I still fit into mine at 66!
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Its all golden if you like what it does, i think we are all here because of that.
As an old classic owner, theres nothing for me to buy new these days except 500 series.
The show must go on as they say
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As a 32.5/hicap/250 chrome bumper user of 30 odd years I’m lost in time. The golden age for me was when Linn & Naim travelled together. The products may now be better but something special was lost when the relationship fractured. My first hifi dealer eventually went full Linn boutique. Similar thing happened when Naim tied in with Focal. My then dealer went full audio note. It’s just not the same.
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I find 30" too long. Trying to find 29" inside leg nowadays is really difficult. Oh, you mean waist… 
So long as I like the sound I’m hearing I’m OK so it may (will for me) change with time.
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Most people who have use the term “Golden age” with me were referring to either the CB or Olive stuff. Interestingly they all had some sort of aversion to later Naim kit so I’d take the term with a pinch of salt as it can be applied to any generation depending on personal preference. 
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ong similar lines this is something I ventured in a previous thread - though perhaps the whole thread is worth a view:
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The golden age for me is the NC 300 series. I am not interested in listening to the gear but rather the music. My current system is fantastic at playing music and is by far the best I have ever owned. Therefore it is my golden age gear.
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No doubt in my mind, golden era when J. Vereker were in charge.
He created some excellent products.
My first Nait 2 listening back more than three decades ago, smashed my then valve setup with much better prat and involvement.
I remember the change from Olive to Classic looks.
In the early days of hifi forums, many didn’t like the move, included me.
I sort of got “used to” the black boxes, as basically they were refinement of many earlier boxes, such as Nac 102 became Nac 202 etc.
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Is this compred to the NC-range also?
JV certainly signed off the New Classic range so for me it’s just the latest New Classic that he has not had input with directly. How much he would have liked the new gear and sound is impossible to know. Given Naims drive to excel they must feel that each new generation has been an improvement on the last.
It is our personal preferences that produce this debate. From Naims point of view the latest must be the best because this is their mission statement. Just my 2p of course, but I remain happy that NC beats my OC system. I am also happy that imho OC was an improvement over Olive. YMMV.
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yes ,it is.
My only regret not having had the chance for cds3/555 /252/SC/250-2.
Mid 2000s are long gone unfortunately
Which product do you want but can’t have just out of interest?
Down load a 2022 Price list, the products will all be available for many years to come. 
Yes! My experience with NC is very limited, being hearing it in the demo room of my dealer while my LP12 was being upgraded.
I think the NC is a technical improvement, and possibly the best that Naim have produced. One hopes they wouldn’t produce it unless they thought it was better than OC.
HOWEVER
it’s another step away from the sound I want. In 1996, when I was hunting for the amplifiers I wanted, I was introduced to Naim amps, and was blown away by them. They were exactly what I had been looking for. I had found my holy grail. In all the intervening years, I have heard many many amps, including all of Naims excluding the Statement, and nothing gets into my very being like the Olive series. That’s great news for me because I don’t have any urge to ‘upgrade’.
Of course, I appreciate that most people in here will think otherwise, and that’s great. We all have differing needs with hifi, and we all find our own solutions to achieve the sound we want.
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I had that setup sans the 555 (XPS2) and it was pretty meh. 252/SC2/250.2 were a big let down. JV would not approve.
Thank you for your clarifying response. Much appreciated.
Ah so you are saying it moves even further away from the olive sound. I have an NDS, an 82 and a 250DR so it’s kind of unclear what kind of sound I am enjoying and how it would compare to the NC.
In what way, would you say, has the NC sound departed even more?
What is left of the “Naim sound”? Whatever that is.
Leading edge attack perhaps or focus on midrange/upper midrange? Very high resolution in the midrange? I don’t know how they done it but to me Naim is very special first and foremost in how open and breathy it is in the midrange. Sounds seem to emerge from a vacuum and have its own space even though the sound isn’t that clean or seamingly detailed. It doesn’t have a pitch black background or anything like that. At least not if I got to describe it. It makes the sound feel kind of “live” which I’ve heard people say before.
Exactly. Yes, the Olive sounds more live to me also. I don’t think it is as refined as the OC or NC, but for all old fashionedness it is exactly what I want. NC is much more refined, with more detail retrieval etc. but, I think, at the cost of losing some of its emotional connection.
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I find my 82/olive hicap/250DR does that fairly well. On the other hand, I have never heard an olive 250 in my system. I heard a 140 but that was less satisfying than my 250 DR.
So your 82/olive hicap/250DR is doing what you need from your hi-fi, and making you happy. That’s all that matters. Enjoy the music.
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The Golden Age of Naim was back in the years when it could be happily left powered up without any concerns of electric bill costs.
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