I have just acquired a NAP 250, NAC 72 and a hicap from a house clearance auction but they came without any cables. Serial nos 58,000 dating to 1989.
Although I’m familiar with hifi I’m a complete naim novice so need some help with cables and how to connect. Looks like 4 or 5 pin? to 3 pin to connect 72 to 250 and 4/5 pin to 4/5 pin to connect hicap to 72. Is that correct hicap just connects to pre-amp?
Any help with what cables I need and where to buy them would be gratefully received? I attach a photo of the back panels for info.
Hi Jon, congrats on acquiring a nice set up. The 72/hc/250 is a classic. I believe the cables you need are 5 pin din - 5 pin din. This goes from the 72 to the high cap (socket 4) and a 4 pin din to xlr from high cap to 250. Beware!!! the xlr is NOT balanced it is single ended
To connect something to the 72 you will need a ??? (depending on your source) to DIN5 (180 degree pins), often referred to as a “Lavender”, for line level inputs, or a ??? (depending on your source) to BNC if you are using the phono input.
To connect the 72 to the Hicap you will need a DIN5 to DIN5 (240degree pins) SNAIC, as this cable carries both power and signal.
To connect the Hicap to the 250 you will need a DIN4 (240 degree pins) to XLR.
Your local friendly Naim dealer will be delighted to sell you some
Bearing in mind the age of the units, it would be as well to have them checked over before the big switch on.
(“K” mc phono stage as well, you don’t see many of those about. You may need to change them to “S” cards if you are using a non-Linn mc cartridge, or “N” cards for moving magnet.)
You need a Snaic 5 from the preamp to Hicap socket 4, and a din to XLR from Hicap Socket 3 to the 250. You can get them from your Naim dealer. The Tom Tom Audio online shop may also have them.
As well as getting the cables, it would be worth contacting Naim, give the serial numbers, and ask if there is any service history. There’s also the possibility they have been serviced by Class A (Darran) in Sheffield but without paperwork there might not be any records - though Darran might keep them. With their age and if no history then I would definitely get them to Sheffield/Salisbury for servicing.
You can contact Darran direct, he is an official service agent authorised by Naim and works 100% to Naim service standards. For Naim servicing at the factory you need to go via a Naim dealer, contact someone local to you and they will liaise with Naim on your behalf.
Thank you everybody for your replies. Incredible response and very helpful. Guess what, I live just outside Salisbury and have done for 30 year! I always knew Naim where based here but I’ve always been a bit wary of the brand.
One point - is this a moving coil phono stage? I only have MM cartridges so may need to change a board?
The “K” sticker on the back suggests 323K moving coil boards. The easiest way to check is to carefully(!) open up the case and have a look. For a moving magnet cartridge you should be looking for 322 boards; these crop up occasionally at dealers, and even on that infamous auction site, for around £100-130.
Indeed, as the 72 consists of a motherboard and a number of NA3xx daughter boards, you might find it instructive (or maybe just confusing ) to look at the FAQ entitled “Naim NA3xx and NA5xx Pre-amplifier daughter boards”. And, of course there are plenty of photos on t’internet showing the 72, er, naked!
You may be lucky and find the phono Ch2 (lower pair of bnc connectors) has a phono board fitted that works for MM, and the top connectors have the K MC boards fitted…
Eventually sorted the cables and just opened up the 72 to look inside. Two cards labelled 323KSQ attached to the phono BNC inputs. I assume these are solely for MC?
The second set of boards attached to the aux BNC inputs are marked TFB so assume not phono cards.
323K are so-called ‘K’ boards, intended for Linn style low output MC carts, such as the Asak, Asaka, Karme, Troika, etc. 323S are more general low output MC carts (same input sensitivity, but different HF roll off). Believe there was also a 323E for medium output MC’s…(??)
322N are the general boards for all MM carts - and high output MC’s.
If you have Aux BNC’s, then you have the earlier variant of the 72. When I owned one of these, the Aux BNC’s had Variable Line Level Boards fitted - 328’s…(??) - which had Pots on their top edge, to adjust the sensitivity. Useful to control the sometimes too high output of some (non Naim) CD players.
Later 72’s have only 1 set of BNC’s, the Aux having turned into a DIN CD input.
Great classic system you have there, all I can add is check the servicing dates in case anything needs a re-cap.
To identify the boards: with the boards oriented such that the components are facing you, and the 4 connectors are on the bottom, look at the bottom resistor that goes more or less between the two left-most connectors. If it’s 470 ohm (yellow-violet-brown) then it’s an “S”, and if it’s 560 ohm (green-blue-brown) then it’s a “K”. The S board has a 6800pF cap across the input whereas the K board has a 1000pF cap across the input. You can change the resistor/capacitor values to toggle between the types if you want. The Linn moving coil cartridges tend to be used with K boards.
I have the same system, 72/hi/250 and its a delight. You have all the information about cables already but I would like to re-emphisise the point about servicing. I last had my 72 serviced about three years ago and it was well worth the investment. I have used the factory and Class A. Both did a good job.
