Commercial considerations, loss of focus, who knows…. The plain fact is a 140 trounces a 100 for example and it’s not even close.
Personally, I would take a punt on the 42.5/140 if it is reasonably priced. They are fantastic sounding and look beautiful IMO. Allow £200 for the 140 service (depending on your location - Class A is highly regarded in the U.K.) if you like what you hear then get the 140 serviced which will improve the sound further.
Over to you……
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Quick update: I went with the heart instead of the mind and bought the 42.5/140. The condition is mint and on first listen sounds great to me. I think I am going to like it. Thanks to all who provided me with the advice.
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Excellent news! If you continue to like the sound (there is no reason why you shouldn’t) then make sure you get the 140 serviced soon.
And add a photo to the System Pics thread. 
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Lovely pair of amps. I use my 140 with a Chord Hugo TT in my nearfield system …sounds great.
The CB amps have a different sound signature to the newer amps, some people prefer them period.
As I think I saw above adding a PSU for the pre will up the SQ.
Be careful with speaker cables - what are you using?
I am using custom, no brand 24-core copper speaker cables. I will have to find out about servicing the 140. There are two odd things I found out:
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The amp makes a pop sound every time it is turned on or off. I understand this is normal.
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The left and right speaker outputs are on opposite sides, unlike normal amps.
Get a pair of NAC A5 or you might damage the amp. The pop is normal.
The amps are meant to be left on. NAC A5 is very stiff. Witch Hat Audio do N2 Speaker cable which is very well priced and their Phantom cable which has had very good reviews.
As mentioned, the ‘pop’ is normal and avoided if the amps are left on.
AFAIK this would have been the same whichever Naim amp you had chosen. I predict that in time you will come to consider this configuration as ‘normal’ 
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Oh! I was not aware of this. I have a Uniti Star as well and never knew this 
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I do have NAC A5 with my Uniti Star. These custom cables I have are actually very nice and didn’t come cheap. I will also check out Witch Hat cables down the road.
Probably best to move the NACA5 to the NAP140, custom cable to the Uniti.
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Good advice above.
The Uniti Star has its left socket on the left as you look at the amp from the front. As you have found, the 140 has the left socket on the right as you look at it from the front. Why is this, you ask? When Naim started out in the 70s, their amplifiers were used in broadcast studios. They were put in the rack so that the back was at the front, so speakers could be plugged and unplugged quickly and easily. So it made sense to have left on the left when viewed from the back. That has continued to the present day with the Classic and 5 series amplifiers and includes even the most recent - the Nait XS3 and Supernait 3. It’s just the ‘lifestyle’ products that have them the other way round.
Regarding your speaker cables I’d advise that you put the NacA5 on the 140 and use the others on the Star. Cable type is critical on the older amplifiers but much less so on the modern ones.
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Hi @iguoh ,
As others have pointed out the older Naim amps have specific requirements of the speaker cable, as detailed here:
I use my 140 in my nearfield system, the speakers sitting either side of me 24" from my lugholes. I use 3.5 meters of A5 per channel.
I liked @HiFiman suggestion.
M
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The early Naits are known to be more tolerant of speaker cables than the pre/power combos so best to switch the speaker cables over.
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Yep. I run my 72/HC/180 with Chord Odyssey 2. No problems. I used NACA5 for donkey’s years but find the Chord much better for classical music.
Once switched over, you could always get Linn K20 as a cheap alternative to NACA5 for the Unity. It’s based on Naim’s earlier NACA4. Much more flexible than A5 too.
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Witch Hat phantom is another alternative to naca5.
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