Thank for clarifying Richard!
Since my niece adopted my Nait 2 and Harbeth P3ESRs a while ago, I have been waiting for a nice olive Nait 2 to appear on the 2nd hand market. I just missed one last week.
Despite the fact that I really do not need another amp, I have just acquired a 4-week old ex-dem Nait 50 for a third less than the list price here in Germany. It took me about 2 minutes to abandon the idea of another Nait 2 for the time being. The Lingo 4 upgrade for a spare LP12 will have to wait until next year.
The Nait 50 compares very well with my original Nait and various NAC42/32, HiCap/Snaps and NAP110/140 combinations. It sounds great with Spendor 3/5R2, 3/5e, 2/3e and 1/2R speakers and easily drives all of them. It brings the familiar CB DNA and also has a slightly more modern edge.
Other members have decided to sell their 500 series kit and just stick with the Nait 50. If I am honest with myself, the Nait 50 could easily replace my 252/SCDR/300DR system and I would still be happy. Let’s see what the coming months bring.
Until now, we usually brought a Nait or Rega Brio-R with us for holiday trips. Over the next couple of weeks the Nait 50 will be used in a holiday apartment and fronted by a modest Bluesound Node 2 and Rega DAC driving small Spendors on Skylan stands. The CD rips and downloads on my NAS fit on a large external HD and Tidal will do for the rest.
Small is beautiful!
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Got home from visiting family today so it’s time to enjoy my new headphones - the Audezé LCD-2 Classic.
With my Limetree Network digital source I can use Roon to add crossfeed and special Audezé-specific filters. For the turntable source, it’s straight through:
Has anyone else tried headphones on their Nait 50?
I understand that it has the same headphone outlet as the Atom HE .
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Yes, use my Empyreans from time to time… not bad at all… powerful and resolving… perhaps I prefer the extra speed from the DAVE headphone amp on some recordings.
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I’d say the most accurate review I’ve read from them in a long time!
I may be biased but it does echo my own experiences comparing Nait 50 with a SN3. One thing I certainly found is it blossoms with speakers - the Nait 50 is a better match with ATC SCM11s than a pair of Mk1 Kans.
My own conclusion? Well, let’s just say that the SN3 is boxed up in preparation to help fund a Radikal upgrade to my LP12.
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Reading the What Hi-Fi? review (below) they state the headphone amp comes from the new NSC222.
The customer review was less than complimentary, but I wondered if the person leaving the review actually had one .
I can recognise the left/right channel imbalance mentioned in the customer review. I have the same issue and due to that at the moment my Nait 50 is obsolete (did not return it though).
I understand they are all three the same, which makes sense. They are a significant upgrade on the previous headphone amps in the Unity series (and no doubt others).
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Ahh I see. Thanks. I’ve been using mine with the easy to drive Audeze LCD-2C and it’s sounding very fine. Nice to hear vinyl with headphones too.
Yes, I have a new pair of Grado Hemp headphones (said to be a ‘limited edition’), which I bought to match the NAIT50 - it’s a very impressive combination!
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I had the impression that the test between the lines was rather critical. In the end, they almost favoured the XS3. The test with different speakers seems superficial to me. It’s not surprising that very inexpensive B&W don’t really fit. The Epos14 perform better, but are only rated in one sentence and categorised as too expensive in comparison. The PMC Prodigy 5 and ACT SMC 50, which they apparently also listened to, are not mentioned at all at the end.
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Thank you for posting that, enjoyed reading it. And am now not feeling so hard done by with my XS3 
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Oh yes it does, at least when viewed full size on a desktop PC.
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Yes, the choice of speakers seemed superficial to me, a comment I would make also about Hi- fi Choice review also. I was thinking if B& W then the top of the range stand mount from the 7 series or the PMC Prodigy or 21 series were the choices that I wanted to hear.
You know you are going down a rabbit hole when you start reviewing the reviewers …
Indeed, however there is one line in the Whathifi review I feel is very wrong, and I quote;
“David Präkel states that “the NAIT has an immediately distinctive sound” which is “coloured” – the same can be said about the Nait 50 and as a result, you are always aware of the amp itself “
As I said earlier on, what absolutely stands out about the Nait50 is its transparency and obvious lack of compression, filtering and colouration and its ability to render nuanced detail and timbres, which gives it that feel of natural energy and speed and rhythmic interplay if it exists in the audio. Therefore you are listening to the master, not the amp. I do contrast this say with the NAIT XS2 which I borrowed for a time a few years ago… I was very aware of that amp being there … sure it was fun and amplified audio well, but I couldn’t say it was transparent.
But I do maintain speaker matching is key, and it’s not about just efficiency and power matching. I also suggest ATC speakers are not the best match to show what the Nait50 is capable of, and I have been an ATC fan for nearly three decades… I think if you get the speakers right… the performance is up there, and dare I say more enjoyable, than my previous 552DR /250.
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I’m not really that *consciouslyaware of it other than it sounds warmer than the Nova I had before and such a decent sound coming from a small box .
My sitting room being 6 metres by 4 metres with monitor speakers , it is l producing what I want to hear
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I take no notice and have long avoided so called hifi reviews and magazines of that kind.
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