How and where do I start? I'm in the maze and so far I just see black and green

I’m lucky enough to get a great deal on the original Supernait, Nait ND5 XS and HiCap. I also have a Croft Valve Pre-amp apparently it’s a Micro X and I got a Pink Triangle turntable.

I have no cables and no idea how to listen to anything from it. I guess I need a phono amp for it and since I have the HiCap maybe Nait is the way to go, although do people recommend others for it as a cheap stopgap?

What kind of cables do I need to connect them and how do I make the valve preamp do it’s job in the progression?

I’d like to hear music. So are there any used speakers under £400 that are small and I could use in a double bedroom that fit this sound well. ideally with a wooden case

Finally ideally I’d use this in my living room aswell at some point when it’s ready. Is there a way of switch between speaker sets in this room and the other one?

Thanks for reading and maybe helping me hear it.

David

You can connect the hicap to the supernait with a snaic 4 and snaic 5.
You can use a stageline powered by the supernait, just buy the N if mm cartridge or the E/k/s depending on the output if mc cartridge.
The Croft is spare. Unless you want to use the supernait as power amp only in which case the hicap isn’t needed and can power a stageline directly.
Best look in the supernait manual to see how everything can be wired up.
Speakers for under £400? Depends if new or used but a good starting point might be Q acoustics.

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What a great system to be starting with. ND5-XS and SN1 Hicap matches what I have.
There is a good range of new at that price point and the SN1 has plenty of power. Second hand is also an option. If you find any SH Dynaudio that is a good match

Maybe the Croft preamp is actually a phonostage ?
He did some excellent ones with tubes inside, maybe look at a type number or plugs on rear.
Valve items need attention and valves need replacement now and then.

Your deck will need a cartridge.
As you ask for which cables, I suggest you consult somebody to help you through setting up the Pink Triangle and without ending up with wrong items purchased.

As a guide to Naim cabling as well as other useful topics, take a look at the forum FAQ, here;

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Lots of elements….

I’d agree with the comments that suggest selling the pre-amp.

Is there a cartridge/ needle on the tone arm on the turntable? If yes, can you see a name/ model?

You should be able to get sound from the streamer once you have cables and speakers - just try a free trial on Tidal perhaps?

The Pink Triangle will need a cartridge and a suitable phono stage and a cable from turntable to phono stage and another from there to Supernait. Please don’t spend much on cables.

A fairly modest (say) Ortofon cartridge will do the job if you need one. If in doubt. Take it to a shop and have them fit a new cartridge. As others have said, a Naim Stageline or Rega Fono may well suit as a phono-stage and should be a safe second-hand purchase.

Naim standard cables may well be cheap second-hand from eBay or Pinkfish, and are good choices. Richard’s link should pin down what you need.

Whatever speaker cable you get should be at least 3.5m long and the same length both sides. Naim A5 is annoyingly inflexible but works well, and again eBay may be a help.

Speakers really don’t sound the same, so it is hard to be definite without knowing which one you like/ dislike، how the room sounds and so on.

You can buy a switch box that sends signal from speaker cables into speaker cable A, speaker cable B or both. QED charges a bit over £100 for a decent new one - it’s not for purists but works pretty well.

Speakers often sound better if not in a corner and some want some distance from a wall behind them and some toe-in ( turned a bit towards you) too - you may need to experiment.

Some bookshelf speakers really mean it, but most speakers that don’t go on the floor (with or without spikes) need stands to work properly. EBay again?

EBay suggests you could probably get decent speakers from Neat, B&W, Spendor, Castle, Ruark, PMC, Linn and others for under £300. They don’t sound the same, and will suit some places/ ears better than others, but there haven’t been many poor speakers from any of those brands in a long time.

If you don’t know what speakers would suit, it may be safest to hear a few at dealers. If that means buying new, B&W 607s and Wharfedale Diamonds will be among several options worth considering - and in-budget, if ex-dem.

Alternatively, you can risk splashing out £200 or so on good s/h speakers, perhaps after (a) hearing a few different speakers to get some idea what you like and (b) bearing that info in mind when reading a few online reviews. If you buy and then really don’t like the sound in your room, you too can always sell them.

You have to see speakers as well as listen to them, so I suggest looking at some pics on eBay or ‘best speakers’ articles to see what sort of thing you would like/ hate to see in the room.

Good luck!

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I do not know this exact Croft that you have, but if it has an internal phono stage, you might be able to use just the phono stage portion if you have a line out on it. Run that into one of the Supernait inputs. Croft’s phono stages are really good, depends on if it matches well with the rest of your gear though, only you can decide that one. FWIW…

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