What is in a Naim ?

You know, you should always go with what sounds good and what's in your price range. If a $300 Sony reciever brings you happiness, buy it. I used to fall for the hype on the Stereofile magazine stuff. It's all crap. Then, I was introduced to Naim. The dealer had a set of $25,000 Krell monoblocks which which were tied to a set of $70,000 speakers. I was blown away, however, I noticed that after a few minutes I wanted to turn it down and even turn it off. It was not a pleasant experience. And the system lacked large amounts of detail, timing and control. Then, he put on a used $600 Naim Nait 2 with a set of small Castle Acoustic speakers and a $1300 used Naim CD Player. The music was pleasant, easy to listen to. You could hear every instrument clearly and the control was astounding. You wanted to stay there for hours listening. I bought the amp and the speakers and was hooked on Naim. Now, I have a full Naim system with a CDX/NAP 250, and SBL's. I've had the system for a long time and I started to wonder if there was something better out there. I went to the CES show in Las Vegas in January. I auditioned a pair of $40,000 Avanteguard speakers and a pair of $200,000 Genesis speakers. I almost puked. You could not get me to buy anything else but Naim becuase I enjoy music. Companies should be paying close attention to what Naim does. Notice that Naim systems are not usually for sale on the used market. Also, notice that they are not coming out with new versions every 18 months.

Pacmi02 is right. It is all about the music. Who cares what it says on the front of the chassis as long as it makes you happy. Just for the record I did a search for Naim here at Audiogon and saw no less then 30 used Naim items for sale.

I can't speak about the SBL's or the Naim CD player, but when I had my Naim gear it was certainly musical. I did listen for hours. I must admit I never heard the Naim with anything other than speakers made in the UK. At that time I heard single and bi-amped systems. The Naim-Linn Iso-barik bi-amped system was the first system I ever heard that sounded effortless. Julian Verecker(deceased) was also a very nice individual to deal with.

I have a Naim Nait II with Rega mini monitors in my bedroom. Sounds OK for my audiophile clock radio, but for serious listening I find it bright enough to drill holes in granite. What's in a Naim? In this case, ordinary parts, a wimpy power supply and an underpowered amp that clips pretty easily and then sounds terrible. Like Linn, however, they somehow get people to drink their UK brand of Kool Aid. I do like the back lit, green logo and the quirky shape, however. If that is what you are looking for in an amp, I could heartily endorse the purchase of a Nait.