I have bought cb and olive hicap/62/32/140 at a mean price of 400 pounds per unit, all over the past two years. Less for clearly needing attention, more for items that clearly do not need a service anytime soon. I haven’t paid more than 450 for anything. Service prices have recently increased so may be a factor to consider.
Some offers I have got / found in the WWW show that some NAIM devices are set to 220V, some to 230V and some others to 240V. I know this from vintage hi-fi equipment I had. Some had plugs and others had switches, others had instructions where and which cables had to be soldered to the transformer to switch main in voltage. Is there something like this for Naim’s from the CB and Olive series? Here in Austria we have 230V, the voltage measurement sometimes shows 233 -235V. That’s why I prefer soldering/converting to 240V at the mains transformers (if possible).
Thank you…
When I first has the system, I did not know much about the finer points of Naim ownership (still don’t really) and I had the NAC 62 and the NAP 140 stacked one above the other, and added a HiCAP, and made the stack as you see here, and I used it like this for years. Then I added a wooden separator between the NAC 62 and NAP 140 and NAP 140 and HiCAP (in fact a piece of 18mm ply cut to size with four rubber feet on the underside). I ended up with this stack arrangement on a couple of engineering bricks sitting on screws through the carpet set into the floorboards.
It was some time later I designed the wall frame which I had made by a famous turntable manufacturer, and had the arrangement shown elsewhere. This was prompted by the addition of a NAT 02, and I did not like the look of the four units stacked on top of each other.
Here is how it looked in those days.
Recently when the NAT 02 was sold I rearranged the wall shelf, but have no photo to show.
I will maybe take a picture in the morning…
Another vote for the Global Shipping Programme from me.
I sent a Sierra Cosworth steering rack to France through the GSP. No issues and the buyer was over the moon.
The cleanest sound I recall hearing from any of my CB setups was 62/HC/140 and they worked well together with early 90s LP12 and Kan 1s.
Good morning! I’ve found what I’m looking for and after several NAD, ROTEL, PIONEER, MARANTZ, SANSUI, TELEFUNKEN, LEAK, I’m now going to get my hands on NAIM Vintage Hifi.
I’m going to be a NAIM-er
I managed to get a NAC62 and a NAP140 (from the Olive series). The NAP is already running on Austria friendly 240V!
I’m already excited … Hope they arrive safely within the next 2 weeks.
Are there any “audible advantages” to getting an additional olive HiCap for the 62/140? Is a HiCap worth the “price” of seriously adding it to the HiFi chain later on?
Audible advantages? mmm. Yes, but.
The Hicap improves the sound, no doubt. Whether you can hear it depends on whether your speakers can display the improvement, and whether your room can get the best out of the speakers. I have the Hicap/62/140 in a room where I listen a lot. I have just the 62/140 in two bedrooms where I spend little time listening and drifting off to sleep, if that helps.
Bear in mind that under certain circumstances, especially where the HICAP is in need of servicing, it may actually degrade overall performance. So make sure your source is top notch and that any HICAP is in good working order within its service window.
A Hicap made a worthwhile improvement on my starter Naim system (72/90), which was already pretty good without it.
I have used the Hicap in various setups as I upgraded over time. I even used it with a CD3.5 for a while when I got a Supercap for the pre-amp. It’s now back with my 82/180 second system.
So it has been very flexible and worthwhile. I wouldn’t say you need to rush but it makes sense at some point if you have a long term plan.
I found 62/140 a bit too fast and needed a Hicap to bring down the tempo to normal (same for 72/140), but perhaps your system will work nicely without one. See how you get on. Obvs Hicap cleans up the sound too although I always found music slightly less coherent with a (serviced) PSU but the tempo thing outweighed that in the case of 62/72. Just my opinion - your ears are what matters of course.
Promised picture, well rather a quick snap without much trouble taken…
Rather a lot of barrel distortion and unwanted reflections…and dust…
What cables do you use on your old NAIMs? Should I buy a used pair of A4 or A5? Would a Kimber 4PR (it’s lying around) go OK?
You should not use the Kimber, as it’s the type of cable that doesn’t suit Naim electrically, especially the older stuff. You should get some A5 or A5, at least 3.5m in length.
Are the A4 or A5 cables from NAIM “directional”? Although I have a problem understanding that there really is such a thing (without wanting to start a huge discussion here ).
They are said to be, yes. The cable should be marked with arrows and ‘Naim’ Audio - unless you have very early A4, like mine…
And, just to be clear, the arrows should point towards the loudspeakers.
Ok. I will check if I can grab an used A4 or A5 cable
I have A4 or 5, not sure which…just marked with naim audio and the direction arrow…
Also have some spare somewhere…