Graham, that’s very kind of you. Actually I’m not a future customer, I was purely doing this with a view to writing a review for Soundstage on the old Nait v the Nait50. I guess the angle I was coming from was to assess how far Naim’s sound has evolved and changed in 50 years and what better way to do that than to pit the Nait 1 against the Nait 50. Given it’s for a review I would probably rather do it within my own system and familiar room just because it’s easier to make accurate judgements for publication use. I’m happy of course to credit anybody who can lend one though, and very happy to host you here and enjoy listening to both together!
We will have to see if Jason manages to work any miracles or if anyone else comes forward, but I appreciate the offer to visit for a listen!
It might be fun to compare systems one day. I’m aslo in Brighton and we may be aiming for similar things in different ways, you with muliple ESL 50s and me with my Shahinians, both with Naim, although different generations.
@JonathanG I’m in West Sussex, and would be happy (indeed very interested!) to come to you for an afternoon once my Nait 50 arrives. BTW, I’ve only a few posts on this new forum, but posted on the original forum years ago.
That’s incredibly kind of you and it sounds like a fun way to spend a day comparing two iconic amplifiers. I just need to be mindful of the sensitivities of sourcing review kit from anywhere else but Naim. Lets give them the chance to see what they can come up with and then if we have no luck you’d be most welcome to come over with your Nait for a play in any case!
I will keep you posted and I do very much appreciate the offer.
No problem at all. As it happens I also have a Nait 2 that was serviced a small number of years ago and barely used subsequently if you want to complicate matters!
I’m assuming that a Naim admin would somehow put us in contact if we were to do this.
That’s as you say an interesting complication lol!! I have a rather unreliable email address which is publically available at the bottom of my reviews on Soundstage Ultra but it doesn’t always work because the mail system they use doesn’t apparently interact well with hotmail (my personal platform). If you don’t hear back from me then it will be because I didn’t receive it. We can do something informal in any case if you’d like that, but I should probably give Naim first dibs on providing some review kit.
Lets keep in touch anyway as you’re so local. Brg, Jonathan
Richard can put you in contact with each other if he is sure it complies with Forum rules and you both want it to happen. You can ask him privately by flagging any post, and explain briefly what you want. He can initiate a private message with anyone and discuss the request with you that way without the rest of us looking over your shoulder, as it were.
I think their PR are spot on, imagine if you thought the original to be superior .
I suspect they will have quite significant differences in sound, with the Nait 50 being s similar sound to today’s "house " sound by with features that are bang up to date.
Your Aethos is indeed a peach, I got rid of mine because of non- audio reasons and went for a Nova instead , my Nova will form the bulk of the deposit for the Nait 50.
I expect you are right Ian, but what a fascinating exercise in seeing how Naim has evolved in its first 50 years…
I agree with you and my expectation is that the original Nait will sound exciting, emotive and a little brash whereas the 50 if it sounds like modern Naim will be smoother, more refined, better able to drive difficult loads but also a whole lot cleaner and less raw. It might be slightly less capable of making your hair stand on end though!
I’m sure somebody will do the comparison even if I don’t but right now only Naim know for sure and that’s what’s so intriguing!
