[vinyl anachronist]

I'm an SET guy now, but only after many, many years of being a Naim guy.  I started off with a Naim NAIT 2 back in 1992, and that still might be one of my favorite integrated amps ever! I then turned the NAIT 2 into a preamp and added a Naim NAP140 power amp.  Then I bought a Naim CD3 CD player...it was the first CDP I owned that didn't die after two or three years.  I traded it in after a decade on a CDX2, which right now is the only Naim left in my system.  Something tells me I'll stick with Naim CD players indefinitely.

Over the years I've also owned an NAC 112X preamp, a Stageline, a Flatcap 2x, a NAIT 5i, and a bunch of Naim cables.  I like the speaker cable...cheap and effective.

Any other fans?  What speakers do you like to pair with Naim equipment?

[Zero]

At some point in the future, I plan on bringing back the Naim Nait 5i to match up with a pair of Spendor SP 3/1P's.

[vinyl anachronist]

At some point in the future, I plan on bringing back the Naim Nait 5i to match up with a pair of Spendor SP 3/1P's.

Wow, a person with SP3/1s!  That seems to be the one model of Spendor's Classic Line that no one talks about!  I find that frustrated, because the SP3/1P is the successor to the S20s, one of those great underappreciated audio products that came and went without anyone noticing.  I talk about the S20s in the next issue of TONE.

Naim is wonderful with Spendor and Harbeth.

[mcrespo71]

Flat earth all the way here.  Naim/Roksan/Dynavector/Neat/Rega.  I doubt I'll ever leave this camp.

[Zero]

V-A,

We SP3/1 owners are illusive creatures - but there are a few of us among you, hiding obscurely behind monikers as we sit idly by enjoying these classics!    I happened across the SP3/1's by chance - they now sit happily beside a pair of ACI Sapphire XL's. Talk about being spoiled eh? I don't deserve this stuff - but here I am.   

At the moment, its Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Kenny Wayne Shepard.  Odds are the night will be brought to a close with something like Smashing Pumpkin's.

Gotta love it.

[mcrespo71]

I'm an SET guy now, but only after many, many years of being a Naim guy.  I started off with a Naim NAIT 2 back in 1992, and that still might be one of my favorite integrated amps ever! I then turned the NAIT 2 into a preamp and added a Naim NAP140 power amp.  Then I bought a Naim CD3 CD player...it was the first CDP I owned that didn't die after two or three years.  I traded it in after a decade on a CDX2, which right now is the only Naim left in my system.  Something tells me I'll stick with Naim CD players indefinitely.

Over the years I've also owned an NAC 112X preamp, a Stageline, a Flatcap 2x, a NAIT 5i, and a bunch of Naim cables.  I like the speaker cable...cheap and effective.

Any other fans?  What speakers do you like to pair with Naim equipment?

I've heard Naim work well with Neat, Tannoy, Wilson, Spendor, and Naim speakers.  I one time heard a Nait 5i hooked up to Sonus Faber Cremona's and that was a terrible match.

[shakey]

I also had a full Naim system before going the tube route. My Naim system consisted on a Naim CD3, Nac72, Nap250 (x 2), flatcap, ProAc and Shahinian speakers.

These days I have an Emotive Audio Epifania and Vita monoblocks. I also have Wavelength Cardinal X-1's, Fi 2A3 Mono's, and a Blue Circle BC204. The Vitas drive rebuilt Quad ESL 57s, The BC204 drives Shahinian Diapasons.

If I had to go back to SS, Naim would be on my list. But since I don't, I love my Emotive/Quad system.

[vinyl anachronist]

Wow, another person who's gone from Naim to SET, and would consider going back to Naim one day.  Maybe it's because Naim equipment sounds different than most other equipment, just like SETs do, and that fans of both are more flexible and accepting of these variations.  I hate the "one true sound" concept, that everything has to strive for neutrality.  It's more fun when you hear something that's different, but pleasing to the ears.  I'm not talking so much about euphony, because I think SETs and Naim are more different in perspective and presentation, not tonality.  The same things are there that are exist in so-called neutral equipment, just in a slightly different order.  Does that make sense?

I was thinking about this the other day...if I sold my Yamamoto Sound Craft amp and preamp, and my Zu Druids, which Naims would I buy?  I'd probably go for the NAC202 preamp, NAP200 amplifier, and a Stageline with a Hi-Cap.  For speakers I would probably get Harbeth Monitor 30s, 40s if I could swing it (or even find a pair).

Of course I already own a Naim CDX2, so that wouldn't change at all!

[vinyl anachronist]

I'm an SET guy now, but only after many, many years of being a Naim guy.  I started off with a Naim NAIT 2 back in 1992, and that still might be one of my favorite integrated amps ever! I then turned the NAIT 2 into a preamp and added a Naim NAP140 power amp.  Then I bought a Naim CD3 CD player...it was the first CDP I owned that didn't die after two or three years.  I traded it in after a decade on a CDX2, which right now is the only Naim left in my system.  Something tells me I'll stick with Naim CD players indefinitely.

Over the years I've also owned an NAC 112X preamp, a Stageline, a Flatcap 2x, a NAIT 5i, and a bunch of Naim cables.  I like the speaker cable...cheap and effective.

Any other fans?  What speakers do you like to pair with Naim equipment?

I've heard Naim work well with Neat, Tannoy, Wilson, Spendor, and Naim speakers.  I one time heard a Nait 5i hooked up to Sonus Faber Cremona's and that was a terrible match.

