NAIM Nac 42 history

Yes, although the shoe boxes started out with red LEDs, it was easy enough to change the LED colour to match kit over the years, many red LED bits have been changed to green and vice versa.

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I bought my 42 and 110 in 1985. The 42 had a red LED and the 110 a green LED. I had the 42 converted to a 42.5 in 1988 and it came back from Salisbury with a green LED which, when I added a Hicap gave three matching green LEDā€™s. A trivial thing perhaps but it gave the kit a more uniform appearance.

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Listen to my bedroom 42/110 every single day. Probably does more listening hours than my classis series system. Itā€™s an absolute joy in every sense. Just wish I could find a SNAPS for itā€¦

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42/110 was my first naim amp too. I went to Grahams in London c. 1989 to buy a new nait. Instead I came home with a nice second hand 42.5/110.

Still looking? I am not bothered to be honest. I canā€™t remember who said it (Mr Tibbs, Murmur, ??) but apparently it times better without the SNAPS. In any case they sound absolutely brilliant after the service and recap and donā€™t feel as though they are missing anything

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Yeah Iā€™d like to try one, but Iā€™m in no rush. My pair were serviced by Naim last year so should be sounding as theyā€™re supposed to. Compared to my ā€˜mainā€™ system, what they lack in scale and refinement they make up in spades with their own wonderful character. At times they really do grab me by the throat :grin:

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When talking to a certain dealer near where I live about how good they sounded, he was suggesting that they grab another part of the anatomy :blush:

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Thatā€™s odd, I did that, too!

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Indeed!

That was right wasnā€™t it? The amps were mine, the epos were yours and the lp12 was a joint venture. My memory is everything that it used to beā€¦ not good!

Ha ha too true :laughing: :grimacing:

I think ive said ā€˜timingā€™ in the past, but probably more accurate to just say that the music makes more sense, but other ear/brain mechanisms may have a different experience.

Yes, I think so. I bought the 72/140 to fill the gap that the 42.5/110 left. It would be great to hear these again and see if theyā€™re as good as I remember, particularly the ES14s.

Did you ever feel that the 72/140 sounded a bit hurried, like it was on speed?

I donā€™t remember feeling like that, although I did add a hicap pretty soon after and it was a long time ago!

As Iā€™ve recently become the owner of a 42/160 I did borrow the SNAPS from my NAT 101 this afternoon to try out.

Bearing in mind this amp combo is 40 years old and has never been serviced (!) my experiences are probably skewed but I feel adding the SNAPS makes it sound more like my SN3 - adds clarity and tightens up the lower frequencies.
Without the SNAPS reminds me of the NAIT 1 but with more drive overall.

Which do I prefer? Going to wait until Iā€™ve had them serviced before even contemplating that one!

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Yeah, thats pretty much what i hear too, and Hicap is another step in that direction.

Nice pairing. Is that CB or bolt down 160? You did well to find any 160 - they seem to be getting rarer but i guess people just hang onto them esp with prices going up more than money invested in the bank.

Defo worth a service (with Naim approved components of course)

Itā€™s a CB. Iā€™d been on the lookout for a while and having previously owned a 42.5 (with 110) Iā€™m enjoying the bigger presentation

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Where did you get that picture? Iā€™ve never seen it before.

Itā€™s a scan of an old photo.

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