40% off MSRP? That sounds pretty bad. Perhaps try Nait 50 and let us know how does it compare?
and keep an eye out if there are any bargain HiCap DRās to be had as this improves it a bit more.
Then why buy an integrated?
Thanks Ryderā¦It did not make sense to me that a great sounding Integrated amp would be quickly sold to upgrade to something else unless it was missing something.
What amps do you think have prat?
Thereās a leading question above.
Because its a cost effective way to yield a little more from the amp if you like it, just an option. I had one on my XS2 and it made a good amp a bit better and kept it when I bought the SN3 as an upgrade.
The SN3 is a cracking amp on it own so it is far from mandatory, but Iāve got a Rega Aria phone stage and a Hi-Cap DR and both offer an incremental improvement. The phono stage on the SN3 is really good but I have an MC cart so need the Rega anyway.
The amp I had where the approach of an add on external power supply yielded the biggest difference was a Cyrus 2 amp, totally transformed with the PSX power supply, so its not like Naim are on their own with this approach.
Buy a SN3 solo with total confidence, but its good to know there is are incremental options if you want them.
I recently bought a SN3, NAP250DR and NDX2 and have no complaints whatsoever.
Jump right in.
Enjoy!
You bought a SN3 to use purely as a pre-amp??
Nope. Got my speakers bi-amped.
Itās an honest question. Everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect this. If someone says a Naim amp (particularly the SN3) does not do prat then would be interesting to hear which amps the person believes has such attributes. Further, in order to claim an amp has no prat, one must have heard amps that do have prat (at least, thatās what I believe).
SN3 with lots of PRaT lives here.
The SN3 was described as being heavy & boring with no PRaT which i do find most odd. Like really, really odd. Oh well, you canāt please āem all.
Can I ask which amp on which drivers on the speakers pleaseā¦
I find this thread fascinating for some reason. I love my SN3 to death and I know there is better out there but itās going to take a lot of cash to improve upon it.
Yeah sure. Iāve got the SN3 on the high/mid and NAP250 on low.
Speakers are B&W 702S2.
I had an SN3 with Dynaudio Contour 20s and was very disappointed. I listen mostly to jazz and even though midrange was very good, there was no low end so piano sounded thin and bass was just not there.
I started by selling the SN3; switched to Hegel (190 and then 390), new speakers (B&W 702 signature), Gaia speaker feet (I highly recommend!), a new listening room and I was happy. Almost. So out with the Hegel and while pondering my next amp I bought a 14 year old SN1 at a very low price as a placeholder. I was blown away! It sounded so much beefier an more lively than the SN3. Dare I say PRAT?
Given this absolute bargain, my chronic upgraditis set in early and I tried a Nap 200 to bi-amp. Bi-amping worked wonders in an Arcam system I used to have, in the Naim setup absolutely no effect. Which for me is a complement to the SN1 and a testament of how powerful it actually is.
Then added a Hicap 2: good step up. Even beefier and more balanced sound.
I use the internal Dac and Iām quite happy with it - must be the only person on earth. Iāve compared Bluesound node 2i over the SN1 dac with a Lumin D2 analog into the SN1 and heard virtually no difference.
I think itās all down to system synergy but for me the SN1 is an absolute beauty and prefer it to the SN3. Music just sounds right, zero fatigue and regular goosebumps.
Please tell me I absolutely need an ND5 XS2 so I can can blame this forum for my next upgrade.
Absolutely. which leads to this next pointā¦
Probably impossible to say this as you were using different speakers (see above).
Thanks Ian and yes the NHS trolley is going strong.
Iāve never heard an SN3 and only went SN2 because many reviewers at the time said the two where almost identical save the onboard phono stage and as I already had one I really enjoy I saved some cash and went for the SN2.
So itās quite a surprise to hear the negativity surrounding the SN3 never heard that until now.
True. Although I did listen to both amps on my old B&W CDM 7NTās I still have around and preferred the SN1. Not a proper side by side analytical comparison but I just found the SN1 much more enjoyable to listen to.