Potentially silly questions

Also, you might want to mention what you listen to most, e.g. radio, vinyl, CD, or do you stream music from somewhere like Spotify?

The Nait 3 is worth paying attention to.
A recap might be required as its 30 years old.
Its a nice little amp which is not affected of the Nait 1 & Nait 2 price madness.
Din cables for source is easy available on various sites, don’t have to be expensive as others have pointed out.

I’d not be surprised if the CD3 has seen its years, those were nice when working.
Spares are scarce, so rather difficult to get going for a long stable period.
Before you try the player make sure it has the little magnet puck included, otherwise it won’t play.

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Speakers are Credos.
They are in ‘poor’ condition. The friend I acquired the system from had them in part of his house that was rented out. There were children….
Cabinets have small dings and stains, spacers are missing, dome tweeters have had the domes pushed in (not too difficult to very carefully deal with), worst issue is one of the mid/bass units has had its voice coil pulled mostly out.
In all honesty I wasn’t overly interested in the speakers. They wouldn’t fit in my listening space even if they were 100%.

Music is mostly ‘70s/‘80s rock/prog.
Bit of Duran Duran, Ultravox etc thrown in for good measure.
A fair mix of vinyl (Rega Planar 1) and cd, I also have a little Bluetooth receiver attached for when I’m feeling very lazy.

Followed advice from the excellent Ross at Naim tech support and have gently powered up both units without signal. No pops, bangs or heating up anywhere.
Puck was missing, inexpensive so one on order.
Once I have puck, cable etc I’ll get further into it.

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I had a similar setup myself back in the day. I may be tempted to get a NAIT 3 again, I have a lot of fond memories of that system, I’m still going strong on a Naim “journey” all these years later :grin:
All the sensible advice is in the thread already, keep it simple and it’ll serve you well for many years to come. A service will make a noticable difference and keep the amp healthy for another 10-15 years of use quite happily.
Enjoy what you’ve got there, it’s very rewarding and addictive kit :partying_face:

I’ve had a CD3 and a Nait 3 (among a ton of other Naim things) albeit not simultaneously. They’re both great and fun pieces of audio equipment, and I personally love the green lit relais… Be careful not to let them go too quickly for some unknown upgrade, you may regret them in the future and not find another pair.
A member here, a friend and a good penpal living on the other side of the planet, has the same CD3 and Nait3 since 1999, and he’s genuinely happy.

I’ve sold and rebought a lot of boxes; I’ve learned a lot this way, but also gained gently ironic looks from my friends. And lost money.
Best,
M

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Great - the RP1 and receiver should work well with your Nait.

(As others have said you may one day wish to get the amp serviced.)

Yes, sounds like the repairs would be too expensive to make sense vs buying undamaged Naim speakers, if that was ever what you wanted to do.

Investigate if the Nait 3 have phono cards inside, usually 522 or 523 cards.

Pull them if no use, depending if you have external phonostage ?

523 cards is Moving coil, if you run Rega Carbon cartridge you need 522 cards or external stage.

I recall there’s a method to use RCA phono input as line level - once phono cards is pulled of course, here and now I just can’t recall the method but others might step in and help.

Don’t have external phono stage, but I’m fairly underwhelmed by the P1.
Always wanted one as they are made in my home town, but it’s just too particular playing, or not, my older vinyl.
Not something I had with decent Technics turntables with similar sound quality.
I’m not in a position to splash out on a better deck with the added expense of a separate phono stage.
Given most of my records are from the ‘70s/80s/90s I’m thinking of maybe an Audio Technica with a built in stage. My listening environment wouldn’t really highlight any downsides.
CDs are a different deal so inherent quality, such as it is, will be well output by the CD3.

Three things, Richard, for your Rega P1 for more pleasure and to make it far less underwhelming:

Sit it on an Ikea Lack table or similar. Be sure to level it.

Clean the belt, pulley and running surface of inner platter, perhaps with Pledge style furniture polish from under the kitchen sink. Failing that, buy a new belt.

Depending on how tired your cartridge is, a new Rega Carbon cartridge into the MM boards of your Nait 3 should have your old vinyl singing.

I have recently learned from my dealer that a pack of six spacers (called PIPs) is available from Naim as a spare part. Considering how intricately machined they are, they are very modestly priced. Essential for your Credos to make them work properly. Def worth persevering with them with your Nait imo.

Thank you. Trouble is I’ve cleaned all of my old vinyl as best I can with recommended cleaning units/solutions. Maybe they have just been not played for too long. I don’t know.
I’ve upgraded to a P2 glass platter, upgraded drive belt etc etc.
It’s weirdly just too fussy about older vinyl (I’ve triple checked alignment, weight etc.).

I have most things on CD as well, also downloaded to my iPhone so have other sources.

Clearly a bit despondent right now, but maybe I have to rein in my expectations.

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The kicker is that with a bit of time, care, and attention to detail your system is capable of providing great music at home. But that’s just me.

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When you say the P1 is ‘too fussy’ playing older records what does it get pernickity about, or how: lots of skips, jumps or…do they just sound rubbish (could be groove wear I guess)?

I regularly play 60’s & 70’s records and apart from the odd one, they sound and play well. Different TT, but I think they’d play more or less the same on another deck.

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Afterall a P1 is not the last word, but not much will better it into price range.
I’d not give up that easy unless you have another deck in mind.

If its with Carbon cartridge ? - then a better stylus is easy click on, cost peanuts as Carbon is a rebranded Audio Technica, google is your friend, indeed a huge upgrade at low expense.
I’d not put a glass platter on in risk of bearing.
As others said pay attention to setup.

You are right.
It’s the realization that my vinyl is not what I wanted it to be and in my listening space the other sources are plenty good enough.
A 70’s/80’s vinyl boy getting a bit of a culture shock!
Getting a reality check is good for the soul……

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If you mean the metal dust cap, IIRC there is a Naim fix for this, possibly involving double sided sticky tape. Hopefully @Richard.Dane or @NeilS will be able to confirm.

Credos should work fine in a small room. My Allaes (which are similar) do.

There’s a dowel and a double sided sticky ring to hold the end piece in place. Naim may still have the repair kits available, best check with a Naim dealer.

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