New to Naim

Also, I am not one to focus on “specs” or fiddle to much - the concept of PRaT and toe tapping take priority.

The current iteration is the Nait 5SI. A quick search online reveals several reviews. I think there is a few Naim dealers in the Vancouver area.

Welcome from Est neighbor.

I’m from Québec. Years ago I discovered Naim with a 5i demo. I ended up with UnitiQute that I still use with Kudos X2.

Later I went for SuperUniti and Harbeth P3ESR. A lot of fun.

I switched to ProAc D2R, that was the biggest sound signature change in my case.

Now I’m building around a NAP 250 DR but all my setups provided me a lot fun.

Within my little experience I would definitely say Harbeth was my best setup with vocal jazz.

Good luck!

Edit:
I’m no analyst or poet with skills to describe music, but one thing I can easily judge is my fun factor when listening to music… that’s why I became a Naim lover. I think you are on the right track. :wink:

Is this an example of the most recent version?

Alan

Hi Mrox, greetings from the Left Coast!

One of my music friends has a pair of Harbeth, the little suckers, P3? Once I start down this path I bet I could borrow them for a demo.

1 Like

Little forum rule, I think we are not allowed to post link to web site selling stuff

But Richard will nicely let you know and maybe lead you to the forum best practices. :wink:

That being say, I haven’t look at 5i since long time. I’m not sure. I know the 5i then 5i with an italic I so it can be confusing. Not sure what the latest after is though.

I also always keep an eye on Canuck Audio Mark.

Here some info:
« naim 5i vs 5si. «

It’s a link

Welcome to the forum, but please do read and note forum rules and don’t post links on here to items for sale (link removed). Thanks.

Sorry for the infraction Richard, and on my first thread too, that must be a record… :grimacing:.

Thanks for your help and patience with me.
Alan

1 Like

Not at all. We all have to learn our way around when we start out.

3 Likes

Your tube amp, from a very quick Google, looks like it’s pretty good. Are you after a Naim setup to replace it? Or to give an exemplar sound with a view to possibly moving on and up the ladder if you like that “house” sound?

I’m currently listening to a 42.5/110/HiCap, recently bought and serviced. My XS3, which I bought c 2 years ago to replace a very well loved NAIT 3, is sitting unplugged on the floor. I bought the pre/power as an experiment, partly to see if there was anything to the classic Naim sound… turns out, to my ears, there is. This combination is fantastic fun. I would think a 32.5/160 would be “even more”. My XS3 has been really very good, I would recommend it, particularly as it has great input flexibility, and it doesn’t sound bad at all, but I’ve been smiling more with the 30 year old stuff 8)

1 Like

Take a listen at Rega amps too, Brio if your looking at 5i budget, save some dosh and perhaps a better sounding amp.
Rega is worth to consider, their current range is really very good - I went from SN2/HCDR to Rega Aethos.
Still have my Olive Naim and Superuniti, Muso etc…

It’s all on budget and mood for further upgrades.

  • 72/140 … perfect with kan
  • supernait 3
  • nait 50 (little box of wonders - you have to test him)
1 Like

Welcome to the forum, and hopefully soon, welcome to the world of Naim😎.

Speaking from personal experience, anywhere along Naim’s product line are good, from the little shoebox of Naim Uniti Atom, or vintage Nait50, one integrated Nova, NSC222 (then you’ll need an active speaker or an amp), all the way to the creme de la créme Statement.

I don’t know about “Naim sound”, because the sonic character of the new classic has changed over the legacy one, and perhaps it also changed from olive era. But in all Naim products I’ve heard, the PRaT is there.

I, myself started from uniti star, and having a little background of being a hifi hobbyist back in the yesteryears, I know good stuffs when I see (or, more of “hear”) it, I leapt to 500s.

How about one of the Uniti range of players? In UK these range from about £1300 to about £5000. Of interest is the new CI Uniti 102 which at £1300 seems stunning value for money but I don’t think it’s been released into the wild yet (dealers are saying later this month).

Hey GThack, thanks for the reply! My Triode Labs SET 2A3 amp is a beautiful piece of gear in British Racing Green and sounds amazing. I am looking to have the Naim sound in my house as well.

Thanks for your tip on the older gear, I may start there to see what that sounds like and I will make sure that they have been serviced.

Any thoughts on a 33.5/110 combo that were serviced last year by a Naim dealer?

2 Likes

Assume you mean 32.5…?

Serviced by a Naim Dealer…? AFAIK, Naim Dealers are not authorised to carry out servicing…?

In the UK, only Class A are authorised - in addition to Naim themselves, obviously. AFAIK… :thinking:

1 Like

All I know is that this 42.5/110 sounds great, it’s a nice improvement on my XS3 8) I haven’t heard any other Naim amps for long other than my old NAIT3. If you can give the 32.5/110 a listen I would definitely take the opportunity to do so. If you cannot, then I suspect the US and CA market for old Naim gear probably means you could buy, enjoy them for a few months, and move then on again for little loss. It’s hassle but taking my word for anything is very risky X)

I have read more than one post on here about how much people enjoyed their first Naim pre/power system of 32.5/110, or 42.5/110, or 72/140. So I suspect even if eclipsed by your tube gear that they’ll be enjoyable enough for an experiment at least!

@IanRobertM is correct that in the UK only Naim themselves or Class A Audio are authorised repair agents. I think the NA/CA situation is different, but having had my fairly recently unauthorized serviced NAC/NAP reserviced by Class A (I bought them with a non official but recent service history), I’m glad I had them done properly.

Have fun whatever you do. And that amp of yours looks really nice! The crackle green top plate is really classy

3 Likes

A NAIT 50 would be a solid baseline to work off. It’s a fantastic amp and something to grow in to as well as being a current product.
If you want to dabble with vintage always factor in age and service history and how easy it is to cover that locally if needed.
Cabling and source play a big part here also. Naim’s NAC A5 is a no brainer speaker cable choice, 5 pin DIN is typically prefered, on a NAIT likely not a massive issue if you end up with RCA but factor it in down the line for source interconnects.
The amps like a decent solid platform to sit on, a hifi rack etc, again all these elements of system synergy become more apparent if you delve further up the ladder of products. NAIT’s tend to be forgiving in most scenarios.

Simple don’t buy anything with naim on the front, you can spend 1/4 of the cash thats twice as good. Trust me, I did. ANY Auralic streamer transport, venus ii 12th dac, and an exposure amp. Other amps, even dare I say it fosi mon op amps, wee all over the stuff you are about to waste your hard earned cash on, for heavens sake