I recently got my first Naim product and it is an olive Naim NAIT 2! What a way to join the camp right?
I love it, and want to partner it with a Rega turntable.
Before I commit to purchase a Rega TT model I would like to hear from NAIT 2 owners or connoisseurs where do you think the Nait 2 might become the weakest link in the chain among the possible pairings?
… is what I had. It’s slightly noisier intrinsically from the Nait 2 uninhibited transparency but it sounds fantastic and very realistic.
P3 or P6 would be great as well, it’s probably getting the cartridge that would suit the Nait 2 best to think about?
Me too but I think the OP has their heart set on a Rega. In my experience, a P6 with a different cartridge and power supply starts to cost close to the 8. Turntables are like cars. They never really cost the floor price (ohhh you want seats and a steering wheel too? That’ll be extra)… Except the SL1500
The original NAIT was a wonderfully vivacious little amp, but the flip side of that was that it demanded the very best front end if it wasn’t to sound a bit ragged and little uncouth. In short, it did not suffer poor sources well. Which meant in those days you were best fronting it with a Linn LP12, preferably with an Ittok, at the very least. The NAIT2 was a bit more forgiving and not quite so demanding, but still an LP12 with perhaps a Basik arm was the sort of minimum level front end you wanted to get the best from it.
To that end, from your list, I’d be looking at least at a P6, preferably a P8, and even a P10. Marry any of those with a top flight cartridge (perhaps the new top MM from Rega, which sounded fab at Bristol recently) and a suitable pair of speakers - Royd Minstrels, Edens, Rega ELAs, etc… and I reckon you’d have wonderful little system that would be up there with best in musical engagement.
I use a Nait 2 with a P10 and a P8. I use other amps also. The internal phono is very good but sounds best with my external phono stage. All this into speakers costing quite a bit more than the Nait 2. Sky is the limit. I’ve had the Nait 2 for years. It’s not going anywhere.
It’s really enjoyable to listen to, and it performs some magical tricks by bringing vocals to the forefront of the mix while adding depth, ensuring a tonal balance that it’s neither thin nor strident.