Been a Naimo since 1998 … I like that its made in Salisbury.
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Tried most of the rest and always moved on. A bit like finding your life partner really. One settles.
Eventually.
G
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Naim has some good possibly slightly idiosyncratic designs… I like British Hi-Fi manufacturers… most are built by passionate people, often hand built, tend to sound outstanding with music… and Naim fits in there and very much is part of that club…
My system has three British Hi-Fi manufacturers inc Naim, all mostly hand made… and sound outstanding… but yes Naim has the best forum.
Been using Naim since 2004.
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I bought a Star in late 2019. Loved it as a second system in our family room. Then I found this forum and Qobuz which has really opened my ears to all sorts of great music, particularly jazz. This then led to and ND5 XS2 in my main system. My musical horizons have grown far and wide thanks to Naim.
I chose Naim for an emotional reason :
It was my first experience with high quality hifi.
CD555, NAC 552, NAP500 into Jean-Marie Reynaud flagship speakers.
I still remember the emotion when listening to those albums :
But, I also enjoy other brands like CH Precision, Soulution and Nagra.
Different ways to present music. All beautiful.
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My dealer primarily carried linn,naim, occasional arcam or (gasp) rotel. But beyond that , he convinced me of synergy between components, rather than choosing hodge-podge over the years. I decided I trusted his ears and my own. So at that point, I was fairly limited in choice. Naim has consistently performed without trouble and is pleasing to listen to. Would it be my system if funds were unlimited ? No, but in the real world, it does everything I want.
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I’m into stereo since the late eighties and nearly bought a Nait2 back then. A combination of current hungry loudspeakers and lack of money prevented that. Many years later I bought and sold an Aro and still some years later the SN2 and DAC I still have. Both were the right purchases then, but might get replaced soon.
Naim isn’t all and everything for me, but very much one of the good companies. But this forum is unique among all I know in being friendly, very well moderated by @Richard.Dane and surprisingly (to me) tolerantl towards other manufacturers. Even if I end up without Naim gear, I will stay here.
Was talking to a mate about my 1982 LP12.
He said they used to go well with naim.
Found a used SN2 on the bay and thought I would try it - it’s been a rollercoaster since.
I’d had a few Japanese hi fi systems over the years and was introduced to Naim by a friend (who later ripped me off for a few $ks but that’s another story). Meet my wonderful dealer in Balmain and the rest is s history.
Got my first Olive system in 94/95 and have been adding and upgrading ever since. Love the sound and the simplicity of the design but to be honest if it wasn’t for my dealers advice and how easy he made it for me to purchase I probably wouldn’t have gone down this path.
Like most I’m not looking to change brands or dealer. Love my music and love the way Naim plays it.
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I had an SN2 with HCDR. Didn’t do it for me. Needed more power, would have been ridiculous money in the USA. I stayed for the free beer and snacks. Oh and to be a disruptive force., 
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In the late seventies, I read an article in one of the hifi magazines , reviewing about 18 or 20 amplifiers… which would seem ridiculous now.
Anyway, the Naim amp (could it have been a NAP160?) seemed to be totally different from the others, a totally new approach to amplifier design. A couple of years later (1978), after the usual Trios, Pioneers, etc., I bought my first “serious” amp, It was the 22/120 which I still have.
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My system is now Chord but I did have a Naim system for 7 years and have every respect for them… they’re a brand I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone. Just something about the brand and sound quality that makes them stand out… something special about hand made audio gear from Britain.
The forum… well, it’s the best audio forum to be honest. There’s a lot of very knowledgeable people here with a wealth of experience and a love of music. What’s not to like?
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Pretty much the same! I sold my (modest) stereo prior to moving from San Francisco to NYC in the early noughties; I went to a local hifi emporium here in New York to look into getting some tunes back in our apartment. I had never heard of Naim Audio, but the sales dude put on some Led Zep. through a CD5/Nait 5 and some B&W floorstanders (I think they were 603s) and the foot-stomping authority made a very big impression on me!
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I’ve been aware of Naim since mid 70s, seeing adverts and inquiring then, but couldn’t afford. Roll on best part of 40 years, never hearing or seeing in the flesh. Then looking for a replacement for CD player, decided streamer instead, researched and for similar budget to that anticipated for CDP everything pointed me to a Cyrus streamer or ND5XS. I don’t recall what made me decide on the Naim (Cyrus website gave much more info to help set up streaming for a novice), but I did. That was 2013.
The ND5XS was great - very similar sound quality to the CDP it replaced (Shearne), which satisfied me. That led to joining the forum, and discovering a whole hidden Naim world - some of which impressed (e.g.passion of everyone, brand philosophy, product support, info about design of the power amps) and some rang alarm bells (e.g descriptions of ‘Naim sound’ especially in older amps lower in the range, cost of optimising by adding power supplies with redundancy of the internal instead of omitting PS in the first place, and a predilection for toe tapping as some measure of engagement). It instilled in me a great respect for the brand, a wish to see it thrive, a desire to hear the 300 or 500, coupled with a wariness of ‘Naim sound’, though nonesuch evident in the ND5XS. (From where I live at present getting to hear the amps is not easy, requiring commitment of a couple of days and several £hundred.)
