Hi, new naim owner to the forum.
Recently picked up a naim nait 3R!
Since being into hifi stuff I’ve always had vintage sansui amps (longest serving is a au666) but the naim come up at a nice price and I’ve always heard of naim gear being very good so thought I’d give it a try.
I’m quite happy with the sound although I do find the bass a little slack and the sound is bit in your face at times. VERY detailed though.
I’m currently running it through my marantz av So I can use it for films aswell as music and to give the low end a little boost. Speaker wise I’m using 50L tannoy hpd 10” speakers and naim nac a5 cables.
I do have some royd derwent speakers in the loft so will be testing them with it at some point.
I’ve read that joe akroyd used to test his speakers with naim amps so looking forward to how it may sound in comparison to the tannoys.
All the internals seem to be original. If Im still loving it in a couple of months I may have it recapped, I understand it can cost a bit.
Has anyone else had they’re nait 3 recapped recently? Just wondered if it made that much of a difference to the sound after 25 years, if so, can you describe the improvement at all?
At first I used rocket 11 speaker cable, I’d just got it for my usual system a day before seeing the nait 3 for sale. Short time after I got the naim cable due to reading quite a bit regards it being the correct spec for the amplifier.
I did do a comparison, a little some up for those interested…
The rocket had just a touch more soundstage on the tail end of vocals and had more gain/volume.
The naim had a fair amount of more low end.
Other than this the sound was very much the same to me.
I’ve gone with the naim cables for time being.
I did a comparison with the naim vs my sansui.
The naim did sound better, in comparison I couldn’t believe how basic the sansui sounded compared to the naim. Ive loved the sound from the sansui for years!
I haven’t got any fancy gear for music reproduction, all played from iTunes on my phone through a basic Bluetooth receiver from curry’s. I’m not minted so it will do for now untill I can afford a decent dac, talking of which…what would be the best for under £100 s/h?
I do have a question regarding outputs on the nait 3…
If it’s possible I’d like to have an external unit with meters (love my vu meters!)
Is there any way this can be done? I know it has a tape in/out. Is there a way this could be used to connect a vu meter unit?
Anyway…really enjoying my new amp and fishing through lots of music. Chilli peppers-californication has been the best sounding so far.
I won’t comment on VU meters & things, but as you’ve already had a look inside - any chance you could post a picture of the internals, the power amp stage in particular. There was an important update to Nait3s that would prevent a very slow developing issue that would cause damage to the PCB.
This might hasten your decision to get a service done.
Typically those pics hide exactly what I need to see!
The bias pot style is a good indication that your unit has the modification. Can you provide any from the other side of the reservoir caps?
Welcome to the Forum, @snarfy recently had his 3R recapped by AVO and could tell you the differences afterwards. You might be able to talk him into letting go of his CB Nait 2.
A band with great rhythm and timing will always sound at their best on a good Naim amp. Perhaps give Stadium Arcadium a go as well - it’s a fab analogue recording and another great album.
Have fun!
Welcome to the forum.
I’ve had a couple of different Naim Integrateds now, and the Naim gear makes my Kef R107s sound great. Better than the other makes of amps that I’ve had in the past.
Hi aren, I won’t pretend to know a lot about naim gear as I don’t haha.
Is the cb type of preamp?
I would guess that the nait 3 is all I need as it is a pre and power amp all in one.
I’ve only really researched the nait 3.
I have read about it can be modded to just be used as a power amp which would be the correct way how I’ve got my setup but I don’t want to change it from original status as it could effect the value of it. At the moment I have the front L&R from my av going into the rca on the nait and the volume at a quarter.
My wonders of getting it serviced is…it does sound a little forward. If it’s serviced I would hope that it wouldn’t intensify that characteristic as I like it the way it is at the mo. It’s just with a service…could it sound even better
Yeah a guy on the Facebook group said this. I’ll keep it for a month or so then when I know I’m completely happy with it (which I am so far) then I’ll Likely invest in getting it serviced.
Thanks
Hi Andy3, I won’t profess myself to be a guru as there are forum members with far more experience and expertise in all things Naim. CB in not a preamp but refers to a collection of Chrome Bumper models (circa 1975 to 1979), in which the front trim of the aluminum extruded case bordering the fascia was painted to a chrome like appearance, designating the CB moniker.
The Naim Service recommends 8 to 10 years for CB models. As fatcat says, your Nait is due for service by looking at the caps.
