I’ve really enjoyed reading through this thread - It’s good to see so much CB kit is still cherished and enjoyed and still looks great today.
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I have as well. It is always great to hear, in the world of the instantly disposable, that the CB gear is still giving great enjoyment to lots of people. I do not own any pre 2008 gear - but to my eye the CB gear has aged better than the Olive gear. It has modern retro look about it - if it was the current range I’d have no hesitation in having it in my rack.
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What’s the modern Naim unit next to your 110? I like the look of it.
Looking forward to comparing my 110 against 160 when it comes back from Class A.
110CB VS 160CB? Finally i sold my 110 
Ha!
That’s what I’m expecting but we’ll see. I will probably hang onto the 110 though in case the 160 ever goes faulty. It will need a service in the next few years as well so I need cover.
Hi, that’s a dac v1. The suggested partner is the nap100 but here we see a vintage 110 instead. A nice mix of current and older naim components matched together.
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Nice! My SN2 and NDX5XS are the only Naim kit I’ve ever listened to unfortunately. In the Pre Internet days Naim was rare as rocking horse poo down here. I’ve always thought the Chrome bumper and Olive lines were among the best looking Hi Fi products out there. I’d love the opportunity to spend a day or two with some classic Naim. It seldom comes up for re sale in these parts.
I’m also rather chuffed that Naim to my knowledge haven’t adopted those awful blue led’s.
Here’s the fabled NAC12 v1 with integrated circuit board. It’s not mine but I found the photos pop up online today (say no more):
Is this an op-amp then, as rumoured? Is it possible to tell from the pics? Sorry, I don’t know electronics at all.
Legend has it that it was only ever a prototype. There is one early review that refers to it having already been superseded by the time the review was published, which is the v2 that went into production and uses the familiar system of removable cards.
Anyone know what the little circular window is above the power LED?
It’s being advertised as MM but I don’t understand how a turntable would be connected looking at the rear view.
Nice to finally see inside this rare amp.
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You do what you gotta do to get your fix. I couldn’t be more pleased with how this configuration turned out. It’s virtually child proof and the sound is world class.
Rega Apollo, Chord Qutest, 32.5/hicap/250 fully rebuilt by AV Options, and ATC HTS 7.
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Thank you. Nice!
I don’t see any thing that looks like it could have a ‘DIL’ packaged OpAmp in it in the pictures, but they are a bit blurry.
I also don’t see any removable phono-cards (which I’ve seen on the two NAC12s that I’ve owned).
I would guess that the turntable would connect through one of the three DIN sockets with the fourth used for power and routing the audio to the power amp.
Thanks for your thoughts on this.
Did you have v1’s Stephen, with mm phono, or do you mean the v2/v3 with 6-7 card slots?
I just realised, that circle above the power LED is just a whole in the casework with metal or a Naim badge showing through. You can see the same effect on the rear where the two Naim badges have been used to hide several cut out holes.
Mine were the later ones with cards.
The Naim badges on the rear just look to be wrong. They look to be from the wrong period really. However, I’m not an expert by any means and I’d be interested in Richard’s views here!
Tx
I’ve also realised calling it an integrated circuit is incorrect. What I meant was the components are all soldered onto a single board instead of using the system of cards.
Yes, would be good to know what Richard makes of it, plus fellow members of course
That’s an early NAC12 - the first iteration (or Version 1) as it’s referred to by Naim. Everything is on the main board with no daughter boards. It’s quite rare to find one still like that as, not many were made, and AFAIK most of them were upgraded to Version 2, which had 6 daughter boards fitted via knife edge connectors, or eventually on to Version 3, with 7 daughter boards on pin connectors, or… something in between like my own NAC12, which began as V1, then upgraded to V2, then had pin connectors fitted on the phono board inputs to allow the use of NA3xx boards for phono, and also had RCA phonos fitted and eventually an ALPS Blue pot for volume control. It’s nice to think that all of these early NAC12 would have been through JV’s hands one way or another during the early Salt Lane days.
Hi Richard,
Was there ever a version of the NAC12 with an internal active crossover like the NAC42XO?
Just wondering why the star earth wires are floating about in there, like they would have been terminated at a second PCB?
Regards
Neil.
Looking at the back it’s like New York - so good, they ‘naimed’ it twice!
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I’ve never seen one like that. Having said that, I think I’ve only ever seen one other fully intact NAC12 V1. I think they were very much work in progress and that may explain why the extra hole on the front fascia plate (proposed power switch, or mono switch??) and also the many holes on the rear panel that have been covered with NAP160/250 adhesive Naim logos. I recall Paul Rasmussen’s early review of the NAC12 + NAP160 (incidentally the NAC12 in that review has the same hole on the fascia panel and two logos on the rear). The NAC12 was basically acknowledged as work in progress with imminent changes on the way. A few months later came the follow up on the NAC12 and it was completely redesigned, this time as V2 with the 6 daughter boards and performance very much improved.
Yes it’s certainly prototypey, there is provision on the rear panel for a T03 package device (LM317/NA001 etc.), but AFAIK there was never a unit that utilised such a device with that casework.
Regards
Neil.
Did you get to hear the v1 Richard?
It has sold on ebay then - I assume for the £1k opening bid as someone on pinkfish saw a bid against it and now it’s gone. Not bad for a 46-year old prototype and probably helped somewhat by the fact that Naim will still service it. I’m sure this helps the Naim brand enormously and long may it continue.