When was brushed fascia introduced for Classic?

[snarfy]

Hi friends,

There is an XPS up for sale that was manufactured in 2003. It looks like it has a brushed fascia, but the pictures are not definitive. I seem to recall the brushed fascia look was not introduced until midway through the Classic era. I could be misremembering.

Can anyone clarify when the brushed look was introduced? I would be matching this with an NDX2.

Thanks

[HungryHalibut]

The Classic XPS, usually referred to as the XPS2, was always brushed on the outer parts. In fact it’s the same with all the Classic series. Its predecessor XPS was in the Olive casework. You may be thinking about the 5 series, where a brushed front was eventually introduced.

[Boekster]

I think this was the case. I had a Nait5 and a 112x, both had a different front than the classic (almost grainy), but the Classic 200 series always had the brushed front, as far as I know. The nDAC I have does have the housing of the 5-series, but the front to match the classis, which is generally what you see and I deem the most important.

I still would have enjoyed everything in the Classic housing for a similar look across the entire range, but I suppose this was done for cost-reasons and lowering the entry level floor to Naim as a HiFi brand.

[snarfy]

Thanks. Yes, I think you were right about my memory of it being based on the 5 series.