Is there somewhere that de-mystifies the names/purpose/properties of the various Naim components?

Thanks for the feedback, which I will continue to share with our Digital team.

One correction, however - it’s not a matter of minutes to change anything on the current Naim website, which has organically grown over many years, and has to be ‘handled with care’!

We are working on something new, but as i’m sure everyone can appreciate, 2020 has seen many other priorities.

7 Likes

Thanks, appreciated. OK I get the difficulty of updates to legacy code and I take your word for it, though I’d rather try not to imagine why changing NDX to NDX2 in the text and ndx to ndx-2 in the link is dangerous :sunglasses:

I’m not singling Naim out. I’m interested in Naim products and I’m in a Naim forum. The best place to clarify.

Thank you Richard. That is very helpful and provides a path for my brain to walk on. :smiley:

1 Like

Thank you.

So, is the progression through the Naim product classes the same as the progression between speaker series? For example, with speakers the rule of thumb is that the top product of a series is lesser or the same as the bottom product of the next series. Is that the same with Naim products? I.e. Nova < Nait 5SI < Nait XS3 < NAP 200 DR?

Your list is not directly comparable as the Nova has a built-in streamer and the Nait 5si s just an integrated amp, as is the Nait XS3 while the NAP 200 is only a power amp.

But generally yes, the 500 is better than Classic and Classic better than XS and XS better that SI. It is difficult between SI and Uniti as they are so different generations. You would have to compare.

I probably should have put :wink: in my previous post.

.sjb

1 Like

So much better :slight_smile:

I for one really appreciate the input of @Naim.Marketing in this and other threads. Please continue contributing to this wonderful forum.

12 Likes

Hey, that’s starting to make sense! Thanks!
I’ve been memorizing which units are superior to other units by reading posts and analyzing them.
But there’s a lot of ambiguity to the product code organization; at least to anyone who is fairly new to Naim gear.

It’s funny, I started, owned, and operated, a mid sized Manufacturing firm, and I had 6 or 7 product lines with anywhere from 50 to 400 individual components in each line. Simplification was an absolute necessity.
The last thing I wanted to do was to alienate any customers due to any confusion in our product offerings.

The members here that have been buying Naim for 30 years, and have progressed with it, don’t have an issue. But, I only ‘saw the light’ about 2 or 3 years back, and I definitely struggle at times to get a firm grasp on the Naim products hierarchy. ie: the CD players …
Signed,

Confused in Canada

1 Like

I mentioned it before, but in particular for the CD players, which were confusing me as well, the product history page is helpful as it tells you which one replaced which.

1 Like

Wow, that’s great Richard.
I’ll be printing that out, for reference. Thanks.

But also, as @TOBYJUG said, the fact that they all look the same, does add a little to the confusion. But having said that, I really do like the styling of the Naim products, and the uniformity is a lot of that.

But you are probably less confused then some of the dealers here lol

4 Likes

I was with you all the way on that post right up until that point, @Richard.Dane… honestly, the state of that paragraph. Even your calm, clear, reasoned prose can’t wallpaper over that mess.

Mark (who is very happy he’s only ever bought two Naim CDPs and feels no need to upgrade)

Mark

Richard, you’ve made me smile that you’ve stuck with the old school pre amp/power amp/power supply/CD player line up!!! Physical music is part of the true hifi experience for me, and I’d have no idea where to start categorising the current streaming capable kit…!!!

Ah, apologies. I got lost in translation there :flushed: :grinning:

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.

2 Likes

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

1 Like

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.

2 Likes