Mixing Naim Pre with Other Amps

instead of a 112 pre, get the nait-5 intergrated ,the rest is just fine.......the 5's pre is virtually the same as 112 plus you will have another amp available for use later if you would want to add bipolars for side........i hope this helps.

Bora,

I see your point but I have plenty of amp channels currently and would like to make the 2-channel sound as good as possible. I think the seperates would be a little better than the integrated.

I'm most interested in mixing the Naim with other gear. Are there any potential pitfalls?

Hasn't anyone done this? I was hoping for a little more feedback on this topic.

Thanks in advance.

I have mixed.

It is immensely unpopular among the Naim set and when you go and buy your Naim gear there will be relentless pitching of Naim equipment along with the associated eye rolling!
That said, I have a Naim AV2, connected to a Arcam DVD player along with a Pass 3X amp. Many people do the Arcam/Naim thing given the British connection and Naims lack of a Dvd player. The Pass amp always draws some sort of comment!.

To answer your questions, I am very happy with the Naim processor unit and feel that it sound better with a Pass amp then a Naim Amp. I am thinking of doing the opposite of what you are doing and getting a non-Naim 2 channel and reference player which can be integrated into the AV2 Processor.

At the end you touched on what is the biggest pain however, the cables and the DIN connectors. I was told by a Naim dealer that Din to XLR is not worth it. My Pass Amp has XLR's and was told that unless your CD player is "truly" balanced there is no point using the XLR and even then its questionable in its benefit. I wonder personally if that has to do with the Din connections?

I would also note that to ask a someone if they like their Naim equipment is a waste of time. There is definitely a Kool-Aid factor here.