Ah, apologies. I got lost in translation there 
I was thinking along the lines of their capability as an amp and leaving aside the rest of the features really. So I assume that if I changed from the Nova to a NAP 250 there will be quite a substantial jump in sound quality?
My other query is in regards to where Nova stands in the hierarchy of the pre-amps if it got used as a pre-amp (with a 250 or 300)?
If you exclude the Nova’s streamer and consider only the amp, consider that the Nova digitizes all its inputs. The ultimate judge will be your ears, but price is actually a good indicator for how Naim sees the hierarchy. If you can live with the digitized inputs and want its conveniences, the Nova will most likely beat the Nait 5si and maybe the Nait XS 3 (has phono input though) for you.
You can probably be certain to get better SQ than Nova (despite all its great qualities) by all products in the Classic range. As you go higher in the Classic range it’s a wholly different league for most people. Nait and pres are all upgradable with external power supplies (or require them; details on the product pages):
Supernait 3 (also with phono in) as integrated option
NAC 202 pre + NAP 200 DR power
NAC 282 (with different power supply options) + NAP 200 DR or NAP 250 DR
NAC 252 (with SuperCap power supply required) + NAP 250 DR or NAP 300 DR
(just examples for typical combinations)
Beyond that in the 500 range it is easy as there is one of each and quite crazily expensive (not that 252+SC+300 is cheap)
Edit: And if the streamer is of no interest and you consider using the Nova a as a pre only and adding a 250 DR, I would strongly recommend to consider a NAC 202 with High Cap power supply for approx the same money as the Nova, or a 282 for not that much more. (If you can live with the higher box count).
Edit: The 250 DR for the Nova is an ok path if you first really want the Nova and then later wish to improve without replacing it right then, while opening the path to a later upgrade with a NAC replacing the Nova while keeping the 250. A planned end target Nova/250 is a bit off when there is no streamer interest, and the 300 is definitely too much. (though I have been running it like that for a few months and it is actually really good, just that the 300 can do way better)
Edit: The steps can be quite dramatic. A few months ago I auditioned the 250 DR, and though I liked it I was not so sure that I wanted to spend the money. Then I bought the 300 DR on the spot after listening to it for 5 minutes. Many people tell similar stories.
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If you changed your Nova to a 250 you need a pre amp and a streamer…
The Uniti are more entry affordable products that most can afford today
The price / performance ratio is very high and brings the Naim brand awareness to many more people.
But what I think you want to know is just how good is a Nova vs other pieces on offer from Naim and that’s best for you to test at a dealer
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I thought it was important to begin at the beginning and explain the fundamentals of how the naming of Naim products was established.
As Clare says, the range of products has grown and expanded organically over the years, and we’ve seen an overlap of new technologies, with CD, then Hard Disc player, DAC and now Network Players. And then there’s a new category of products, the Uniti all-in-ones, with the odd spin-off variant like the NAC-N272 Network Pre-amp.
If and when the next big generational range change comes along in the future it’ll probably be a good opportunity to rationalise things a bit, but there’s always a particular niche that may well demand a specific solution, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
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@iliria Over the years I have compiled a spreadsheet with the history of the Naim products, as well as their prices, using whatever information I could get my hands on. I have already shared it in the past and you can download it from here:
https://gofile.io/d/ExEWv2
You can see more visually the progression of the different models, especially in the early years. The price-lists also give an indication of the relative performance of items.
@Richard.Dane: According the Naim website, the Axent and Access loudspeakers were discontinued in 2008. However they had already disappeared from the price-lists in 2006. Any way to check this discrepancy?
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It’s probably because, even after the Axent and Axess were officially discontinued, Naim still held stock of cabinets and component parts and were able to supply to special order for at least a year or two more. Neither of them exactly flew out of the gates of the factory…
Interesting document you have there. I was surprised to see that the DAC in the ND5 XS2 is the same as the DAC-V1. I sort of assumed that the DAC-V1 might be an upgrade for me sometime in the future, but this finding doesn’t suggest the uplift will be much, and the uplift will be more about the output stage of the DAC-V1 and not the DAC itself.
Many thanks for the link.
Interesting and useful.
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As a long time V1 user, imo it’s all about the USB input - if you aren’t using that then I would probably look elsewhere. That said, it’s a great piece of kit and as I’ve said elsewhere on this forum, any improvements I make preceding it the V1 takes in stride.
I remember trips to my local dealer here and seeing Naim gear and clueless what all of these (higher priced) black boxes did, many with no knobs on the front! Finally my friend who worked there convinced me to pick up a used Naim 5i and CD5i and so glad I did. Before that hifi was merely a matter of replay - making noise come out the speakers, the bigger the better, mostly to get the party started right - and after that was when my real journey into listening to actual music began.
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Sadly it doesnt allow me to download. When I click on the link it says unable to connect.
That is spot on. What I am trying to work out is how good the Nova is as a preamp compared to the other dedicated preamps. I am trying to void getting rid of the Nova since I know that I would get a lot less than it’s worth if I traded it in.
I agree, my best bet is to find a dealer and test the 250dr against the Nova and also test the 250dr+Nova against 250dr+preamp. I might include a TT in the equation in order to hear the difference between digital and analogue.
I might even give 300dr a go as well since I dont believe in gradual upgrades as in my belief all they do is bleed money. Better to go for the top from the start and you’re a winner.
My experience with a Superuniti (predecessor to the Nova) was that when upgrading to separates, by far the biggest step up was the preamp upgrade, and I strongly suspect you will find the same with your Nova.
Naim have always gone to great lengths to put their preamps in a separate box - not even its power supply is allowed in there - which tells you something about the benefits of isolating it from other electronics. The Nova is a very crowded box, and although it does sound good, its weaknesses will be exposed as you add more revealing boxes downstream.
Wow, thanks for the xls! That’s dedication @sihctr! Even has the price fluctuations! Thanks heaps @Richard.Dane also.
Kind of reminds me of Eames product naming scheme.
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That’s strange. I just tried now and it works for me. Could you try again?
I uploaded on some different file-sharing sites. Hopefully one of these will work for you!
http://www.filedropper.com/naimhistory-upload
https://www4.zippyshare.com/v/byiEsz4u/file.html
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Very strange. Must be somethign wrong with my computer.
Managed to download it. Thank you very much. Apparently the issue was due to my broadband provider automatically filtering out file sharing websites. I have contacted their customer service and the filters were taken off.
That is a very thorough list. Thank you for your effort. It is interesting to see that the price of the NAPs has pretty much doubled in 18 years.