Nick, it’s a wonderfully flexible and beautifully built amp and if anything, that was probably its undoing as it probably cost too much to make in relation to its selling price. That was part of the reason for the Nait 5i. On top of that, I always felt it was at its best partnered with a Flatcap2 - which of course made it even mor expensive, and two boxes as well.
Performance wise it’s charms are a bit more subtle compared to its predecessors - not quite so much fun perhaps, but still with the ability to engage. It’s under-rated today, so a relative bargain for what you get.
Things to be aware of; they’re getting on a bit now and many will be in need of a service to be tip top. The mid period 5s had volume encoder issues (IIRC, supplier moved production and quality dropped) so many mid to late units will have had them repaired and updated by now. The ribbon link plug is rather fragile…
Hard to say. I generally lack for audiophile superlatives. It seems to sound more like itself, in a way. Maybe a bit clearer, a bit more energy behind it. I may be understating it as I feel the improvement is clear and obvious - and worth it. Being a petrolhead, I’ll present the analogy of installing a freer flowing exhaust or intake on your car’s engine. It’s the same engine, just slightly more-so.
Thanks DD I much prefer people to down play these things rather than use terms like ‘slack jawed’ or ‘night & day’ the way you describe it is exactly right. I’ve had a few Naim preamps myself and adding a power supply always made them sound more like themselves as you put it apart from a Supercap which for better or worse gives a preamp a big jolt.
Both the Nait 5 & the Dynaudio Audience 52’s turned up today and I connected them up admittedly the Nait was cold and I had to place the '52’s on top of the Contour s 3.4’s but I have to say they sounded great together.
I connected them up my Technics 1210 and played Womack & Womack’s Love Wars right through I can’t wait to get the Dynaudios up onto some proper stands. Very happy great little system.
Yes someone above mentioned RX1’s as a possible speaker for this Nait 5. I briefly had a Mk1 XS a few years ago and it was a great amp. If I’d had a bit more cash to splash the Nait XS2 would have been on my list.
