Hi, an out of his depth newbie to Naim, help and guidance required please

Mine is just the standard BC, the SE version is a few hundred quid more, if I was sticking with Lehmann I might look at a BC SEii, much nicer than the little black box hidden at the back of my rack.

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(I swear Iā€™m genuinely not the person that clicked your ā€œlinkā€ X) )

@Oxfordian no specific advice, but starting simple and adding boxes after audition, particularly on the phono stage side before you replace the Lehmann, sounds like great advice.

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Audiophile underware, the site where notes and nuts get together.

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I would let that nice man (and his colleagues) know your situation. Since you have a little time, they will likely have various pre-loved amps through the store while you are waiting. If you are close, you might be able to listen to a few of the contenders. Other dealers might be able to do similar if one is closer. You might pay a bit more than buying elsewhere, but the extra support may be worth it.

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Er, Mark, I think you know what I mean.

To put it more simply, I love my Naim stuff. But when I had SCM7s, the sort of power the bigger Hegels were offering seemed to be on the right track. But I did not hear any Hegel and SCM7 combination. And I understand you just want a change.

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I wasnā€™t querying what you meant, simply reacting to the rather unexpected and idiosyncratic way you phrased it!

I have no real issue with the H95 other than it may be a bit light for the ATCā€™s, I should maybe have bought the H120 instead as I had both on demo at the same time, couldnā€™t hear any difference so went with the less costly option, in hindsight the H120 was the one to get. (The H190 was far too expensive at the time and I didnā€™t have the knowledge or confidence to go pre-loved for a H160).

Naim and Linn seem to go together and from reading the ATC thread on the forum they appear to gel well with Naim, so I may have a match made the UK.

If I donā€™t get on with the Naim kit I can always move them on and go back to Hegel. Iā€™ll have some time with the LP12/H95 combo before I make an amplifier switch so no rush to decide.

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I wouldnā€™t worry about loudspeaker cable MUST BE Naim A5.
They are very unhandy and stiff.

Many others will work fine, such as Chord Co, Kudos KS1, Linn, Atlas, TQ Black and many more, your dealer will know and guide.
My advise use long length, sound better - always.

Now I see your using ATC 7, usually these need power, if budget allow, maybe a Nap 250 ?

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Go an audition ā€¦ audio is very subjective ā€¦ for example I love preamps with both a digital DAC & tubes to make my sound more natural ā€¦ which is then extenuated in the power amp as the sound is how I want it when it arrives ā€¦ but many will call that horrid :slight_smile: Depending on your final budget I would go and listen, get more advice, and then listen. My grandmother would say better to take 6 months to decide and get it right and get what you want than jump in with regret and shame :slight_smile:

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Hello and welcome to the forum, ask 100 members and you are likely of 101 answers !!

For what it is worth (and I have no idea of your budget) , talking about new Naim equipment , I would think twice about going all the way into a full blown pre and power , neither would I look at the 200/202/NAPSC/ Phono Stage plus Hi Cap.

Been there , got the T shirt I would suggest a SN3 and Hi Cap , enough quality to leave previous generations of Naim behind - plus built in phono and not extravagant in terms of box count

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I have no money at the moment, at least not spare cash for HiFi gear, but I will have later this year which is why I am doing the research now, that way when the cheque arrives I will have a shortlist of kit on my radar.

So yes I am going to be very busy getting info on what is suitable, what is available, what I could look at and if the product is available for me to audition. In addition I am going to ask questions, lots of them as I try to get a better understanding of Naim, its products and how it all gels together.

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I would enjoy the planning - it is part of the pleasure

Especially if your dealer will be called Peter from Leicester , he will be able to advise you .

Iā€™ve been a Naim customer for 30 plus years - others on this forum longer

Iā€™ve been through the box count and now seek the lowest box count with the maximum sound - hint I would also look at the Nait 50, itā€™s quirks may not be for everybody (mostly everybody) but it sounds really good . I think it works very well in a smaller room with quality monitors and definitely will enjoy a signal from an LP12

a

best wishes

Ian

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Sorry I meant to add, there will be oodles of views on cables, I find Chord Shawline works very well with mid-range Naim gear , and use it for power lines as well.

Where my amplifier is concerned I use a full Powerline (not Powerline lite)

best wishes

Ian

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Hello and thanks for your input.

I havenā€™t set a budget as yet, at this stage it is get an understanding of Naim, its products and everything links together, at the moment my thoughts are pre/power and have long term flexibility.

But I would be more than happy to have an integrated amp and then add boxes to get the best from it in the long term.

More than happy to be flexible on what I end up buying.

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I have thought about the Nait 50, but worry about its ability to exercise my ATC SCM 7ā€™s thoroughly, my understanding is that to get the best from them they need a bit of power.

But I do like your set-up, a big thumbs up from me.

Oh, and I wonā€™t have the cash until later in the year, so any Nait 50 might have to be pre-loved.

Yes, its the weird ones that Naim amps donā€™t like.

A cost effective and simple solution is Linn K20.

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I believe that Linnā€™s K20 is exactly the same as Naimā€™s NACA4.

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Ah good. You should do fine. The advice I wish I had had 30 years ago was this though ā€¦ power means a huge amount, almost everything sometimes. Learn how to have clean power to your DAC / AMPs / Speakers, and streamer, if using one. Just remember your audio is just one big electrical circuit, the cleaner, the more transparent and the higher ranged, your power is, the more beautiful & full the sound will be. Why I like optical from my theatre PCs to my audio gear as is isolates the electrical circuit and allows me to start fresh and clean, especially as it is normal now to have 24 / 192 through optical. Good luck though ā€¦ it is a lot of fun ā€¦ but at the same time it can be very expensive so be warned :slight_smile: My present setup was worth, at purchase, almost 27k euros, and I build my own speakers, PC, so I save a lot of money on my builds. :slight_smile: But it is worth it ā€¦ truly. Audio, once gotten right, is the most underrated beauty in life.

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Thanks for these wise words, I will bear them in mind.

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