Naim amps??

Steve Martin was correct! You can't sit down with just an Oboe and entertain a crowd!

TIC

At the risk of offending the Naim camp (are there still any campers out there?) as a former Naim owner and enthusiast (62/Hicap/140) I think the brand has lost it's way. When I was auditioning electronics after my gear was reaching the end of it's life span I really wanted to stay with Naim. However, in comparison with other brands I discovered that Naim is no longer a good value for the money. Very expensive, particularly when you add all the power supplies, and the sound is no better or, in some cases worse, than other gear that costs considerably less. I agree with the original post--2K for a 75 watt amp that can't really drive much beyond a BBC style 2-way is absurd.

This is the first time I've come across people (atleast on audiogon) comparing watts to dollars. It really doesn't make much sense, unless you are comparing two amplifiers in the same line. For example, a jeff rowland 201 vs. a jeff rowland 501. 501 is more expensive, because of more watts. But it's the parts inside that make it cost more, among other things. Where does the VAC integrated fall, then? 75 wpc for around 22,000 dollars?

The classe integrated is 100 watts for about 4500 dollars. Does that make it a bad value? Maybe, to some people it does. But if that is your price range, and you have a system that would compliment a component like that, I would say it has a high value.

People who are impressed by an amplifier's rated output in watts probably buy their speakers the same way. :-)
My full-range Sequerra speaker system will knock down walls with less than 50 watts per channel. It's all about efficiency. There are a few speakers that really require gobs of power, but those owners know who they are. For the rest of us, Naim offer an extremely musical presentation of music's pace & rhythm that can be very beguiling, and very habit forming. Nothing against any other manufacturers, but for me It's All In The Naim. :-)

My .02, Ed

I have almost $10 grand in a 2-watt per channel tube amp.
I guess that I must really be nuts!