Pound for pound, Naim’s greatest ever product

It’s too new! But will feature heavily on the 2042 version of this thread, I’m sure :slight_smile:

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Yes, Red Led!

+1

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Well the thread is talking about value for money. Naim have had annual price increases of around 5% (well above inflation in the UK before Brexit) going back to the dawn of time. So naturally items going back a bit represent better value for money. Ergo the love of Olive where Naim were arguably hitting their stride and prices had only been rising for half a long as they have now.

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For a bit of contrast, my vote goes to a freshly serviced 12/BD160 - still the most musically coherent amplification I’ve heard - along with the Nait. I didn’t buy mine in the early 70s, but someone could have had nearly 50 years return-on-investment which seems pretty decent value for money :wink:

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Nait XS

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Given its current £25k retail price, I think it’s rather difficult to argue that the NAP500 represents the best value, although if the title of this thread means pound mass per pound sterling, then I guess the very heavy mass of the NAP500 might well weigh (no pun intended) in its favour.

I’d vote for the NAC A5. Probably not the best for other amplifier brands. But when used in the Naim ecosystem, these cables are a perfect match, not to mention its relatively friendly price.

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Funnily enough for many years NACA4 and then NACA5 was almost the de facto recommendation by the UK magazines for anyone wanting to upgrade their speaker cable to something much better. And that was regardless of whether they had a Naim amp or not.

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Yes it was, but that was a while ago and it rarely gets a mention now. Don’t know if that is because it gets boring for hi-fi magazines to keep recommending the same thing, or because there are genuinely better alternatives. However, for longevity and great value it is still a good buy and I presume Naim have found no better alternative at this price point otherwise there would have been an A6 before now.

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CD drive packed up after 20 or so rips, so my worries about the tech seem justified…grrrr!

I remember replacing Cable Talk 4 cable for some NAC A5 into a Arcam amplifier in the early 90s for about the same price per metre - needless to say what happened after that is history and my experimenting days with loudspeaker cables were well and truly over.

Probably because it’s quadrupled in price, and nobody can be bothered to solder any more!

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I bought 100 feet of Naca5 with a Nait2 in 1989. The current price is ungraspable.

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Being a frugal guy I would definitely give the nod to the system that I have assembled having owned more expensive ones.

NAC52 is the star for me. NAP 135s second

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For me the issue with this thread is that it is becoming ‘What do I think is great’ from Naim, but my reading of ‘pound for pound’ is that VFM is a significant part of the question.

VFM is much like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. I have no doubt that an owner of the Statement amps can make a good argument that they are VFM.

I am going to go more in the direction of a civilian’s view of VFM, not completely as that would rule out ALL of Naim’s gear :wink: .

For me I think that the equipment that most epitomised VFM for Naim was the 42/110. This gave a user a true taste of what was available through the Naim pathway. An excellent pairing.

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Certainly as a secondhand buy, the NAC42/NAP110 is the epitome of classic Naim and still surprisingly capable considering how old it’s now over 40 years old.

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Couldn’t agree more!

The 42(.5) / 110 was affordable, yet offered the full Naim experience, and even today would surprise in many a mega-buck system.

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Not quite the same, but almost. My second hand and serviced 72/140 sounds great in it system. So good, that i’ve got two of them.

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And the winner is: :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: :+1:

NAC 72

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