Modern equivalent items for my classic system

We will have to agree to differ on that then.

Of course, but my comment, my preference, comes from experience and not hearsay. In my experience your comment is more appropriate for the OC than the NC.

I donā€™t know if that was intended for me.

If the insurers believe that the items insured are worth less with each year that passes, they should be required to reduce the annual premium accordingly by an equivalent amount - and that is about as unlikely to happen as a blizzard in Hades.

I also have new for old as the basis of cover but when I did the same exercise as you and submitted the figures, the underwriting team went into shock and started requesting specific security features on the house such as very special locks and worrying about the risks from nearby trees etc. The net result is that the reality will be equivalent replacement cost.

Anvil somebody on the forum, a while ago, was posting old price lists. The onus was on the fact that price lists, iirc back in 70s and 80s listed the names of Naim dealers and which were still operating.
If you have an idea of year of purchase, I have a few old price lists, so historic price is not too difficult.
Perhaps ask the question(s) here, one of us will have an idea.
The reason I suggest serial numbers, is because in sourcing replacements, should that day, hopefully never, your dealer can ask hq to confirm the serial number to the original kit.
I have most, if not all original invoices stored off-site. As part of insurance renewal, I will be having them scanned, to go alongside the spreadsheet.

In terms of like for like, last time I had my LP12 upgraded, I had the dealer provide a dated replacement value letter. Perhaps consider similar for your NAC, indeed for anything no longer on the current price list?

I am the one gathering the pricelists :innocent:. You can have a look at the following topic:

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Wouldnā€™t the insurersā€™ aim depend on the policy? I have ā€œnew for oldā€ and when I made a claim after my computer was stolen in a burglary, the insurance company covered the full cost of the replacement which, as the stolen computer was no longer in production, was the closest equivalent available at the time.

We had to argue with insurers over the replacement of the optical drive, which was built in to the stolen computer, but had to be bought separately for the replacement as there was no model available with it built in. The insurers eventually paid up.

I think the hard part for the original poster would be to identify replacements for items for which thereā€™s no obvious equivalent in production, such as the Naim speakers, CD player, and active crossover and associated PSU.

Yes, but a new version of what you had before (or as close as possible) - in other words, not an upgrade.

Which is why the original poster is pushing his luck claiming that the 552 is a replacement for the 52. As others have suggested, the closest equivalent is the NC332 with NPX 300. I would also suggest that in terms of valuation, if not functionality, the closest equivalent to the CD player would be NC333 with another NPX 300. Though itā€™s hard to know from the original post what the CD player is as the CDX 2 was never olive and thereā€™s never been any such thing as an NDX power supply in the Naim range in black or any other color. Iā€™m guessing the CD player is a CDS 2 head unit with an XPS 2 power supply.

If youā€™re claiming that the equivalent to the 52 is Naimā€™s top-performing pre, wouldnā€™t that be the Statement NAC S1? Iā€™m thinking that idea would be an even harder sell than the 552 to your insurers though.

The Naim cupboard appears rather bare at the moment.

I hope that Focal are not cutting back on Naimā€™s track record of having great equipment at various levels of price and performance.

Hi @Anil

By my calculations, the cost of replacing your system with the closet equivalent items currently available at 2023 prices would be Ā£65, 034.

Hereā€™s the detailed breakdown based on the information about your current system in your original post. I got the prices either from the manufacturersā€™ price lists posted on the web site of a well known and highly respected Naim retailer (many thanks @Cymbiosis for that invaluable resource) or from the manufacturerā€™s web site directly.

