I have always liked the way the Naim equipment looked through the years. A few months
ago I was looking to replace my Audia Flight FL3S integrated for a better match for my
Focal Aria 926’s and my dealer suggested I try something from Naim he had a demo
Atom that I could try well it only took about 2 minutes and I was sold I love the sound
and it dose everything just right.
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+1 RvL !!!
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I had a multi-box hi-fi system with a rack (no Naim) since 1993 and have not changed anything significant since then. Since our children no longer live at home there is more time to listen to music. We also wanted to use streaming technology and buy a new purely digital system (I never had vinyl). It also had to be a small system, living-room friendly and not a wide rack with lots of cables, and it had to integrate the TV optimally. It should sound good and remain affordable. After several listening appointments at the dealer, we decided on the Uniti Atom with Vienna Acoustics Speakers.
- Best sound compared to competitors
- one box system
- high build quality
- super optics, which can be presented and integrates well into our living room landscape.
Since then I have done some tuning. I enjoy the system. And great is the Naim Forum, where I have learned a lot.
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I had an LP12 with Syrinx PU2 and Azak. I wanted to change my pre-power as I felt it didn’t do exactly what I wanted. The 42 110 and Kans was to my mind the best complement to the turntable within my budget. This would have been in 80 or 81. Always had Naim amps since then.
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No 4 not anymore.(no speakers,almost no cd players).
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I was in the market for simple a all in one speaker for my mountain cottage 2 years ago. Did som footwork and MuSo Qb2 came on up, with very good reviews. Bought it without demo, and blimey it was good! Got another one for my commute flat right away. Registered on this forum and started to investigate what all this Naim lark was about.
Big mistake🙈 Went from a Yamaha AV receiver and some Tannoy Sixes standmount speakers to current system. I must say this forum is excellent, and also to spend my hard earned😁 The Naim business model is second to none for weak souls like me.
I am currently in sound nirvana.
Tor M.
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I needed / wanted a new turntable, some time around 1979, and I asked a friend who I knew was seriously into his music and hi-fi about it, and he suggested a trip to Sound Advice in Loughborough.
I bought a Rega Planar 2 and whilst there, Derek (owner of the business) told me I might like to hear another system which he’d set up for the next customer due in “about an hour”.
It was an LP12 into Naim amplifiers (not sure which) and Linn Isobarik speakers.
I simply had NEVER heard anything like it in my life and knew that one day, something like that would be my improbable holy grail.
A couple of years after buying the Rega turntable, I bought a pair of Royd speakers from Sound Advice and a couple of years later, probably 1985, a Nait 2 and then, Linn Kan speakers.
I love the Naim sound and have gradually built up an active system, probably in line with my first magic moment of hearing Naim in its full glory.
LP12, NDX2, 252, (and associated power supplies) 3 x 250 amps and a pair of Naim NBL speakers.
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Honestly?
The first thing that drew me to Naim was one of their adverts in a hifi magazine when I was still at school. Probably late 80s. The boxes just looked completely unlike anything else. The olive facia with just one round control that did who knew what. And Naim stuff never seemed to be reviewed.
A few years later I actually had some money to get a CD player and amp. I was using some old separates at the time that I had got from a friend.
I auditioned an Arcam and Micromega CD player and Arcam and Audiolab amps and a Naim 3.
The CD players were much the same and I chose the Micromega because it looked cooler.
The Arcam amp sounded warm and nice but dull. The Audiolab had real pounding bass. The first time I’d properly heard it from my speakers but was a bit too in your face.
The Naim 3 was just amazing. Just music flowing from the speakers.
A few months later when the Micromega CD had malfunctioned for the 3rd or 4th time I swapped it for a CD3. So the other reason why I got Naim was reliability.
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In a nutshell - my local Naim dealer is the primary reason I went with Naim. Over the course of 15 years or so I would go in on occasion and audition their different set-ups. I didn’t have the funds, but they were just as gracious as when I finally made my first purchase. Over those years I learned a tremendous amount about high end systems from them. Ultimately my ears made the decision to purchase my first Naim system - but it was the patience and learning process enabled by my local dealer that kept me coming back.
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This is an interesting thread with a good mix of the 1979 guys and the Atom devotees. I came to Naim in 2004 when I auditioned the Cd5x/flatcap from Peter Williams from Ainm AV in Swords in Co. Dublin. (In Irish aimn means name so it was a very intelligent anagram for an Irish audience). It sounded so much better than my Sony (well reviewed) CDP that I went for a full Naim pre power combo to complement the new Cd5x ( 112x/150x). Peak Naim for me was a CD555/552/300/SL2/n-sub. I still have the 552/300/SL2/n-sub but have an Auralic/ chord front end. I can only echo Nigel’s knowledgable and perceptive comments.
I can still remember that CD5x/flatcap combo and how it opened my ears and horizons though….
.sjb
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I first heard a Linn LP12 with NZ assembled naim pre power bolt down boxes and KEF Carltons, with their running track shaped radiators, at a medical student friends house in 1981. I was smitten.
I had no money at that stage and tried over the next 10 years to replicate the sound to no avail with hitachi and thorens turntables and a Hitachi amp. In 1990 I tried a Nait 2 olive with LP12 and “Sweet Home Alabama “. Walked out with 62/140 Linn/Ittok/Epos14 and sorted for the next 14 years.
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I remember my first forays into the world of hifi in the early 80’s. I had very little money, but the hifi magazines had these exotic looking photos of small naim boxes worshipped by the journalists. Couldn’t afford them, but that memory must have simply stuck with me. Now I have disposable income I think I must be exercising some sort of delayed response to all that propaganda. Dumb, but as good a reason as any I guess.
