Nait 1 - White vs Gold Ink

Doing a little Nait 1 side-by-side comparison testing in the shop today and curious if anyone has any insight on the rational/difference (other than age) between the Gold and White ink used on the Nait 1? There is the obvious difference of green vs red light as well - very interesting.

Just figured someone on this forum would have more info.

Thanks.

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Or even orange with age… Think these two are the gold standard :smiley:

Those both look to be later NAITs, judging by the volume knobs. Do the fascias both have a similar texture to them or different? Around '85 the silvery white logo and labelling on the fascias had a tendency to turn a gold-ish brown and the fascias would turn brittle too. Many were replaced during their lifetime.

The green LED only arrived very late on. The earliest NAITs had a smooth edged volume knob.

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I think that there was also a suggestion that heavy cigarette smoke might be involved in some cases.

Just imagine the same deposits on your lungs!

I think that was suggested by some, but really it was down to the change in material used for the fascias at the time that didn’t age particularly well.

A few years back I had my '85 Chrome Bumper serviced and the polycarbonate fascia panel crumbled at the slightest touch. The silver logo on it had turned a deep gold. Luckily Darran had been given permission by Naim to have some replacement fascias made up and had supplied some of them to Naim for their own service use, so my 250 got a replacement fascia at the same time.

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I believe all the early Naim controls - Volume and Input - were smooth…? The 42/110 brought the larger Tractor Wheels, which were ridged.

So that turned out all right in the end.

I do wonder how many items of Naim electronics you have stashed around your home, Richard, you could probably start a small shop.

The Nait shared its volume knob with the NAC32, which also used the same type for source selection. The knob changed to one with a ridged edge around the time of the update of the NAC32 to the NAC32.5.

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Just to add here - if you come across a NAC32.5 with smooth edged knobs then it’s most likely an extruded sleeve NAC32 that has had the .5 update done at a later date.

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It would seem that the gold ink is possibly decomposing organic matter. Nice!

Thank you for the insight. Yes, both units have the textured knob. Crazy how much the ink coloration has changed in just a matter of a few years difference. Maybe the red light unit had more sun exposure or they used a different printing ink with the green light model? I should crack them open and see if the boards look the same.

The one on the left may well have had a replacement fascia at some point. Somewhere I still have a spare fascia should one of my NAITs need it in future.

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Well happy to say the “gold” unit just arrived back from Naim America fully re-capped and is sounding wonderfully detailed on a new pair of Rogers LS 5/9 SE. The Nait 1 is a nifty little box.

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It was interesting comparing the two—yours did have more detail and air. I need to send mine in for a proper service!

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