I’ve got a 42.5/110 which were bought new in 1987 for £500 if memory serves correctly. A few years later I added a used HiCap of 1984 vintage, and nothing much changed until I bought a 102 preamp in 1996. My son still uses the 42.5 along with another 110 which was originally bought s/h so I could run two 110s as mono amps. The CB HiCap is now used to power my phono stage and the 102 is used along with a matching olive Hicap and 250, all of which are similar in age. Everything is checked occasionally to make sure it’s all working as it should, with only minimal intervention where required. These days I’m an advocate of if it ain’t broke then leave well alone.
The olive kit sounds really good and it delivers a more complete picture of the music, but I could happily go back to just the 42.5/110 as it possesses more than enough of the ‘fun factor’ that makes the music so irresistible.
I still use a Nat 101 / Snaps which I bought from Studio 99 in Swiss Cottage London in 1986, a CDS / CDPS of 1997 vintage. An Aro of 2003, my son has an early version of the 120 shaped like a transformer with the switch on the back I think 1978. He uses this with a Naim 32.
My spare SBLs are from 1988 while the new ones are 2000. So 38 and 20 years old respectively. I still think they are the best speakers I have ever heard…
I have two Nakamichi cassette decks, a Dragon and a 1979 680. Both have been serviced relatively recently by Bowers & Wilkins (in fact, I bought the Dragon from them back in the day).
The 680 has the half-speed mode - 15/16 ips. With a half decent tape it will eat any compressed iTunes file or MP3 for breakfast and hunt down others for elevenses.
I also have a Beogram 8002 tangential (recently restored) with a MMC2 cartridge, playing into the SuperUniti via a Project Phono Box (would love to hear it through the Supernait 3). Soundwise, it goes neck to neck with my Marantz K.I. Pearl Lite when the latter is playing SACDs (I have a few recording in both vinyl and SACD).
So, I agree. Many vintage pieces can show their modern equivalents a clean pair of heels…
I’ve been using a chrome '85 250 ever since the late nineties. It was my goal to own one since the mid eighties. It’s been serviced twice, once by naim and then by Darran at Class A in 2013. How time flies, it will soon be due another visit. It sounds better than ever to me and continues allow upstream upgrades to shine! The latest being the addition of vertere mg-1 md to my xerxes X just this week.
Stuart, Same for me… a pair of '87 black ash just replaced by a wonderful pair of '95 cedars. I’ve not heard any speaker that I like as much - closest being the epos es14s. I think I still live in the eighties!
Hi Richard, I think my first naim amp was a 42/110 rather than a 42.5/110. I think my 42 had a red led. Is that right, was yours changed to a green led when it was upgraded or am I mis remembering? They look very nice BTW!
My brother and I are both into vintage Naim equipment; SNAPS, NAP 250 and NAB 300. They all are low maintenance and still offer great musicality, It took me a while, almost a leap of faith to finally make the signal to the amplifier be sent from the SNAPS for each of the channels. Magic sound is still at the rendez-vous.
I live in the Channel Islands, but the guy here who looks after my gear when problems arise liaised with “Beolover” whose site is on the internet and who was very helpful. Probably your best bet in the first instance.
All my Naim gear is pretty old. My bedroom system is a rega planet into a NAC22 into a NAP120 through Naca5 cables into a pair of Naim credos.
The NAC and NAP are New Zealand made- during import licensing days, from about 1979. Julian was reported to be furious that Avalon Audio (the NZ licensee) “improved them” by putting any old rubbish into them. I had them serviced and recapped by Chris at Real Music (local agent and guru in Wellington) and he reckons they ended up as naimy as they would ever be. I threw the Avalon SNAPS copy in the bin, and never looked back, must have been running them for 20 years now. They make beautiful music.
My Naim Prefix that I have just installed in my system was manufactured in 1995, which makes it a relative youngster compared with some of the kit in this topic!
Makes me think there’s potential for a limited edition 50th Anniversary collectors edition of Chrome goodness.
A nod to the past with modern guts destined to sit on the racks of 50 lucky Naim appreciators.
I’d go a collectors edition NAIT 1.
It’s a lovely idea, and IIRC there used to be quite a few spare PCBs held at the factory for the NAIT even as recently as 15 years ago. However, with only 50 I reckon none would ever make it out of the factory…
