Any love for a Nat06?

I suppose it comes down to the number of tuner units they expect that they could sell in a year.

1 Like

I suspect that many people still listen to FM radio but fm tuners usually last for decades and the demand for new tuners must be very low and not profitable for Naim. Same for turntable tonearms and cd players…

It have nothing to do with sound quality but hifi manufacturers have to provide components that are in demand.

As an analogy, car manufacturers have started to abandon the making of highly practical and efficient cars in favor of stupid large heavy and thirsty SUV’s because of the public demand…

2 Likes

The NAT06 is currently in secret development along with the NDAC-2 and ARO-2.

3 Likes

Tongue in cheek of course :crazy_face:

1 Like

I’m pretty sure it’s a simple matter of low demand for tuners. In the UK that will have been further reduced by the announcements that FM would be discontinued, despite that decision having been postponed.
Ultimately, HiFi separates are a small and shrinking market, and FM radio is in turn a very small part of that. Naim have almost entirely pulled out of the CD player market due to low demand, so in that respect it’s hardly surprising that FM tuners have also gone.

1 Like

Maybe not but why buy an expensive tuner when your choice of stations is BBC or Heart FM or Classic FM we have a couple of Indie dance music stations but the signal is bad.

A few years ago I bought an Olive Nat 01 that sounded beautiful with Classical or Spoken Word but for a £1,000+ radio which is what I sold it for I’d like more choice.

I might be wrong but I thought that all the major radio stations now used compressed files as signals with Dacs etc so that feels like it’s missing the point.

I absolutely get why people love ‘proper’ radio and if I could get the choice of stations available to me that I did back in the 80’s I’d 100% be with you on a Nat 06 and I’d buy one.

2 Likes

In contrast with Japanese brands like Luxmann, Accuphase… :sweat_smile:

And a good friend of mine has just bought an Esoteric.

1 Like

Respect that. I just cant imagine a future of radio without the analog part.
But yes, maybe I got adapt. It’s inevitable like the combustion automobile: dying breed

Teac High end . I heard a pair of times. Liked a llot. ( with Magnepan speakers)

I have nearly always had a tuner in my system , starting with a Technics Receiver (18 watts per channel) to a slimline Hitachi to an Arcam Delta to a Nat 03 and then to a tube Magnum Dynalab .

The Dynalab started making an awful hum, lost one channel and went upstairs.

Down came the elderly NAT 03 , in turn this developed a small hum (which I think may be down to cable issues)

I stopped using it and switched to my Sat Dish feeding a digital signal into a UnitiQute . Last week in came a Nova on trial as a possible Naim one box solution and replacing my Rega Aethos

It will be staying, certainly it produces a sound that is very good.

So here I am full circle, it started with an amplifier and tuner and ended with an amplifier and streamer both with the ability to accept Radio 3, the NAT03 will remain in the rack - more for sentimental reasons , but radio remains one of my prime sources.

1 Like

My real wish, as a consumer / customer for Naim, will always be one: Nova.
It is, in my view, the best value for money in the range, and will fully satisfy my needs.
(it even as the radio FM module as an option)
However, in the event that I (or other people) want to go via the separates,
(ideally) should be a chance to have an choice inside the brand we love.

1 Like

Been a Naim user for amplification for over 30 years , the Nova came in almost by accident , I was about to buy a ND5XS2 , when I mentioned as the very last line in the conversation I would have liked a Nova at one stage , followed by the line “we are going to trade in our Nova - and can offer you ours as an ex-demo”"

So the Nova came in for a demo, I had chosen the Aethos over the SN3 so was expecting a significant performance gap, which didn’t occur . Overall I would expect a SN3 and ND5XS2 to outperform the Nova , but the be more expensive and not offer one box convenience , surprised how good the Nova is

It now means I have Olive, Black and Uniti in my rack .

1 Like

I admit that sometimes it is inherent taste in each one. Or a matter of philosophy.
But Nova really meets my aesthetic sensibility (although I really like the Classic line) and the minimalism that I admire…

1 Like

I had an FM module in my SuperUniti, but a proper tuner is so much better. I bought my NAT05 for the princely sum of £240 and it’s a joy to listen to. We use it primarily for Radios 3 and 4, and sometimes a bit of Radio 2. While people say that the BBC signal is compressed or digital or whatever, a live broadcast on Radio 3 can sound absolutely wonderful, and easily be on a par or better than anything played on the streamer. Radio was doing curated playlists long before the internet was even thought of.

6 Likes

I just thought that , similar to Naim maintaining the offer of the CD5si, could do the same to a tuner.
Unless its on their calendar to wipe out that offer also…

1 Like

Exactly HH.
Form / function. A specialized component (usually) will do the job more efficiently.

Another point that can happen in the meantime (like my cousin):

A Lumin streamer, which despite having 2 USB inputs,
is unusable when the network fails.
(Seems only can be controled via App)

Ie:
No internet radio. Without reading pens. Useless.

With a Tuner, there is always the possibility to pick up radio waves

and be less dependent on a specific source

PS.: “FM module in my SuperUniti,”
in my yes, the fact that the Nova feature this module, gives her more subtle flexibilty.

Why would anyone want an FM tuner in 2021?
How many stations are there to choose from?
The BBC has 60-odd stations (not that you can receive them all) and all but one are rubbish.
With Internet Radio there are thousands of stations covering all genres. Many of course are mediocre but committed users know the great ones. In the last twelve months there has been a blossoming of great quality flac stations that can deliver better quality than FM. And some mp3/aac stations are pretty excellent too.
How much jazz and blues are broadcast on the BBC R3 or the BBC fullstop?
I started with a Leak Trough-line tuner and then had a Quad FM3. Now every streamer has an Internet Radio capability. No need for another box.

2 Likes

In this order of thinking, all the systems in the picture thread , are an anecdote?
(There are members with more boxes then i have Lego bricks)

I understand what you re saying sir. and in many ways you are correct.
(Similar approach as @Bobthebuilder or @ChrisSU i.e.)

But although Naim was one of the first to adopt streaming, (with undeniable advantages) they could easily maintain an option, to give flexibility to those who take a separate route.
But in all fairness, even the famous N272 are not easily replaceable, so the less desirable NATxx will be a mirage

But it is not necessary as the streaming technology can stream both music and radio as they are very similar.
You could of course buy TWO streamers - one for music streaming and another for radio streaming !

(but are you going to control them from one tablet or two ?)

1 Like