I was able to match a Naim NAIT 5i to my Zu Druids, and it was a terrible match, too.  Very aggressive-sounding, with poor bass.  I thought it was the Zus at first, but when I mated them to SETs, I changed my mind in a hurry.

[Zero]

I must be behind the curve by a few months;  I just now read about Naim's latest integrated, the "supernait".  The name itself earns an entry into the "cornball" awards for product names - I am very interested to give this piece a whirl.

[TONEPUB]

We are on the short list to get a Super Nait but tomorrow or Thursday, we will have a full review of the Naim n-Vi.  It's a really cool piece of gear that I hated sending back!!!

Chances are good we will get the CD 555 too!  The guys at Naim, Chris West and Chris Koster (and the rest of the Naim USA crew) have been very cool and helped us out a lot.

I still have a few Naim goodies and am a big fan!

[vinyl anachronist]

We are on the short list to get a Super Nait but tomorrow or Thursday, we will have a full review of the Naim n-Vi.  It's a really cool piece of gear that I hated sending back!!!

Chances are good we will get the CD 555 too!  The guys at Naim, Chris West and Chris Koster (and the rest of the Naim USA crew) have been very cool and helped us out a lot.

I still have a few Naim goodies and am a big fan!

Me want SuperNait.  Me want CD 555, too.

[mcrespo71]

I must be behind the curve by a few months;  I just now read about Naim's latest integrated, the "supernait".  The name itself earns an entry into the "cornball" awards for product names - I am very interested to give this piece a whirl.

I am thinking about buying this, but a friend has a NAC202/NAP 200 available on the used market, so I'd probably go this route.

[TONEPUB]

Yes, but the SuperNait has a built in DAC and 80 wpc!!!

[PhishPhan]

I've heard Naim work well with Neat, Tannoy, Wilson, Spendor, and Naim speakers.  I one time heard a Nait 5i hooked up to Sonus Faber Cremona's and that was a terrible match.

It's interesting that Naim stuff seems to work well with UK speakers and not so well with others listed here like Sonus Faber and Zu. This is not my experience, in fact I have no experience with Naim stuff or any of the aforementioned speaker brands, but it is what I have read.

[mcrespo71]

Yes, but the SuperNait has a built in DAC and 80 wpc!!!

True, but I want to see how closely the SuperNait's Dac gets to a real Naim CD player.  It is an intriguing product and I am a Naim lover.

[rusty48]

We are on the short list to get a Super Nait but tomorrow or Thursday, we will have a full review of the Naim n-Vi.  It's a really cool piece of gear that I hated sending back!!!

Chances are good we will get the CD 555 too!  The guys at Naim, Chris West and Chris Koster (and the rest of the Naim USA crew) have been very cool and helped us out a lot.

I still have a few Naim goodies and am a big fan!

Me want SuperNait.  Me want CD 555, too.

OK, this may be 12 months later, but listen up.
I've just come into some money to spend specifically on hifi.
Current system is ANtt1 with modified RB300 (Cardas internal, Wasatch external) with Expressimo Heavyweight, Expressimo VTA, Ringmat Anniversary and Garrott P77; Original 2008F, Audio Research LS2, Quad 909, Yamaha NS1000m (I've replaced mids and tweets with new ones, rewired and recapped) and various cables MIT power, tmc, vdh 102mk111, tara labs, blue heaven.

It's almost there, but not quite... 
Could be the CD, LS2, 909 

So I went listening...  aa

To what? Boulder, AN tubes, Densen, Leema, Moon, Nait (ah, he IS on topic after all  ), Metronome, Chord Blu + DAC 64, considered buying hot-rodded MFA5 CDP, ditto Raysonic 128 from over the pond. But of course it's tricky listening to something that's a few thousand km from where you live...

I noticed the comments made re Nait CDX2, 555 and Supernait.
Listened to CDX2 +Supernait, then CS3 then 555, knowing there was no way I could afford the 555. The 555 literally brought tears to my eyes on my 'standard' track (Shirley Horn 'Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying'). That's rare. 

So why am I writing this?
Get yourself into a room with the CDX2 and Supernait TOGETHER. Can't afford the power supply update, but _highly_ recommend upgrading the power cables - lifts the 'curtain'.

I've never heard the Yammies sound SO musical, soundstage a couple of feet either side of them, blah, blah.
The bottom line is the Naims are so _musical_, and the sound is _balanced_ from top to bottom.

Nirvana after 48 years (first heard true hifi via 'Peter Gunn Theme' by Nelson Riddle in mono on some pro valve amps and who knows what speakers - been looking for that sound ever since, and I've finally found it).     
 

[mcrespo71]

I've been using Naim for about four years now and I have switched almost nothing in the main system.  All I can say is it got me off the merry go round and it just sounds musically right to me, so I have to agree with your assessment.

[TONEPUB]

Hard to believe it's almost a year since the CD555 got here, but
after the review, I had to have it, and it's been one of the best
hifi purchases I've ever made...

No regrets at all.

Going to be sending the Continuum back after the review, if
that's any indication.  The 555 is musical, easy to use and I love
the look and feel.

This one is DEFINITELY my last CD player!

[SET Man]

Flat earth all the way here.  Naim/Roksan/Dynavector/Neat/Rega.  I doubt I'll ever leave this camp.

Hey!

  Here's a nice snack for you Flat Earth people.



  I'm sure it got PRaT when you bite a piece. 

Take care,
Buddy