If my memory is correct, Julian Vereker’s first amps were made for (or at least used by) London’s Capital Radio, and comprised the NAC12 preamp and NAP160 power amp. They were housed in fairly basic black ‘bolt down’ aluminium cases. Wasn’t there also an early monster power amp called (confusingly) the NAP300? And the improved NAC12S preamp came along shortly afterwards.
Is my memory correct and could some kind soul post photos of these early marvels, please? In my mind, they looked pretty much like kit designs, and I remember being astonished by their looks (and high prices) when I saw them in the window of the original Russ Andrews Hifi shop in Edinburgh as a schoolboy.
I imagine that these amps are highly sought after these days and may sell for silly prices. Some are probably still being used to make lovely music today.
Thank you, James, that is exactly as I remember it, very brutal styling.
Incidentally, is the reference to NAB300 a typo (for NAP300), or was that what it was called?
Pictures of other very early Naim stuff greatly appreciated, please.
On a related topic, there was a lovely ‘coffee table’ style book published about Quad products over 10 years ago. The market would seem right for a similar book about Naim products. Does anyone know of anything similar planned for Naim?
That’s interesting, do you know why it had that abbreviation?
By which I mean that the ‘NAC’ and ‘NAP’ designations stand for ‘Naim Audio Control’ and ‘Naim Audio Power’ respectively. So I can’t think what NAB would mean, unless it was a ‘balanced’ design.