidar to get a real feeling for the beefy 600VA transformer inside. Vidar may be small, but it’s also a powerhouse, delivering 100W per channel into 8 ohms, doubling to 200W per channel into 4 ohms.

Stereo or Mono Flexibility

Combine the Schiit Vidar with a single-ended preamp like Saga for a complete system with insane, no-compromise performance—for just a little over a grand. Or, run two Schiit Vidar's from a preamp with balanced outputs (like our Freya) for true mono block performance and 400 watts per channel into 8 ohms.

Intelligent Oversight and Protection

The Schiit Vidar, has a microprocessor that oversees all important aspects of amplifier operation, from DC offset to over-current and over-temperature faults. This provides stable, safe operation without invasive current-limiting, fuses, or active devices in the power supply path. In English, Vidar makes sure it’s operating optimally at all times—and protects itself when it needs to, so you can be assured of excellent performance for a long, long time.

Made in USA. Really.

By “made in USA,” we mean made in USA.
 
As others have suggested, the Naim sound has evolved. Modern Naim is a very modern sound. Leaner, faster and more detailed than, say, a chrome bumper Nait.

I owned the above 112x/150x that I sold to Ponty and I loved them with Proac Tablettes, Flatcap 2 and CD5x. Great little system and a good place to start in my view. I got sucked in and climbed the ladder a bit after that.

However with those ES14s I would be more tempted to pair them with the classic 72/140. That is a very successful trio that largely defined what many people think of as the Naim sound.
 
I understand the ES14s were developed with a Naim 250 amplifier. It would be a big stretch to get a Naim 250 setup for £1k as the 250 doesn't have a power out to power a pre-amp, so you need a separate power supply. A 32.5/72 with a 250 and power supply would be a great naim setup. If you cannot stretch to the 250, then see if you can find a 110 or 160 which I much prefer to the 140. I ran an 82/Hi-Cap/250/ES11s for a few years and still have the ES11s.
 
Your speakers are very good sounding so I would not make any change here.
My personal choice would be a Naim NAC 32.5 with NAP 110 as it can be bought at a good price. A NAP 160 would be even better.
Just make sure they have been serviced or they are sold at a lower price to allow for servicing.
A beefier set up would be NAC 72/Hicap/NAP 250 and could be the last kit you will ever own............without having to change the speakers.
 
I dont think you need to go Naim to massively improve on what you currently have.

There are less popular options that sound at least as good for much less moolah allowing for improvements to the front end.

An Exposure X for instance or a lINN 5103/lk100 will be half the cost of an equivilent naim.

Heck a Creek 4040 or A&R A60 would be a big step up.
 
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