The forum seemed for the most part far more civilised than some other fora, with abusive behaviour rare. It was also both refreshing and enjoyable to find that discussion beyond Naim was accepted, demonstrating a confidence that is impressive. I was hooked!
After a while the dealer that sold me the ND5XS persuaded me to buy an ex-dem XP5XS, which was very disappointing, such marginal improvement for the cost, which led to swapping it for a Chord Hugo, discovering the greater naturalness of that, and in due course a cost saving in losing the ND5XS for another renderer without a redundant DAC. But even having discovered the better (to my ears with my music choices) sound of Chord’s DACs, my respect for Naim is unchanged, and one day I would love to hear the 300 and 500 (anticipating the 500 to be needed to beat my current amps) - but with active tri-amping nowadays that will need quite a sizeable resource even with 300s.
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I blame my cousin. I’ve always loved music and had my share of Japanese systems in my youth, but he (a few years older than me) had a Quad system which introduced me to proper hifi. I used to listen every time I could, and then he traded up to Naim which just instantly made sense to me - it had a forwardness and punch ( the mythical PRAT…) which was how I knew I wanted to hear my music.
I served an apprenticeship through various Rotel, Nad, and Arcam kit until I purchased a used CD5 which stayed happily with me for 11 years, then acquired a 122x/150x combo which I loved until circumstances led me to be in the position to obtain my current set up.
I love the way that the upgrade path from the bottom can be very gradual, but worthwhile, while also slightly addictive…
For the first time in my life I’m happy just listening to my system with no ‘what if’s’, even though there’s many steps still available to me if funds ever allow…!!!
And this forum is a generally wonderful place, honest opinions and advice are readily available on any subject. Plus the Best Jokes thread gives me a giggle a day… 
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Naim make bomb proof amps that under the right circumstances can sound sublime but under the wrong can sound flawed too.
I don’t own Naim equipment anymore choosing another brand but still enjoy the forums discussions on Music and have found genres of music and artists within that I probably would never have found otherwise I also enjoy discussing all things vinyl & Turntables.
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Honestly it was all about the dealer I used . Had heard of Naim and Focal from a friend and there was a dealer nearby that carried both. They were very knowledgeable and not “pushy”. I listened to a 250/272 with and without PS through Sopra 2 and was sold.
It was really the trust and confidence in the dealership. I have since then moved to full 500 system.
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Having watched what Naim do for a long time, I really feel confident in paying the money to get a product that has clearly undergone lots of testing to get it just the way they want it. Then receiving such rave reviews to back it up. Like the Uniti line, a long product lifespan means they put the time in to getting it right. Many others seem to release a new product appearing like it has something special, only to be superseded by a replacement in a few years time and then it feeling outdated.
It comes down to sound quality or musical enjoyment, or whatever we each call it. Our nearest quality audio dealer is a Naim dealer so whenever we selected candidates for our next upgrade, Naim were one of the contenders. Sometimes they won, sometimes they didn’t. I use the past tense because we’ve got pretty much everything we ever dreamed of and more, in terms of musical enjoyment. It has all been auditioned, chosen and configured to play in our lounge to perfection, or our measure of perfection.
That Naim were a British company, now a UK based company, are still a local (to us) business, offer and have delivered outstanding customer service and after sales service, are obsessive in their attention to detail and sell many products which are outstanding value for money, even at the higher price point, are bonuses. If they were an average company and their products were reliable or easily serviceable, outstandingly good and peerless, we would likely be buying some of their stuff. If they were superb at customer relations and engineering but made stuff that sounded average, we would not.
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Why i’m here… i might be just passing through… 
I’m not a one-brand guy, in the past 25 years i’ve owned 8 different amps from 5 different companies (NAD, Rotel, Bryston, Philips and Yamaha), Naim is the 6th company i’m trying out.
I haven’t been fascinated with Naim in the past or have always wanted to own one of their products, i actually hadn’t heard of the brand until about 2017. I like trying out new things though and when a friend mentioned he heard a great sounding Naim amp (i think one of the SuperNaits), i just went on Ebay and bought a second hand SuperUniti to try out without knowing much about it. I liked the sound but it did have a bit of a hum, so after a year or so i swapped it for a Nova, which i currently still own and enjoy.
I probably won’t be buying Naim separates because i’m not looking for the ‘perfect’ sound, i think i find more enjoyment in trying out new things that are different from what i already know.
So it’s not a goal for me to build a complete Naim stack. I might try out a tube amp next, or one of the newer class D amps, everything is possible!
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