Some of you may have read that my SuperNait 2 is poorly and has been sent to Salisbury for some TLC.
Anyway in the meantime I have moved my early 80s Nait 1 from my office into the main system.
I am very surprised at how good it sounds. Yes, it doesn’t have the detail or the delicacy of the newer amp but it certainly let’s you enjoy the music. You are drawn in to the sound which just portrays the tune, with no frills, just fun and enjoyment.
The Nait is being driven by NDX2, NDac and a ND 555 PS into ATC SCMS 7s which I appreciate are better than what was available in the 80s. However, my point is I wouldn’t be too upset if I had to live with this setup long-term… it’s a very enjoyable listening experience.
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Silent Nait, Holy Nait.
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I had fun with my Nait2 recently over a three week period waiting for my new gear to arrive. It was like reconnecting with a friend, engaging, toe tapping and just great fun. Unserviced and missing the refinement of newer gear, I’m looking forward to hearing how it sounds when it’s back from service in a few weeks.
You should try comparing that NAIT 1 to the limited edition NAIT 50.
They should, in theory, sound pretty similar.
Why should they sound similar? Completely different inside. 40 years of R&D between them. If they sound familiar then people are spending a lot of money on something that they could purchase for less than £800 (a Nait 1).
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Thats what might be expected but reading people which tried a compare says no, they are quite different.
The Nait 50 seem to represent a very good performance - which is surprising as I thought it would be on level with a Atom amp-section - bodes well for future upcoming new classic Naim integrated amps.
I have (my Nait was serviced in 2020)
They don’t
Is anyone using attenuation when using digital sources with their Nait1 or 2?
No, but when my Nait was last serviced in 2012 Darran fitted a new volume pot which he mentioned would be better with the new, higher output devices.
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I used the LEEDH volume control on my Lumin D2 to adjust the volume between recordings and to drop the overall D2 output level slightly into my Nait2. I didn’t do any critical listening between full volume and reduced so can’t comment on any differences, but being able to adjust the volume a few steps was extremely convenient!
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Interesting! I’ll be sending my Nait 2 to Darran for a service next month, so may be worth mentioning to him.
My Nait 1 is the same - simple, engaging and musical. The sound belies the fact that it’s one box and a small one at that!
The solution for me was to use a DAC with a variable output. This may be a step too far if you already have a DAC you are happy with, but the Chord DAC I used actually sounded better when the output level was dialled down a bit, as well as allowing use of a much wider range of the volume pot.
Another advantage of this is that vinyl playback, which is what these amps were designed for, is unaffected.
Would that be the Qutest? I know it’s been mentioned on here a few times in relation to older NAITs because of the variable output voltage, which indeed would be very handy. I play more digital music these days, so it’s something I would like to address.
You could get a Naim DAC V1 which has a variable (preamp) output so you can set it to anything you want. Even at the 1V setting on the Qutest the volume would still be fairly limited (I used to run a Qutest into a CB Nait 2). A you would get a great headphone amp for free!
I shall investigate - thanks. I’ve just, somewhat belatedly, got into headphone listening so having something that would work in both cases would be nice. The other option was just to have two separate systems: one vinyl (i.e. NAIT based), the other digital.
I suggest that would be sensible - I don’t recall Darran saying anything to me about my Nait 2 when I left it in with him earlier this year. That’s not to say he didn’t do anything with it, merely that nothing was said.
Peter
The Qutest can be set to 1, 2 or 3V output, so setting it to 1V could work for you.
Some other Chord DACs such as Hugo have a variable output so you can fine tune it to exactly what you want.
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