There’s now a Russell k 50 “se” announced at Bristol and on demo there, over £4K.
interesting - wonder what is in it - apart from perhaps a cosmetic change… bets on a remote?
Mind you I thought the Nait50 was a Special Edition LOL
It’s the Russell k 50 speakers Simon, sorry … now with an se version to match the other se models.
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ahhh yes - I heard about those - apparently upgraded hf driver… possibly other things as well. I can hear a few limitations of my current RK RED50 but it doesn’t get in the way of the musical enjoyment… but I’d be surprised if an upgraded HF driver would address that - but it would be interesting to compare.
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They were sounding very good, though I’m sure the originals do too. I’d love a better pair of small stand mounts on my nait 50 but can’t warrant the £ right now. Id probably look at proacs with a ribbon tweeter; something about them that works for me.
yeah the beauty of those RKs is the timing and lack of smearing and cross over smearing. Audio just seems to to step forward realistically into your room and for the first time in a long long time I can genuinely enjoy sound stage now. Very very different from my previous ATCs. The regular RK 50 are half that price and even less used - if you can find them used - so might be worth a punt. Need to be mindful of supports … I have found the SS60 stands partially filled delightful to use with those speakers.
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Simon, I can feel your enthusiasm for the little Nait. I did not have the chance to hear it but if I trust my own findings, I think that most of the time even with small loudspeakers, more power is always better.
Just like driving a V8 on a twisty hilly back road, you just feel in a relaxing way that the power is there… High peaks and crescendos do not hurt, not even in a subliminal way so you could listen to the music for hours.
I think it’s just a matter of time before Naim revealed a much more powerful Nait.
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But I am not sure it is… there is also argument that lower power amps can be beneficial in terms of SQ, but clearly no point having an under powered amp for your speakers or listening environment.
I note the PAS 3 S one of the world top end semiconductor power amps is 23 W into 8 ohms, and is still the same basic architecture as from the late 90s.
But sure cheaper amps probably have a lesser ratio from mean to peak power so benefit from having a higher mean power output… but may suffer more compression at higher levels.
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Exactly
A power edition a’la Nova PE, wouldn’t surprice me if upcoming Naim. amps will be based on Class D modules.
The average customer take notice of specs, Watt is important for many non audioholics.
I concur, the stated power output can be irrelevant. IMO, the quality and the capacity of the power supply is all that counts. For the record, I once had a 25W Classé DR3B that appeared way more powerful than the NAP250 when used with Kef 105.4s.
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A friend had this, it was exceptional, much better than their later stuff.
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Having heard all the slimline amps integrated and separates at some point (so 10 or more of them?) I was very disappointed with the XS2. The difference with the XS3 is regularly downplayed, but for me significant. The XS, XS2, XS3 to me sound very different and they also look different on the inside.
Back on topic, the Nait XS3 for me is most enjoyable of all the slimline amps (including both the 5-series ánd 3-series), so you might want to demo that one time against the Nait 50. I did, and the Nait 50 is indeed a truly wonderful new amp, shockingly so in fact. However, I ended up preferring the sound of the Nait XS3 in my system and in my room after we parted with the CB Nait 2.
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Well spotted by @robert_h in Bristol, indeed @Simon-in-Suffolk the Russel-K website now says “enter the RED 50Se – a new tweeter, improved cross-over, new integrated plinth.” If they are now £4k then for me out of budget, they used to be rather affordable once (less than half that) here.
Go with a Nait5si and skip the streamer… get the CD5si and $2k worth of CDs 
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Good advice. Therefore miss Unity 2. Was great product for its level.
Makes me think RK Red 50 were splendid performing in my upstairs smaller room, should probably have kept them.
But the new prices is over the top, no matter what improvements they represent.
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I do tend to agree.
If you are interested….There is a First listening impression about K50se speakers on the Bristol Show thread(Click here).
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