Naim Chrome Bumper

Sorry , just read your previous post , Sonus Faber subs.

Three Cremona Mā€™s I have an unecessary desire to explore external amps as I really like units with BIG transformers and they use modest ones in my view, a bit smaller than the 135ā€™s !

I have secured the final set of 135ā€™s so it will be 9 in situ soon, I just need to find a good pair of Elipsa Auditors ā€¦

Even with the long-obsolete IKEA stands they were designed for!
(which I think was a great real-world design touch)

If they sound remotely like the Shahinian Compass you must be having a good time indeed.

Maurice

My CB Nait2 is back from ClassA after a service. Apparently the Nait was factory original inside and had never been tinkered with.

First impressions are certainly favourable, but Iā€™m sure there will be further gains after a longer warm up period. In summary, a fuller sound, perceived increase in dynamic range, higher frequency refinement and a definite increase in bass performance. In fact, where did all that bass come from!

Prior, I couldnā€™t use the volume past the 9 oā€™clock position, as it sounded, well, simply terrible. Now, it sounds superb all through the usable volume range - comfortably playing at 11-12 oā€™clock without the sound losing coherence - plenty loud enough for my ears with efficient speakers in a 4x4m sq room.

Another welcome unexpected improvement, all of the controls rotate smoothly now, where before the switches felt a little rough.

Using the internal phono stage there were a few eye (ear?) opening moments on some of my better sounding discs, specifically a UK first pressing of Roxy Musicā€™s Avalon and Yelloā€™s Flag. Using the UnitiQute2 as a local streaming transport didnā€™t sound too shabby either, although I know it is less than ideal the signal passing through two preamp stages.

My first experience of having a Naim amplifier serviced and I only expected marginal improvements, but Iā€™m a total convert - this refurb has released new potential in the old timer, and so begs the question, how good will this Nait2 sound with an even better vinyl and streaming source?

The mini-beast is back!

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Nice write up and your findings post service are similar to mine. Regarding the UQ as source Iā€™m thinking of adding an external DAC to the UQ as this will bypass the UQ pre section.

Anyway enjoy the serviced Nait and it wonā€™t take long to come on full song.

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The issues you describe are consistent with the capacitors in the power supply effectively not working prior to service. Having had these swapped, the PS can now do itā€™s job.
Always good to fall in love with the music again.

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I am so jelous as you have access to such lovely pre loved Nait2 boxes. There are some in germany too - but not very often.

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Congratulations! I have had a similar experience with respect to hearing the benefits of servicing.

The Nait 2 is very capable of showing off improvements to the source and speakers.

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@HiFiman Ah, interesting, I didnā€™t know the UQ2 pre-amp section could be bypassed? Would be really curious to read how you get on. Which DAC are you considering? Yes, I was genuinely surprised at the improvements the service brought, and its been playing all day and getting better all the time.

@Thegreatroberto Thanks for the extra info as to how the new caps allow the power supply to function correctly. Agree, when on song, this Nait is an infectious little amp and makes you love the music all over again.

@drago They do come up occasionally, in fact there have been quite a few on ebay of late (last few months), both olive and chrome bumper models. They are worth seeking out if you can find one.

@snarfy Many thanks. Good to know. I have a feeling that top flight TT will shine with the Nait2!

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Thanks ā€¦
Have seen some around - but hesitated as I only want it because of wantingā€¦ :slight_smile:
There is currently no room for a 2nd system. Despite of muso :grin:

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Sorry to derail the thread slightly but Iā€™m looking at the SMSL M400 or Topping D90 DAC but with an imminent house move things are on hold.

Understood - good luck with house move!

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To collect a stack of matching shoeboxes you can connect the UQ2 with a digital BNC > BNC cable into a DAC-V1 and then into the NAIT2 via an attenuated 4-pin-DIN > 5-pin-DIN cable, available via Flashback Sales (and via Naim).

I really liked the DAC-V1 in combination with my Nait 2 compared to some other DACs I tried (Rega, Chord, Aurelic which were all nice btw).

Good to hear the service is bringing you everything we promised you it would bring :grinning:

Maurice

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My Chrome Bumper pile, which Iā€™m in the process of putting back togetherā€¦

image|374x500

A quick question: what was the font used on CB stuff? It looks like a variation on Century Gothic, to meā€¦ I ask because one of my CB 250s has a cracked and yellowed fascia that Iā€™d like to fix. And were the legends originally printed in white or sLiver? Age (theirs and mine ;0) is making it hard to tellā€¦

The CB fascias around '85-'86 could bronze with time and go brittle. I had the fascia on my '85 NAP250 replaced by Naim when it went for a service a few years back. AFAIK Darran at Class A was given permission by Naim to have replacement fascias made up and I think he has supplied some to Naim too.

Darran still mentions the replacement fascias on his website, so I guess heā€™s still got some.

Yes, although I think the condition is that he has to fit them, in order to prevent them being used on dodgy DIY projects.

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Love the speakers! Are they the original foam covers?

A question for all, whatā€™s the most memorable CB system youā€™ve ever heard and what did you like about it?

Those wereā€¦ this was taken about 15 years ago: since replaced with after-market jobs that look almost identicalā€¦