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Back in the 80s up to the mid 90s when funds were low, I started my audio journey with humble integrated amps such as NAD, Musical Fidelity, Creek, Rotel, Sugden, Mission Cyrus, and yes, a Naim Nait 3. In the late 90s when funds were more manageable, I shifted to muscular separates from brands such as Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, Audible Illusions, Threshold, etc.
Throughout that period I was an analog junkie focusing on my VPI TNT rig with my fair share of MC cartridges from Koetsu, Lyra, Clearaudio, Benz Micro, Van Den Hul, etc. I tried digital from brands such as California Audio Labs, Enlightened Audio Designs, Theta, but didn’t like it. In a span of 2-3 years I quit digital and vowed never to go that route.
Around 2014 or 2015, I was diagnosed to have tinnitus. I went into a bit of depression and eventually sold all my gear (except my LPs) in disgust and frustration……
But we all know it’s the music that comes first. Lifted myself up and decided to at least buy a good all in one system. Remembering my Nait 3 back in the day, I purchased the new (at that time) Muso Qb (V1) without an audition. I was really happy with it even with just listening to internet radio. For the first time I was enjoying digital. Yes, the Qb was no match with my past systems, but coming from zero, it was like I was reborn.
My Naim dealer lent me his demo ND5XS2. At first I was not that excited. I was telling myself, why waste a good amount money on digital… but I gave it a chance. I took an old integrated and a pair of speakers out from retirement. Hooked up the ND5XS2 and WOW!
In 2020, I’m back with a Naim, I got a new ND5XS2. A few months later, an XS3, and eventually 5 meter runs of NAC A5. It was Naim that made me finally embrace digital.
It may sound cheesy by now but yes, it’s the sound. I’ve had this combo for over a year. What’s really surprising is that ever since I got these, I still don’t plan to change or even upgrade the system. This is so unlike me when in the past I would normally have this upgrade itch every 6 months. Not now, not even with my humble Naim set up.
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For me, having heard a Nait 1 when it came out, I had to have one and when later I was ready to upgrade I loved the sound so much, I just wanted the same but more so. I was and still am a fan of the simple, clean lines of the Chrome Bumper look so was disappointed to have to go Olive, and was shocked at the idea of a remote control but the sound was the main thing and I’ve found alternative products unlistenable so pursued a path of upgrading the sound I love while keeping Olive. I suspect I’m also attracted by all the clean straight lines!
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Demo … with a very helpful dealer.
Prior to Oct’04 I’d never heard of Naim but I was looking for a new CD player to replace my faithful, dependable but aged Marantz player.
We’d bought a 5.1 surround set of speakers (ProAc) the previous year so returned to this dealer, expecting the pay a few hundred pounds for a decent player. He kindly explained that if my budget was under £500 I should, perhaps, look elsewhere but by then I’d seen this smart looking black box which would cost a few hundred more …
Whilst we did some local shopping/browsing he set up the Naim (CD5i, I think) and had a couple of other CDPs of similar value lined up. My daughter (who is not a fan of my music) returned with me for the demo … I’d taken a few CDs with me.
My heart was on the Naim by looks but one of the other players did sound a little better. One of the two looked more like the Starship Enterprise so that was a clear no-no.
I then asked the silly question: is there a better version? A few minutes later he had a fourth machine lined up, the CD5x. My daughter was certain: the music sounded better … whilst I gulped at the thought that I was about to spend close on 3x my anticipated budget.
And when the dealer told me that this better player was upgradeable I had to ask what he meant 
And then I found the player did not have digital out … how was I to connect it to my Pioneer AV receiver as I did the Marantz player? He explained that Naim thought their DAC was preferable to other manufacturers’ … next question: what’s he talking about?
And to clinch it: I couldn’t walk out the shop with my purchase … it would take 2 -3 weeks as it would be made to order.
I was hooked … and 17+ years later having spent many times that original outlay on Naim kit (FC2x, SN, NacA5, HC2, NDX, nDAC, 250, XPS, Mu-So Qb, HiLine, 282, NDX 2, Fraim) I’m way past the Hook 
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“I took an old integrated and a pair of speakers out from retirement. Hooked up the ND5XS2 and WOW!
In 2020, I’m back with a Naim, I got a new ND5XS2. A few months later, an XS3, and eventually 5 meter runs of NAC A5. It was Naim that made me finally embrace digital.
It may sound cheesy by now but yes, it’s the sound.”
Hi fdm
That’s a great description of a lifetime or trying different makes of hifi gear.
And finally it seems as though it was that special Naim sound that got you closer to the music.
Jim
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Hey CJ
It sounds as though for you, as for me, it was the special Naim sound that got you closer to the music!
Jim 
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Hooked when I first heard the Nait 3 at Zen Audio bought it there and then for about £500. Paired at home with a KI63 and Dynaudio 40s, loved it, so much drive and energy.
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I have made more mistakes buying hifi than anything else in my entire life (except the stock market). I actually bought my first Naim system, 250/272/xps after several different dealers recommended the same system. I bought it without ever hearing it. I was hellbent on buying a McIntosh system but was talked out of it. In my defense, I do live a plane ride away from any hifi dealer. I did my research the best I could. Terrible way to buy hifi and would not recommend it to anyone. Fast forward 5 years and I am still with Naim 552/500/555 and very pleased.
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Peter Williams, now there’s a name! Where is he now I wonder?