Hi I am new to the forum and have had various naim kit from the original 1980’s Nait 1 to pre and power combo’s. I am now in ltr years and have an italic 5i running into a pair of nearly 20 year old BW 803 nautilus speakers with a Bryston DAC taking care of all the inputs. I have always been very pleased with the way that Naim just gets on with playing music. My first amplifier was a Radford SC-24 SPA-50 Combo. I was wondering about getting a Naim DAC for my sytem ? Any comments as to what might be a good unit ?
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A second hand ndac is a good bet and sounds even better with a power supply. Alternatively you could try one of the new streamers or a second hand ndx.
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Wow that was aquick reply… Yes I will have alook at that ndac does it have all the usual inputs ?? Cheers
It was pretty well specified and used the burr brown 1704k dac used in the cd555 and now the nd555 streamer…it gives a sound character that many like. The dac chip has not been made for 15 years or so, Naim liked it so much they bought a large stock.
It has 2 usb, 2 bnc spdif, 2 rca spdif, and 4 toslink optical inputs.
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Thanks Gazza I will look into iut at a local Preston Naim
dealers
Hi Legi, they were discontinued last year, so it would have to be a trade in.
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Thanks fior the info Gazza will look into trade ins
First bit of Naim gear was a NAIT 2 in June 1988 (replacing my trusty old NAD 3020 - which, incidentally, the mate I sold it to still has. And I bought it secondhand in 1984!).
In 2001 I bought a secondhand NAC 62 and NAP 160, and I added a Hi-Cap in 2002. By 2006 I had swapped the 62 for a 72, and the 160 for a 180.
After having everything serviced by Naim in 2017, I found - and was able to afford - a secondhand Olive 250 late last year. If I could find one at a decent price, I think I would go to a 52/Supercap. Love the Olive stuff!
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Very , very similar Technics turntable, receiver (18 watts per channel) and Sony loudspeakers switched to Acoustic Research speakers , then it went to Rega/Arcam then to Naim Nait etc.
Biggest mistake selling the LP12 …
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‘The long and winding road’ comes to mind here.
G
First proper system (apart from a few ghetto-blasters) was Arcam CDP with Pioneer A300X and Monitor Audio speakers in around 1990. Then Naim journey began with CD5x and Nait 3 with Linn Katans.
Gradually started on the greasy pole with IIRC a flatcap on the CDP and Nait before getting a Nac 72 and Nap 140.
Then 202/200. Around this time I bought a CDX2 and then a Napsc and Hicap. At some point the 202 was traded for a 282 and a 250 also inveigled its way in.
Probably stayed with this for a few years before getting an XPS2 and Kudos C10s in maybe 2006?
System stayed the same until a year ago when a need to service the 250 and HC set me off on the upgrade path as the newly serviced items showed up the rest of the system. A second Hicap was quickly added and then the chance of a serviced CD555 came along.
Am listening to more music now and this is the main thing for us. It may be that we have a few more steps to take before the system plateaus again…
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I started fifty years ago with a Leak Delta 30, sandwich speakers and a Garrard deck.
Moved to Rotel then Pioneer, before Audiolab pre/power with Marantz Signature CD, Rega deck and Mission speakers before Arcam 2:1 with B&W speakers and sub.
Wanted to reduce the amount of equipment and listened to a Mu So which was the first time I’d listened to Naim. Surprised by the sound quality and read about the Nova and purchased with Special 40s a year ago.
Now contemplating moving up the Naim upgrade path but the problem is I now need to spend £20,000 at least for a significant improvement and am not sure I couldn’t spend it in better ways. Best advice I ever received at the time I bought the Leak system was “ if it costs more than a tenner go home and think about it”.
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Sound advice! £10 in 1969 is equivalent to about £140 today, and I do my research and think about it before spending that much!
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Since 2010 with NAC 202, NAP 200 and Napsc bought used. They stayed in the main system for 7 years before being relegated to the secondary system in 2017, replaced by NAC 282, NAP 250DR and Hicap DR bought new.
The 282/Hicap DR/250 DR are my endgame amps. I sometimes noticed few rare listings of the 252, Supercap and NAP 300(non-DR) turning up at pretty low prices, lower than what I’ve paid for my current system but I no longer have the urge to climb up the Naim ladder.
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No, you can’t.
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Only 4 years and for most of that my system has been stationary, so not much of a journey.
Sounds like British Rail!
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