Naim Chrome Bumper

Careful, @snarfy - please confirm that isn’t the planned final resting place of the amp, or you’ll give several members of the forum heart palpitations, cold sweats, night terrors and/or erectile dysfunction.

We have some sensitive flowers here…

Mark

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Looks good, I presume the photo is of the LED version?

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@Ebor after many hours of careful evaluation I can safely say that is the optimum setup

Just kidding. I didn’t feel like dragging the Quadraspire upstairs. It still sounded awesome.

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Yes, the LED version

Comparing 32.5/hc/250 to Nait 2

Excellent, I’ll have a browse round for a supplier…

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Some people would say ‘no contest’ but I’m not so sure……

Please report your findings.

Some, well one, with both can report there’s no contest.

No contest for the Nait :smiley:

Need a 160 to put up a decent musical challenge :grin:

The closest I’ve ever heard to the effortless coherent musicality of the Nait 1/2 is a 12/BD160 without snaps/hicap.

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It’s a contest, make no mistake. No clear winner. I think it depends on the room.
This bedroom is a bit too small for the 250 system. You have to sit all the way against the back wall to get the full effect. It sounds amazing, but it’s not practical to sit in that position much of the time. The Nait 2 wins in this case. In a bigger room however the 250 would be better suited because the Nait can’t punch hard enough to fill a large space. Don’t forget the Nait 2 has a certain magical quality that only it possesses. Honestly could live with either system and get similar levels of musical enjoyment.

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Hi snarfy

Correct me if I’m wrong, but is your Olive Nait 2 the one that has the Ultimate Upgrade by AV Options (USA) as reviewed by Art Dudley (the late)?

Did this option make a huge difference to the sound? If so not a level playing field then. How would a standard Nait 2 fair?

Cheers

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Hi, yes it is the one that Art reviewed that has the AV Options Ultimate upgrades. It is CB though.

You’re probably right that it’s not quite a fair comparison that can be applied to all Nait 2s.

I had a standard olive Nait 2 alongside this CB Nait 2 for a while before I had SL2s. I was using Tab 10 Sigs at the time, IIRC. The CB Nait had less sizzle on the front end, but more sophistication and refinement on the back end. It didn’t grab me the quite as much initially but I found myself able to listen for longer. It sounded “higher end”, if that makes sense.

My 32.5/hc/250 also has all the AV Options upgrades. Yes I would take that system over a standard Nait 2. Other people’s preferences may differ though. I’m sure there would be plenty of room for that.

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Weird thing happened today. After 3-4 years use (and including a Naim service) the green LED came on for the first time since I’ve owned it. This happened to anyone else? I didn’t move the amp or change anything in the system.

Which unit?

The green logo on my CB Nait 2 went through a brief period of a few days when it flickered a lot. It seemed to stop on its own and hasn’t happened since.

Most likely a dry solder joint is causing the flickering. Easy to sort.

Bolt down 160

IIRC, when Naim serviced my CB NAIT2 the LED strip was replaced.

I don’t believe this to be routine Richard. The unit that I purchased for @Bandit had a flickering display and Darran informed me that the likely cause was a dry solder joint - this turned out to be the case. If the LED has failed completely then it will need replacing.

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I dont change anymore my led on my NAP160CB and BD , 250CB and 135CB, their life time is only 1 year, a bit more…

It’s still working. Thanks @anon27418182.