Current Item Replacement Replacement Cost (Ā£)
NAC 52 Naim NAC 332 7,900
Supercap Naim NPX 300 5,700
SNAXO (olive) Exposure VXN 2 Two-Way Crossover 1800
Hi-CAP (olive) Exposure VXN Power Supply 1060
CDX 2 Naim NSS 333 7,900
XPS 2 Naim NPX 300 5,700
Linn LP12 Linn Sondek LP12, deck only 2180
LP12 Subchassis Linn Kore Subchassis 976
Linn Ittok Linn Arko 3,000
AT-OC9 Audio Technica AT-OC9XSL 680
Linn Radikal Power Supply Linn Radikal Power Supply (Standard) 4660
Prefix Naim NVC TT 2,699
Hi-Cap (olive) Naim NPX TT 2,699
NAP-250 (chrome) Naim NAP 250 (NC) 5,700
NAP-250 (chrome) Naim NAP 250 (NC) 5,700
Naim SBL Kudos Cardea Super20A 5,700
Speaker cables Kudos KS1 4x7m@Ā£35 per m 980
Total Ā£65, 034

As others have suggested, the closest equivalent to the NAC 52 with a Supercap is the NC332 with NPX 300.

In terms of valuation, if not functionality, I think the the closest equivalent to your CD player would be NC333 with another NPX 300.

I priced the components of the Selekt LP12 individually to avoid including the cost of the Lingo PSU and the Radikal PSU in the calculation.

I suggested the Kudos Titan 606 as a replacement for the SBL because I cannot think of a less expensive 2-way floorstanding active speaker.

When I first compiled this list, I didnā€™t realize that the Kudos Cardea Super20A supported active operation and had forgotten that the AT OC9 is still available. I have updated the table accordingly.

I suggested Kudos KS1 because, as I understand it, Witch Hat cables are no longer available.

Hope this helps.

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Hi,

This is massively helpful - it was an established Naim dealer that suggested the 552, but as many here have said in sonic terms, the 332 would be the true successor to my 52. Iā€™ll keep your suggestions which seem eminently sensible alongside my originals.

I hope the day never comes, but if it does, what a voyage of discovery it will be!

Youā€™re right in that the insurance company will want to get me the closest modern equivalentā€¦

Cheers, Anil.

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Personally if I ever have to claim Iā€™m going to at least try to convince them the 282 should = a 332 as itā€™s a standalone pre amp and the 222 is a streamer and pre amp. But I accept that they may not see it that way, honestly not sure what Iā€™d do then as Iā€™d rather have the streaming and pre-amp separate I suppose it would depend on my circumstances at the time.

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Youā€™re dead right - the CD Player is a black CDX2 and its power supply is a black XPS.

Received wisdom seems to be that the current closest to a NAC52 is indeed the 332 with an accompanying power supply.

Really appreciate the infoā€¦

@Anil, from your opening post it sounds as if you may have been under-insured for years! (Assuming you have normal new-for-old cover.) N.B a possibly unexpected consequence, in the event of a claim even for something unrelated to hifi is that you only get the proportion of each item, so if the insurance loss adjuster, assesses you are under insured overall to the tune of 50% after looking at everything you have (had) in the house, , you only receive 50% of the value of any item lost.

As for equivalent modern items - ask the manufacturer (Naim). I did that for speakers when I bought some discontinued PMCs a few years ago, and based my insurance value assessment on that. It is harder of course where a manufacturer doesnā€™t exist or do similar anymore.

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The OC9 is still for sale. Price is under Ā£1000
I believe Kudos 606 are much better than SBL. Super 20A are closer.

I lived with SBL (mk2 bass drivers) for 10 years. (With top end Olive kit)

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If they were SL2s not SBLs the nearest equivalent today would probably be either the Xulyde MD1 or MD3 from SynthĆØse Hifi in France. I donā€™t know if they make an SBL equivalent.

Hi,

Bizzaremy, Iā€™m my case my broker found that an unlimited contents policy came out best value. Similarly, buildings insurance. I had a surveyor estimate the rebuilding cost which I used for my initial insurance quotes, which have been index linked since. This year however, several insurers said they thought it was way too low for properties in my area. Iā€™ve yet to get a rebuild value from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) who Iā€™ve used in the past as a sanity check.

Iā€™ve had unlimited policies for at the past decade - think once total contents goes above maybe Ā£100k or so -easy with hifi and especially large LP or CD collections - then that is often most economic approach. There are several threads on the subject, a new one started most years I think, certainly one in the past year which I think may still be running, where you can find info about othersā€™ experiences and observations.