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What price nostalgia for beloved NAC52

James

James

Lord of the Erg\o/s
I have to confess my favorite preamp is the Naim NAC52, which I sold to a friend when I excommunicated myself from the Naim church around 2005. He offered the 52 back to me a few years ago when he upgraded to 552, but I turned down the offer. My friend passed away about a year ago, and I found that he kept the 52 boxed up. His widow asked me to help sell a few of his surplus kit (not the 555, 552 and 500 I should clarify) but the 52 is not selling despite a ridiculously low starting price. I think the absence of a matching Supercap might be discouraging buyers.

So that got me thinking about whether I should buy it and wait for a Supercap or buy a new Teddy Supercap.

The pros are:
  • I will have a full-function preamp with mono switch, tape loop and up to six line inputs
  • My lone olive box ('Geddon) will have some visually-matching company
  • It will make my hifi even PRATier than ever!
The cons are:
  • I'll have to re-terminate one end of all my interconnects with DIN plugs
  • Doing so will make my other two or three RCA-terminated preamps difficult to swap in an out
  • It'll need recapping, which I'm inclined to try doing myself (it's just a few caps to be replaced, right?)
  • I don't really have the shelf-space
I feel like I should walk away, but nostalgia keeps drawing me in. Please talk some sense into me.
 
You’ll get no sense from me, I’m afraid. It’s one of those bits I’ve always wanted, having knocked me out whenever I got to hear one. Sadly, I don’t have the cash. Awesome things.
 
To better help you, we would need to know what other preamp(s) and amp(s) you own.................
I'm a big fan of vintage Naim and Exposure but that doesn’t mean all the others are (that) bad.
 
Gervais Cote said:
To better help you, we would need to know what other preamp(s) and amp(s) you own.................
I'm a big fan of vintage Naim and Exposure but that doesn’t mean all the others are (that) bad.
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I have (and am currently using) a vintage Pioneer C-21 (1970s). I also have a Copland CTA-301 mk1 valve preamp (from the turn of millennium) and a Densen B-250 from 2005. My main power amp options are 125W Densen B-350 monos (replaced a pair of NAP135s for the better) or 30W class-A Pioneer M-22.
 
So the ‘con’ is that you (an obvious hi-fi enthusiast and box-swapper) will have to spend time tinkering with your hi-fi? You’ll have to rearrange things and fiddle with cables?

And the ‘pro’ is that you will get what you already regard as the best solid-state pre-amp that costs less than a new car?

I wouldn’t give up my 52, and neither should you - at least not for a second time. Sell all pre-amps that you know make less enjoyable music and use the money to get a Supercap (any SC will do). If there is cash left over, use it to get servicing/ recapping done by a well-known authorised agent.

Be fair: you are only asking because you know the right answer and you want it to be our fault when you do what you have already decided to do.

Or you can decide to keep the Densens, if you think you’ll be able to stop wondering about Naim afterwards.
 
Buy it, get it re capped, get some dedicated cables, they don't have to break the bank, drag it out for high days and holidays and listen to the stuff you and your friend enjoyed, whilst raising a glass and rekindling fond memories. You know you want to!
 
Definitely buy it, if price is bad for your friends memory. Even if you pass it on later at a gain, gives you something to do something good with.
 
James said:
I have (and am currently using) a vintage Pioneer C-21 (1970s). I also have a Copland CTA-301 mk1 valve preamp (from the turn of millennium) and a Densen B-250 from 2005. My main power amp options are 125W Densen B-350 monos (replaced a pair of NAP135s for the better) or 30W class-A Pioneer M-22.
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In terms of power amps, you’re more than good IMO.
It’s unfortunate we are so far from each other because otherwise, I would bring you my little and humble (not to say cheap) Classe Audio CP35 from the 90’s to give it a try and you would quickly realize all the PRaT is there while being very natural with a super sweet treble. This little pre beats the crap of many much more costly units from Naim and others.........and don’t get me wrong, as mentioned earlier, I'm a big Naim fan.
Anyway, worst case, a Naim pre such as the one you’re looking at will keep its value over time and will be easy to sell at a good price so not a bad move whatsoever.
 
I can't believe any decent 52 wouldn't sell at the market price even if you have to wait for a bit. But in any event you should buy it.
 
You are not helping my rational brain, but my emotional heart is grateful for your encouragement.

Can anyone comment what recapping a NAC52 might entail?
 
James

Here in the United States a complete rebuild for a NAC52 is $1,595 in US dollars, of course. The company that does the work, AVOptions.com, has a long time connection to the Naim factory. I believe the principal worked for Naim in the good ole days. Go to their website and you’ll find exactly what they do if you wish to compare to local alternatives. Here they are considered pricey but the work is also considered impeccable.
 
Clay B said:
Here in the United States a complete rebuild for a NAC52 is $1,595 in US dollars, of course. The company that does the work, AVOptions.com, has a long time connection to the Naim factory. I believe the principal worked for Naim in the good ole days. Go to their website and you’ll find exactly what they do if you wish to compare to local alternatives. Here they are considered pricey but the work is also considered impeccable.
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To be clear, this is a “rebuild”, not a standard Naim service/recap. A standard service would be much less involved. That said, when sending something to Focal/Naim North America for service, it’s hard not to have a nagging thought about what the full rebuild might add!
 
ChrisS said:
To be clear, this is a “rebuild”, not a standard Naim service/recap. A standard service would be much less involved. That said, when sending something to Focal/Naim North America for service, it’s hard not to have a nagging thought about what the full rebuild might add!
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Any way you slice it, AVOptions is a huge rip off. The price list doesn't offer anything other than rebuilds.

Note their pricing for the extremely gullible NAIT2 owner: $1395 for a 'rebuild', $1795 for a rebuild with a Powercon input socket and 'deep cryo' power cord, $2995 for the 'AVO ultimate upgrade'.

How about $595 for a HiCap rebuild? There are four tantalum caps ($4 for 4 AVX) and two large filter caps ($44 for two Vishay 15000uF 63V). It takes about 15 minutes.

So much BS.

@James, if you get it, DIY and spend the money you saved on a vacation. :)
 
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Also, I'd say don't buy the 52. You made the call to sell the Naim at some point. Don't let nostalgia rule your world! If you do you’ll probably end up with a full olive stack again (in addition to everything else) and then start to wonder why.
 
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For me, James, it's a simple question. Will I really use it? If not, and it's only a 'souvenir' of nostalgia, then I'd pass.

It's not like trying out a coveted piece of gear. In this case we are familiar with what it can and can't do and why we gave it up in the first place. It's like that exciting great old girlfriend, we may reminisce with nostalgia but ultimately there was a good reason for the breakup. :D
 
James, let me do you a favour, since you got me stuck with Naim Separates, when I could have stayed blissfully ignorant with the integrated!

Don't even bother going down this path. The cons outweigh the pros. You'd need to get the power supply, and all that extra faffing around getting it serviced and such. You'll end up destabilizing your system (like what happened with me for a little while). If you moved it on, you had a reason to do it. No point having regrets and trying to revisit it. If you really decide to do all this, you might put it in and then think, it wasn't as good as you remembered.
 
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