Naim Olive

There was one on eBay last week. I thought it was strange at the time, but David’s explanation makes sense.

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Yeah, this was re-cased by Naim. I wondered if Naim kept a record of such things but probably had better things to do.

My first naim amplifier was a chrome NAP160, and it sounded excellent, it gave many good years of enjoyment. After I was given an NAC82 by Julian V and Paul S (long story) I had the amp serviced and re-cased at HQ to match the preamplifier / olive HiCap I had in the system. Here it is below.




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Yes indeed, you are absolutely correct! I’ve been using Chris and AVO for a few years now. He first rebuilt an 82 about 10-12 years ago for me. Most recently he performed a very special service on a lovely 72 for me. That same 72 will pair with these 135s.

Earlier this year when I picked up the 72, he gave me a listen on his system. It was then I first heard the 135s - through my 72 and his SL2s. It was a fantastic sound, and it more than piqued my interest, as you can now see! While I don’t have SL2s, I’m sure my passive ATCs will love the extra power / control versus my (excellent) 250.

I’m dropping off the 135s tomorrow, and I’ll let him know it’s on account of him letting me hear his 135s that’s put me into this predicament!:rofl:

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Listening to my first Olive amp in a long time. Picked up a lovely condition unserviced NAC 72 from 1990. It’s taken the place of the NAC 12 whilst I wait for an olive HICAP and NAP 140 to partner it. Then off to Naim for a service. Sounding very good with Naim serviced bolt down NAP 160 in the mean time.

Office is a bit of a mess at the moment…

Strange thing is that I’m not really sure why I’m doing this - I just wanted some olive amps again for some reason.

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I did the same but moved from classic to olive with 52/sc/135s but I still have a 32/160 and a 12s with hc and 250. Speakers are nbl, sbl and kans. Don’t need more

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That’s a very fine collection. Still never heard a 52 :frowning:

I’m using a late pair of Tukans at the moment which seem to match well in this room, except missing some bass.

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I still have three 72 NACs. Two are on near-permanent loan to my son and daughter. “My” one is an early 1990s model with the two BNC inputs. These were changed to regular RCA phono inputs during servicing, which, for me, provides a more flexible way of use. It still has the three DIN inputs for, er, DIN stuff.

The RCAs were linked using Link wires during servicing. This allows MM/MC cards to be added or removed as required.

The 72 is currently on duty while the 282 is away being serviced.

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Three! Very nice. You have the best one I hope! :slight_smile:

Yeah, I need to get my phono connectors changed - just using adaptors at the moment.

I still miss and regret selling my active olive system with a lashing of Mana. Mana, SBLs, and old CDi were probably my favourites.

Lights off, hit play and marvel at the green glow.

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Nice, have you gone FULL Julian and located the boxes outside the listening room ?

Very nice! If only we had the cash (and space) to keep all our old systems.

Looking at your photo, that is one problem which will grate my OCD - the difference shades of olive from green to brown :grimacing:

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Got my 72 in 1990. Made the mistake of comparing it to the newly released 52 shortly afterwards. After a year of scrimping, saving, and making do with the 72, I traded it in for a 52, which I kept until earlier this year.

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I had the same Naim gear, but on somewhat embarrassing Soundstyle racks rather than the Mana, which in your case, seemed not so much as to have come from heaven as to have gone all the way up to heaven :grinning:

After deriving great pleasure from the music I played on that system for almost 30 years, I finally let it go earlier this year. Ultimately, I didn’t want the headache of getting it serviced in a part of the world where decent dealer support for Naim is nonexistent.

Edit: A closer look at the photo from @obsydian suggests that the CD player is a CDS and that the SNAXO has a Supercap on it, which would mean that the Naim gear is identical to what I had. I used both the original CDS and a CDS II with my active SBLs.

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If the devices sound good, I wouldn’t have them serviced…I had a Nait 2 serviced a year ago, it doesn’t sound any better than my Nait 3. Why spend money on something that doesn’t do anything, it sounds too fresh and not musical to me : )

I was thinking the same ref this 72. However, the upper mids are a tiny bit peaky (squeally) on a couple of albums so far and I seem to recall that a service helped with this on my NAC 12. I think it originates from the old LP12 but the unserviced 72 is exacerbating it.

Are you saying your Nait 2 came back worse cos it’s now no better than a Nait 3?

I find the Nait 2 a bit brighter, which I don’t like better with my Kans. My nait 3 have more fill.

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OK, but was the brighter sound always there, or only post-service?

       I'M SORRY BUT THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT COMPUTE....

:rofl:

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I bought it like that and waited.

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