I have noticed that some olive fascias from some point in the early to mid 1990s are particularly yellow/brown. However, some fascias from the very early part of the olive era (like the old olive Nait 2 I used to have) appear to be closer to the green color that characterized the look by the late 1990s/early 2000s.
Were the yellow/brown fascias limited to a specific window of time similar to how the yellowed logos of the chrome bumper era were linked to a particular vendor that was used in ~1985/86?
This knowledge would help when hunting for olive gear as some pictures in listings don’t always portray accurately the actual shade of olive fascia. As we all know, correctly matching olive fascias is the key to avoiding an OCD meltdown.
My understanding is that the brown (original) facia colour lasted until about 1995. @Richard.Dane can expand on this with a lovely story about how the colour came to change.
I have been collecting a couple of Olive systems and have noted about 7 different shades of the green/grey colour, from a light greyish colour to almost black. The brown was fairly well colour matched throughout its production. I do get the thing about CDO, but I have finally given up after waiting for right pieces to come along for two years. Such a shame that Naim or another party with Naim’s blessing can’t offer the facia matching service Naim once offered.
As well as Richard’s (somewhat sad) story of the changing olive shades, age, sunlight exposure and heat also play a part - the two slightly red tinged units in Graeme’s second picture are due to heat I think.
I’ve seen examples of olive 250s in the past that have been running hot for some reason and the fascia can turn decidedly red.
Regards
Neil.
Thought I’d better add - a red tinged olive fascia is not necessarily a sign of a problem. Probably just a happy unit that has spent it’s life nice and warm!
The “red”colour might be partly due to a reflection of the red rug in front of the system, but in daylight they are a distinctly brown colour. The top right box is the exact same colour as the two “red” boxes.
So how about a colour matching service for us poor old OCD chaps with mis-matched Olive systems then @NeilS
I think one can get too worried about these things. If it’s not too far off topic, I’ve got two SuperUnitis and one of them is a distinctly pink/purple black, although I didn’t notice that until I put a 2018 NAT 05 XS on top of it. Anyway it still sounds great, possibly better than it’s properly black brother!
These days it’s almost impossible to do that unless you are absolutely certain the fascia have never been swapped - swapping them to match up the looks of a system was common practice back in the day.
Naim offered fascia matching for many years. However, I would guess that either all the Olive fascia stocks are now exhausted, or the variations are exhausted, and there’s now only one. @NeilS would know for sure.
@NeilS, @Richard.Dane, yes, a pipe dream indeed. I mentioned earlier that I have given up trying to buy units of roughly the same colour, and prefer to enjoy the music. After all they sound the same. I’m so impressed that 20-30 year old hifi can sound this good and is still supported by Naim. Big thumbs up!
I mentioned earlier that I have given up trying to buy units of roughly the same colour, and prefer to enjoy the music. After all they sound the same. I’m so impressed that 20-30 year old hifi can sound this good and is still supported by Naim. Big thumbs up!