I’ve got a NAT 03. My local dealer is selling a NAT 02 for £250. Is it worth upgrading and how much better is it? I have a Ron Smith aerial so my reception is good. Or should I wait for a NAT 01!
Blimey, £250! I asked £475 for mine!
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OK I’m going to out on a limb here and say that although I’ve never heard an 02, or for that matter an 01, I do have both a NAT03 and a NAT05. For me, the 03 sounds dull compared to the 05, in fact the 05 is streets ahead SQ-wise (although as ever, other opinions are available).
And the 05 picks up more stations - although whether that is a good thing is open to debate 
And an 05 can be picked up for a similar amount.
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I haven’t enquired about condition. Suspect it may not be good. My tuner was serviced and repaired 3 years ago (the main board and the rubber feet were replaced) so it is in good condition.
It does appear to be a bit below price. Nigel’s is probably in better nick.
Interesting. I had an 03 for a year or two but never really listened to it. Wonder if a better one (02 or 01) would draw me in more. Not that I really have the capacity to be going for new sources at the moment 
For £250 I’d be tempted to give it a go. Maybe give Naim a call to see whether they’re still servicing NAT02s first.
I sold my NAT02 for about £400 about 15 years ago
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Only you can say how important FM radio is to you.
Within recent memory I had a problem with the performance of my NAT 05. Naim’s advice to me in an email was (I paraphrase) ‘servicing your equipment every ten years or so is important and no more so than with the delicate circuits within an FM tuner’.
It was a flat fee and I’m very glad I had the service done because the performance is now excellent.
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In the past I have had an 02 and an 05…the 02 was vastly superior. Sold up though, with the demise of most high quality FM broadcasts.
Blimey is right - I reckon your price is about right HH
If that one is in good knick and working well it’s a bargain
RWC - is it a CB or Olive ?
I’ve had the Olive NAT02 and it’s great , used it heaps
Now have the CB NAT01 /NAPST and yes it’s better but they are pretty rare these days
Both are great , if it’s in good condition and sounds good ( could check with Naim whether ever serviced etc ) at that price I’d go for it
Both better than the NAT03 but that’s not too bad either by the way
Cheers
Spot on, Tom Tom had one about £800 yesterday .
My immediate thought is to think how much will that cost to service and then add to price.
20 years ago I purchased an olive NAT02 for $1,600 Aus ( circa 800UK£)
Loved it should not have sold it , big regret
Would have thought though price would have declined somewhat in 20 years
They’re collectible . I still have aNAT03 in my rack.
It’s as a reserve against poor internet connection
Unless it’s in rough condition or faulty or sounding off-colour, for £250 there will doubtless be a queue forming rapidly at your dealer.
The NAT02 is a lovely thing, indeed. If your NAT03 is in good fettle then I’m not surprised that you wonder whether and how the 02 could improve upon it. It does, but perhaps not by a huge amount and they are definitely both cut from similar cloth sound-wise, However, if a NAT01 is on the radar then I would probably wait and put the money there instead.
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@RWC after owning a NAT02 for more than fifteen years, a NAT01 popped up about seven years ago. Took the plunge, paid a fair price for what turned out to be in near mint condition, second owner had bought a complete system from original owner, desired only the amps and was selling on the remainder. I have not heard a NAT03. Between 02 and 01, there is a difference without a doubt. Today, buy cost + a service means that one is roughly twice the cost of the other. With a 252 you would no doubt get the benefit, if you are so inclined.
When my 01 arrived, it revealed that I had a faulty downlead on my G17 - rigged by the late excellent RS himself. Maybe check yours whatever tuner you choose.
There was one NAT01 on ebay recently at a fixed price, it was listed twice and IIRC did not sell. I think forum rules suggest I can’t add anything more.
On FM switch off, there appears to be at least seven more years of transmissions. A search on the forum may be worthwhile, while you wait. Simon-in-Suffolk posted some excellent comments as to how FM transmission has changed over the years, in essence with FM now digitised between studio and transmission towers used for FM. I marginally prefer FM to HD radio via the streamer, not much in it, but checking, you don’t have a streamer so you may find it a worhtwhile upgrade, whichever you choose.
I even had at some stage few years ago the NAT 101/ snaps
That was pretty good also apart from not quite locking onto a station as solidly as the NAT 02 and NAT 01
Naim’s tuners are wonderful pieces of engineering in my view , have always loved them
It is olive. The dealer normally says condition is good or excellent etc but there is no condition given with the tuner. In 2019 I paid £317 to service and repair the NAT 03 so I guess the serving cost will be ? £400 to £500 for the NAT 02.
I will email the dealer and ask for a condition report.
If you are really thinking about a NAT01 (Naim Audio’s finest ever source component IMHO), these can be found a lot more easily than I thought. I commented on this recently on another thread when I was saying how scarce I thought they were. I looked on a well known auction site and saw three, one of which at fixed price was probably the one that @sound-hound was referring to, above.
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Out of interest what’s the difference between a 01 and 101?