The Naim New Classic range - Part 1

Did you not say you sold the 252 setup off several years back? I get that your excited with you’re new purchase but comparing it to something you haven’t owned in years is misleading at best. It may very well be that the two are on par, but a proper comparison would need to be done to prove so.

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I agree entirely. I think that the aesthetics of the Olive kit was Naim’s best ever. I don’t understand the need for the various geometric shapes that we’ve seen since.

I’ve said it often enough in the past, so I tend not to bother these days. (No one likes listening to a broken record.)

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I think it will take some weeks to be able to comment on the definitive sq. It’s a little up and down (with the odd glimpse of what’s to come) at the moment, as you might expect during burn-in. However, having ridden the Naim early stage roller coaster many times I have a gut feel that I am witnessing the birth of something special.

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Is that the one with the Austin metro type buttons?

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Well if an integrated Streamer DAC pre can compete with an integrated streamer-DAC and dedicated pre with external PS it’s definitely special.

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Hi @djh1697,

This is a good question and one that got a lot of attention in R&D.
DSD and it’s purity is a big topic. Certainly not for my lunch break.

DSD can only be pure if the recording was mixed down in the analogue domain and converted to DSD once (i.e. like analogue archiving). If it were a digital recording then it would need to be recorded in one take with no mixing or level changes.

Most DACs that say native DSD may not be as they seem. If they are multi-level Delta Sigma (DS) then they are not 100% native DSD. Only if they are pure 1 bit DS with no internal oversampling.

The SHARC DSP in our streamers integer down-samples DSD to 705.6kHz using 40 bit floating point math. It is not down sampled to 44.1kHz 16bit. The Nyquist sampling theorem covers this.

Designers must make many decisions when ‘spending’ the customers money irrespective of the product or service. IMHO adding a set of I2S switches, DAC, filters would not be good VFM.

I hope listeners enjoy our high resolution algorithm.

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Yes. The metro also being a design classic.

And yet, back in the day, Naim were getting so much flak from people about how the Olive kit was looking a bit dated and somewhat “agricultural” what with the funny plastic buttons and the fact you could see daylight through the fascia gaps. For many, the move to the Classic look was a revelation by comparison and was universally praised by critics.

Its a funny old world…

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or in this case the purchaser. My 82 is an (pre) amplification design classic. Beautiful it is not.

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Including a cleaning cloth… nice touch! :+1:

I would like to see a comparison with the cleaning cloth from apple. :smirk:

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I imagine that’s to cover themselves when inevitably someone cleans the plastic parts of the casing and it gets covered in scratches. (Ohh, you mean you didn’t use the little cloth we supplied in the box?)
At least it’s just a strip in the middle and not the whole case, probably something a dealer can replace.
If the RCU is anything to go on it won’t be long before we see a “My 200 Series is covered in scratches” thread :laughing:
The 300 Series will use a sapphire crystal insert instead, so that’s a bonus.

As an earlier poster said I can only think the revised designs come down to the need for bling to appeal to the broadest sales market.

Having said that I still like the Naim sound and won’t be departing any time soon (for as long as Ebay fills up with olive gear anyway :smiley:)

Just spotted a very obvious clue in the blurb in the NPX 300 page on the Naim website.

Reach a higher level of musical performance with the NPX 300 power supply for the 200 Series sources and preamplifiers, including the NSC 222 streaming preamplifier.

Pretty much confirms they’ll exist eventually.

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My pre-loved CDS3 still had the original protective film over the perspex lid :grin: …and it remained that way for quite some time IIRC.

…am wondering if there isn’t a protective film applied, whether the after-market will provide, similar to moby-phone screen protectors?

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Or maybe Naim will announce a new “Party pack” :joy:

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I’m being a bit tongue in cheek, I’m sure they’ve thought this through over the 5 years of R&D that went in to it and inevitably numerous prototype iterations, in the flesh they look very well made and put together, I’m sure it’s no more a concern than the fascia on a Uniti product (probably same or similar material chemistry/supplier), I’ve given my Atom a jumper sleeve clean a few times and not had any fallout as a result :cowboy_hat_face:

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I know :grin:

But it is salient, as my car’s plastic ICE fascia is scratched and I use the softest duster possible to wipe it down. It’s a mystery.

Obviously, even more care will be required when rebuilding Fraim stacks.

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My valeter forbids me from cleaning any part of my car. He doesn’t believe I’ll do it properly and simply can’t be trusted to take adequate care not to leave marks/scratches :rofl:

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Is the remote with the 222 the same as the NDX2? ie, black plastic?