[havon]

I have been battling out which amp to get.....both are fairly similar spec wise.  I have heard the Naim....if I bought Bryston it would be sight-unheard.  There are some great deals on used B60R's....I just want to make sure I am making the right choice.  Any info would be greatly appreciated!  FWIW, I will be driving a pair of Dynaudio Focus 110's or Salk Song Towers.  Either pair will 4ohms per speaker.  The source will lossless streaming from my apple TV through an ext. dac.  Thanks for your help!

[Stu Pitt]

Both are excellent integrateds, and it's very hard to go wrong with either one.  I was going to buy a Nait 5i until I came across my B60...

The B60 does a lot of things better than the Nait.  The Nait has more of a wall of sound approach, whereas the B60 is far more 3D sounding.  The B60 sounds a little cleaner, but it's a bit richer and fuller, and more detailed.  It's more polished.

The Nait is more in your face (in a positive way) and aggressive sounding.  The B60 is a tad smoother, and is neither laid back, nor up front.

If you buy the Nait, it sounds far better with DINs than RCAs, and Naim's speaker cable. 

I'm not bashing the Nait in any way!   It's a fantastic amp.  Had I not found a second hand B60 with the options I wanted for the price I did, I'd have easily bought a Nait and lived happily ever after. 

[BrysTony]

An important consideration: Naim - 5 year warranty vs. Bryston 20 year warranty.

Tony

[lanchile]

My vote goes to Bryston B60R. it is build like a tank, will last you for a lifetime and more, sound quality is excellent and did I mention the 20 years warranty?.

PS: I just checked the inside of Naim 5i and it is not even close to the quality of Bryston B60R.
 Bryston wins hands down!!!

[harbies]

B60R anytime. Dual toroids, more sophisticated power supplies, heat sinking, protection circuitry, not to mention pride of ownership. The B60 output circuit looks conceptually similar to its bigger brethren. Now thats value!

[havon]

Thanks for all of the replies. I appreciate your input. Regarding the warranty, that concern is at the bottom of my bucket. I mean, a 20 year warranty is great…and unheard of these days. But a 20 year (or even 5 years in the Naim's case) is practically useless if a company ceases to exist or changes ownership during the period of one's warranty. Now I'm not saying Bryston or Naim are on the brink of collapse or in the process of being bought buy a bigger fish. All I am saying is that a great deal can happen in 20 years (or 5). So with that, the added fact of a warranty is just a nicety at this point...albeit a real nice teansferable bonus!! In regards to the Naim, I highly doubt the Naim will offer me a transferable warranty. The reason I speak of transferable a warranty is I plan on buying used. Additionally, I have always assumed a certain amount of liabilty when buying used gear…I mean, it's standard hat when buying used gear that the warranty does not transfer or is no longer valid. As consumers, I think we justify the lack of a warranty when taking into account the amount of cash we saved because we bought used. Because of that, I have always just assumed whe buying used gear that the warranty is expired or NT.

Basically, my main concern (and most important) is sound quality. I want the best my money can buy (in my prince range). If the Bryston is superior…well then we all now the answer. I must admit, there is something more asthetically pleasing to me on the old square black faced 60R's when compared to the Naim.
 

[Stu Pitt]

This is a Bryston board, so take what we say here within context.  Post this same question on the Naim forum, and it'll be the same, only they'll all recommend Naim.  People recommend what they own.  And why not, they bought it for a reason, right?

Both are excellent integrateds.  They sound similar in some ways, yet different in others.  I prefer the B60, but notice I didn't say it blows the Nait out of the water.  When I bought my B60 and brought it to the Naim dealer (such great people), we compared it to the Nait 5i.  The dealer agreed it was a better integrated, as it should be for the extra money.  He didn't think it was night and day better, and he preferred the Nait, but he said it was a great integrated and that I should keep it, all with a straight face.  He also said he wished his brands had the customer service and support that Bryston has.  Naim does a great job at that, but no one does it like Bryston.

Bryston's warranty is transferrable.  Not only does it give you piece of mind when buying it used, but it helps it hold value far better.

The inside of the B60 looks better than the Nait's, but the Nait isn't junk by any means.  It's very well built.

[havon]

Stu…I agree, and realize the subjectivity of posting a question like mine on a bb like this. I haven't done too much browsing for a Naim board…do you have any links to a board that you feel might objectively be able to answer the same question I posted here (atleast as objectively as possible)…you know, try to get the "other side of the story" type thing…a little crossfire action.

[Stu Pitt]

The Naim forum is available through Naim's webpage.  This forum's a lot more objective than that one is.  There are some very knowledgable people there, and a lot of great info.  Naim guys may be the most fanatic in hifi.

I guess most non-brand forums would be pretty objective.  The guys here are pretty good.

Granted, I'm on a Bryston board and own a B60, but I consider myself pretty objective.  I demoed both side by side.  I really like the Naim sound, but at the end of the day I found the B60 better.  The sound was what truly made up my mind, and the other stuff was icing on the cake.  What good is a 20 year transferrable warranty and great support if you don't like the gear?

The Naim guys will tout PRaT and say Naim's the only one who truly gets it.  Trust me, others get it too.  Bryston definitely gets it, as do several others.  I think PRaT may be the single most important aspect to my ears, but that doesn't mean it's the only aspect.  In hifi ways, the B60 trumps the Nait in every way.  The Naim guys will agree with that.  But the B60 boogies and grooves just as good as the Nait does.

If you're serious about buying a Nait, you really need to look at the rest of the system.  Naim just doesn't sound right with most non-Naim gear.  The only other CDP/DAC brand I'd pair up with it would be Rega.

Speakers are a bit easier to pair up with the Nait.  Naim's speakers are a very acquired taste IMO.  The Dyn Focus 110 pairs up pretty well with the Nait.  Not the absolute best pairing IMO, but it sounds great nonetheless.  If you've got a larger sized room, it may struggle a bit.  The B60 sounded better with the 110s to my ears.  Yes, I auditioned them with my B60 and a Nait, side by side.

The B60 had a bit better grip and controlled them a touch better.  The Nait loosened up a bit (I guess that's the best way to describe it) when pushed a little, whereas the B60 composed itself better when pushed a bit further.

Again, I really like the Nait.  I'm not bashing it in the least bit.  With the Dyns, which I didn't buy, the B60 sounded better.  With other some other speakers like Linn Katans, the gap was narrowed.  The 110s aren't too hard to drive, but they're not the easiest by any means.  I think Bryston's dual mono power supply definitely helped keep control a bit better.

If I didn't come across the B60 I bought, which had the right options and price from the right guy, I'd have bought the Nait.  No question about it.  It's an excellent amp.  Not sure what your source currently is, but if you go the Naim route, you won't be happy over the long haul without either a Naim CDP/DAC or a Rega.  If you buy a Nait and not a Naim CDP, be prepared to buy a DIN to RCA interconnect.  The DIN inputs are a good bit better than the RCAs.  Naim doesn't truly shine until you take advantage of their star grounding scheme, which only really works through DINs and works best with Naim sources, because the were designed to do so.

Just some thoughts.  Also keep in mind that Bryston costs far more in Europe than in the US, thus widening the gap in the cost to sound quality ratio, further influencing the European guys' VFM with the Nait over the B60.  If I were in the UK, I'd buy a Nait over a B60 too.  Bryston gear is pretty much double what it costs here. 

[Stu Pitt]

Funny thing about the price difference in the UK is the British mags still consider Bryston a great value over there.  That says something about Bryston's worth IMO.