More generally Naim had a hyperactive few years 172/272/SNs/DR upgrades/Unitis/Musos/Statement/Solstice/NCs, stopping to take breath doesn’t hurt once in a while. And rationalisation of the range was always likely which if I was to make a prediction the next move will be 500 series/Statement merged into one high end solution?
But there is one product I would like them to attempt, and that’s an Astell Kern like portable with radio facility, perhaps exploiting Bentley/Muso tech, which I would have thought Focal would have viewed favorably as an adjunct to their headphone range?
I think Naim really have to release a new Integrated in the NC livery, a Super Integrated or essentially a replacement for the SN3 remains to be seen but I would have thought a reasonably priced NC version with 100w PC and balanced i/o, ladder volume etc a la 332 would be good. All the tech is already pretty much developed between the NC250 and 332 so just needs repackaging, it and the 333 would then make a nice and reasonably accessible 2 box system
The 250 being a fully regulated design, I suspect Naim would struggle to fit it into the same box as a preamp, so I think it’s more likely that any new Nait would contain an unregulated power amp, more like the previous Supernaits which were more among the lines of a NAP200. Not that Naim couldn’t do it, of course. More a question of whether their management on the other side of the channel will let them is my guess.
Why does it need to be in the same size box? It could simply use a bigger box. Yes, tooling of a new box has a cost, but then if a better integrated is the result one would expect there to be in increase in cost - possibly substantially if it is seen as a “super integrated”. And for those wanting fewer boxes and wires than with separates, but wanting similar sound quality, a bigger box might be small price to pay.
Headphones might be a thing, but I suppose it’s a pretty crowded market.
On the subject of “why haven’t they…” I recently looked at the Bluetooth ANC options available to take a step up from my current model.
Of the four majors I chose the Lev 5909’s for exactly the functionality I wanted and the across the range thumbs up for the SQ and sound staging etc.
One thing that helped me decide was the fact that, unlike some of the competition, they haven’t been “upgraded” since they came on the market in 2022 and are still selling. (in America and Australia) for the original price.
Speaks to me of confidence in the product, which I daresay NAIM will have in their NC line for a long time to come.
He could buy a second hand one. Funnily enough, I asked a question about a year ago re whether it was still a sensible idea to buy an ND5XS2. The overwhelming answer was, “Yes because it has the latest streaming board in it.” Nothing much has happened in the world of streaming recently. It’s got Qobuz connect, which works great, it’s had an update to the Internet radio offering, so all good on the streaming front.
Other improvements you might ask for would be a better DAC, or a more high end power supply. (Not that these need improving, but what else is there?). However, if we got those things then one suspects you’d be looking at a more expensive device, at which point, get an NDX2.
I might be wrong, but unfortunately for me New Classic options killed long aspired to upgrade paths with Naim equipment dating from the early 1990s up until relatively recent acquisitions.
Yes, I may be able to scratch itches by going pre-loved for certain upgrades but it’s actually a big barrier to wanting to invest in newer options.
